If there was any doubt that either the Concord High boys' or girls' cross country ski teams could defend their titles, that doubt is gone now, as both teams turned in first-place finishes at the Carter Hill Classic in Concord in dominant fashion.

Emilie Muller helped lead the Concord girls' team (390) to an eight-point victory over Keene (382) as she took first place overall. Merrimack (273) and Stevens (177) rounded out the team scoring.

The Tide boys made it interesting as they edged out Keene, 386-384. Merrimack (359) placed third and Stevens (266) placed fourth.

Muller's performance saw her crossing the finish line in 21 minutes, 29 seconds, over two and a half minutes ahead of Molly Bulger of Keene (24:00). Concord's Celia Honigberg (24:04) and Rachel Pifer (24:16) finished closely behind in third and fourth, respectively, while Jane Symmes finished off the Concord top four, finishing in sixth place (24:33).

"On the girls team we have a ton of depth, which is amazing to see with so many young skiers," Tide Coach Stuart Kremzner said. "I can't imagine what some of these girls will be doing at the national levels in the next few years, then international after that."

While the Tide boys were unable to grab a first or second place individual finish, they showed tremendous depth as they were able to lock up the three through 15 spots.

"The boys team, on any given day, we could have any one of six skiers have a top finish," Kremzner said.

The Tide was led by John Barbardoro (third, 19:21), Tyler Hovey-Wildman (fourth, 19:34), Cody Whelan (fifth, 19:37) and Blaine Ayotte (sixth, 19:52). Keene (384) was paced by Sam Reed (first, 17:39) and John Szot (second, 19:17).

The Tide's next meet will take place Jan. 23 at the Hopkinton Fair Grounds.

BOYS' HOCKEY

Concord 5, Nashua South 2

Four-point nights by Kevin Marceau and Pat Lacasse helped Concord (3-2) snap its two-game losing streak.

Chris Acres and Lacasse (three assists) scored in a 70-second span in the game's first six minutes, then Marceau (one assist) gave himself a hat trick with the Tide's final three goals.

Tanner Heath and Pat Cannon each had two assists and Acres had an assist as well as Concord broke on top 4-0 before Lexi Ossinger scored twice for South (0-6) to keep things interesting.

Concord outshot the Panthers, 35-11, with goalie Cam Levasseur making nine saves for the win.

Bow 2, Kingswood 0

Collin Evans made 17 saves to earn the shutout and improve Bow to 6-0.

Jamie Cotnoir's goal in the second period, assisted by Shane Tracy and Greg Bueddeman, would be all the Falcons needed to take the victory. Curtis Perry later provided an insurance goal in the third, assisted by John Fanaras and Eddie Berke.

Perry, Fararas, Berke and Kyle Tracy all played great games on the defensive end.

John Stark 5, Belmont-Gilford 4, OT

After a game that featured 19 penalties totaling 38 minutes, Stark (3-2) finally found itself on top as Dylan Payea scored his second goal of the night in overtime on a short handed opportunity to take the win.

The Bulldogs (2-1) were up 3-1 late in the game, but a three-goal third period for the Generals, including two by Peter Medvetz, helped send the game into extra time.

James Parolisi started the scoring for the Generals with a goal in the first. Nick Saball played well offensively, chipping in with two assists, while Tyler Larose stopped 27 goals between the pipes.

For the Bulldogs, Jeremy D'Amour netted the team's first shot in the first period, followed by goals by Cam Clairmont in the second and Evan Karagianis and Norm Harris in the third.

Alex Conway played well in the net for Belmont-Gilford, making 26 saves. (next page »)