Belmont-Gilford lost some serious talent from last year’s team, like the Division III Player of the Year, Brogan Hurst, one of eight seniors who helped the Bulldogs to the D-III title.
But Belmont-Gilford also returned some serious talent, like Caleb Drouin, who scored the game-tying goal with 41.8 seconds left in regulation and then netted the winner in overtime in last year’s final. And like Dylan Treamer, who had a goal and an assist in Belmont-Gilford’s 2-0 semifinal win on Wednesday against No. 1 John Stark-Hopkinton that sent the Bulldogs into this year’s final.
“With those two, Drouin and Treamer, I knew we had the horses,” Belmont Coach Jay Londer said.
Londer also knew, like many pundits around the state, that if his team reached the final again this year, Berlin-Gorham would likely be waiting for a rematch. Sure enough, the No. 2 Mountaineers (15-4-0) will be waiting for the Bulldogs (14-6) on Saturday in Manchester at Verizon Wireless Arena in the D-III final, scheduled to begin at 12:15 p.m.
“The polls that went out at the beginning of the season had us going back to the finals and being the top seed in the division, and talking with the other coaches they said it’s going to be you and Berlin, those are going to be the top two teams,” Londer said.
Berlin-Gorham beat No. 3 Kennett, 4-0, in the semifinals to make half of that prediction come true. And Belmont-Gilford made the other half a reality by beating No. 5 Kearsarge-Plymouth, 4-0, in the quarterfinals (Berlin-Gorham had a quarterfinal bye) and then with the 2-0 win against John Stark-Hopkinton, which saw junior goalie Bailey Defosie make 18 saves for the shutout.
“Bailey played his best game of the season tonight, and that’s what you need,” Londer said after the semifinals. “You need to play your best game in the best biggest moments, and that was huge.”
“Last year at the Verizon was a blast,” Defosie said. “I loved every second of it, so I’m looking forward to heading back.”
So even though the starting goalie is back and the top line consists of three seniors (Drouin, Treamer and Christian Karagianis), Londer insists this team is, “totally different than last year’s team.”
There are a couple reasons for that. First, the freshmen that played a key role in the 2015 title run have come back “as completely different kids than they were as freshmen walking in the year before. They’ve matured and they have some confidence, especially after winning the whole thing,” Londer said. Some of those mature sophomores include defenseman Owen Ramsey and forwards Hunter Dupuis and Harrison Parent, who are on the second line along with junior Ethan Beckert.
The Bulldogs also have some brand new faces in freshman Alex Muthersbaug, one of the team’s top two defensemen, and Troy Gallagher, who is also a regular in Belmont-Gilford’s five-man defensive rotation.
Berlin-Gorham, on the other hand, is full of familiar faces. The Mountaineers have 11 seniors on this team, including goalie Brendan Williams, who had 25 saves in the 4-0 semifinal win against Kennett.
“They work really hard, they’re well-coached and they grind,” Londer said of Berlin-Gorham. “They’re a tough team to play against.”
No doubt the Mountaineers would like to exact some revenge for last year’s finals loss, but this isn’t exactly the first time they’ve seen Belmont-Gilford since last March. These two have met three times this season and Berlin-Gorham has won all three contests – 4-3 at home on Jan. 16, 8-3 in Berlin on Feb. 10, and 5-4 in overtime in the final of Kennett’s Peter Hall Christmas Tournament.
The Bulldogs would probably feel a little better if they had won one of those contests, but reasons for optimism can be found in two of the games. Belmont-Gilford was in control of the holiday tournament game before penalty trouble changed that. And the Bulldogs held a massive 42-17 shot advantage in the Jan. 16 game. The game in Berlin was as one-sided as the score sounds.
But no one will really care about those three losses if Belmont-Gilford can figure out a way to win on Saturday.
“This is a great opportunity for guys to step up and shine,” Londer said. “I think that the biggest thing for us, like it was against Stark (in the semifinals), whoever wants it more and goes out and is willing to put the work in, is going to get the victory. I think it’s key for us to get in on the forecheck, take away time and space and play in their face.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)