Bow hockey Coach Tim Walsh has been pushing one thing in practice all season. He wants his team to play the “complete game” as he calls it. No lapses on defense, no bad penalties, constant movement, good passing.
So Walsh wasn’t necessarily surprised Saturday night when the Falcons put together something that was pretty close to that complete game he keeps talking about.
“We’ve been talking about playing these complete games all year,” Walsh said following a 7-2 thumping of Oyster River in Division II action at Everett Arena. “(We want) complete periods, trying to get better every game. And every game is better than the previous one. Every week is better than the week before. … So that in March, we are playing our best hockey because that’s when it really matters.”
The Falcons (8-1) haven’t lost since Dec. 21, a 3-0 home setback to Keene (8-0), the only undefeated team left in D-II. Since then, Bow has rattled off seven wins in a row and outscored its opponents, 49-20.
“It’s kept us going and made us want to win even more,” senior captain Doug Champagne said of his team’s lone blemish in an otherwise satisfying season.
One of the things that has propelled this win streak, according to senior defenseman Colin Tracy, is how the Falcons have started each game and how they’ve finished each period.
“Some games we come out slow,” said Tracy, who scored two goals and dished two assists in Saturday’s win. “But tonight, we got the first goal and got things rolling pretty quick. That’s what we need to keep doing every game.”
Alex Killion started the scoring with a breakaway goal 6:29 into the first period, assisted by Tracy and Ryan Tobeler (two assists).
As for ending periods strong, Bow did just that Saturday. Over the final five minutes of the first and second periods, the Falcons scored five goals. Benjamin Wheeler put the Falcons up 2-0 with 1:38 to play in the first, while Killion tallied his second goal of the night just 14 seconds later. Both of Tracy’s goals came from the blue line with less than five minutes to play in the second and just like that, the Falcons led 6-1 going into the third period.
“When we are playing complete games, in the last five minutes of the period, that’s when you’re playing your hardest and when you really should be,” Walsh said. “The other team can be thinking about the end of the period, saying ‘oh we get to take a break in a minute.’ And that’s when you have to capitalize.”
Freshman forward Austin Scarinza also tallied a goal and an assist for Bow, while Austin Beaudette and Brendan Ulrich provided one assist each.
The Falcons applied relentless pressure all night long and ended the game with a 39-18 advantage in shots. Bow took nine shots in the first period before Oyster River (3-3) recorded its first. The Bobcats needed a two-man advantage to record that first shot and registered just four in the first period.
“We knew we had to keep dominating the game. When we moved our feet, they couldn’t skate with us,” said Champagne, who scored his only goal of the night with 8:05 left in the third.
Bow’s best opportunities were a direct result of another thing Walsh has been stressing all season: Moving without the puck.
“The other four guys aren’t standing around watching. Everyone is moving and supporting and making those short, quick passes,” he said, “Our best asset is our speed. We are using that. Our skating game is what we have been pushing in practice and it shows on the ice right now.”
Champagne couldn’t agree more: “We have a lot of energy on our team. We know we can beat most of the other teams with our speed alone.”
Oyster River couldn’t hang with the Falcons. And if Bow is lucky, not many other teams left on the schedule will be able to hang with them either.
But the road ahead isn’t easy for Bow, which will play back-to-back games against defending champion Windham before the end of the month and a rematch with Keene is circled as the second-to-last game on the schedule. Windham topped the Falcons, 4-3, in last year’s championship game.
That’s not what Bow is thinking about yet, though.
For Tracy, it’s all about sticking with what works.
“We just need to keep doing what we are doing,” he said. “I mean, we are finding each other, working hard, work hard in practice, making sure we do whatever we can to win. Just have to keep doing that.”
Concord 7, Nashua South-Pelham 2
Key players: Concord – Liam O’Brien (2 goals, 2 assists), Colin Kastle (2 goals), Andy Cole (goal, assist), Cam Larivierre (2 assists), Devin Philbrick (goal), Andrew Paquette (goal)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide took a 3-0 lead the start the game. South-Pelham cut the lead to 3-2, but Concord closed out the game with four unanswered goals.
Coach’s quote: “We started slow but we were opportunistic in the first period. It was an ugly game but we got scoring from all three lines and no one got hurt.” – Concord’s Dunc Walsh
Records: Concord 7-1; South-Pelham 1-6
Pembroke/Campbell 4,
Monadnock 3, OT
Key players: Pembroke/Campbell – Matt Tremblay (2 goals, 2 assists), Jake Tremblay (assist), Dylan Fisher (2 goals)
Highlights/key moments: After skating to a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation, Matt Tremblay took a pass from Jake Tremblay at the 2:03 mark of the extra period and netted the game-winner. Fisher scored the final two goals of regulation to give Pembroke/Campbell a chance in overtime.
Records: Pembroke/Campbell 5-4; Monadnock 2-6
Concord 7, Bishop Guertin 1
Key players: Concord – Olivia Branch (2 goals, 3 assists), Nicole Jones (2 goals), Allyson Poulin (2 assists), Lilly Vezina (goal), Emily Forward (goal), Jill Dusseault (assist), Allyson Poulin (assist), Jaden Morin (assist), Maddy Audet (15 saves)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide scored four second-period goals to break the game open. Branch led the Tide with five points and scored a power play goal in the first period. Jones netted a pair of goals, included a shorthanded goal in the third.
Records: Concord 5-3; Bishop Guertin 3-3
Berlin 4, Brady-Trinity-West 1
Key players: Brady-Trinity-West – Sydney Herrington (goal), Emma Windsor (21 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Brady-Trinity-West matched the Mountaineers step-for-step in the second and third periods, but allowed three scores in the first and couldn’t make up the ground.
Coach’s quote: “Everyone played extremely well and gave it all we had and we gave them a game.” – Brady-Trinity-West’s Dan Earley
Records: Brady-Trinty-West 5-3; Berlin 6-3
Kearsarge 58, MV 41
Key players: Kearsarge – Tom Johnson (25 points, 5 rebounds), Tayler Mattos (22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks), Joe Storozuk (7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals), Ray Critch (D ), Kyle Hernon, Jordan Bryk (defense and rebounding); MV – James Hebert (13 points), Caleb Laclair (12 points), Ryan Defina (10 points)
Highlights/key moments: MV led 30-25 at halftime and Kearsarge led 39-34 after three, but the Cougars took advantage of several trips to the charity stripe to pull away in the fourth. Kearsarge shot 20-for-26 from the free throw line in the game and 11-for-13 in the fourth quarter.
Coaches’ quoteS: “Defensively we really did a good job. MV is well-coached and they played hard. I was very impressed with them tonight. Every game we always have a good battle with them.” – Kearsarge’s Nate Camp
“You can’t send a team like Kearsarge to the line for (20) points.” – MV’s Tim Mucher
Records: Kearsarge 8-2; MV 2-7
Concord Christian 27,
Canaan-Pittsburg 23
Key players: Concord Christian – Kara Jarvis (8 points), Jade Bell (8 points), Jasmine Bell (4 points, 13 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: In a defensive battle on Friday night, the Lady Kingsmen surrendered just two points in the second quarter to gain the advantage and held onto the lead through the second half.
Coach’s quote: “The girls did well on defense tonight against a taller team. We got some good looks at the basket, but we need to improve on our shot percentages.” – Concord Christian’s Shelby Purtell
Records: Concord Christian 5-4; Canaan-Pittsburg 2-7
Fall Mtn. 51, Hopkinton 34
Key players: Hopkinton – Abby Houston (15 points, 6 rebounds), Katie Meserve (9 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and the Hawks couldn’t recover.
Coach’s quote: “They jumped on us early and we never could get control. We played better in the second half.” – Hopkinton’s Pat Roye
Records: Fall Mtn. 9-2; Hopkinton 3-8
Concord 48, Woburn, Mass. 24
Concord 57, Lowell, Mass. 18
Concord 48, Coventry, R.I. 23
Key players: Concord – Sam Wagner (3 wins at 106), Chris Munnell (3 wins at 160), Jayson McDonald-Davis (3 wins at 170), George Tarwo (3 wins at 182), Jake Linquata (2 wins at 113), Ben Widmann (2 wins at 132), Liddon Long (2 wins at 138), Noah Gifford (2 wins at 195), Austin Lewis (2 wins at 285)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide won all three matches at a meet in Lowell, Mass. Wagner, Munnell, McDonald-Davis and Tarwo won all their bouts in their respective weight classes.
Coach’s quote: “The guys are working hard and doing the right stuff. All the coaches and I are having a fun time with this team. The Concord community should be proud of these boys for their strong their character and how well they represent this community. I sure am.” – Concord’s Ham Munnell
Records: Concord 10-0
Concord second
Key players: Concord – Shane Hyland (2nd), Aidan MacWhinnie (6th), Cole Gorham (16th, Daniel Loosigian (24th)
Highlights/key moments: Hyland had the second-fastest combined time of two slalom runs and Concord tied for second place in a six-team meet at Crotched Mountain on Friday. Bishop Guertin (383) won the event, followed by Concord (365), Pinkerton (365), Timberlane (346), Goffstown (338) and Exeter (93). Hyland’s combined time of 1:25.57 was second only to Pinkerton’s Mikka Hyvonen (1:22.81).
Concord fourth
Key players: Concord – Grace Devanny (13th), Ella Fabozzi (15th), Sophie Shea (18th), Lily Desgroseillie (20th)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide placed all four scoring skiers in the top 20 to finish fourth in a six-team meet at Crotched Mountain on Friday. Pinkerton (390) won the team title their skiers taking three of the top four places. Exeter (381), Goffstown (354), Concord (349), Timberlane (330) and Bishop Guertin (243) rounded out the team scores.
Hopkinton fourth
Key players: Hopkinton – Joe Spaulding (7th), Zach Berliner (8th), Justin Durant (14th), Henry Lavoie (15th)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks finished fourth in a five-team meet on their home course. Inter-Lakes (388) won the meet, followed by Moultonborough (367), Derryfield (364), Hopkinton (360) and Sunapee (331).
Coach’s quote: “The boys fought hard on their home course, despite missing their top skier due to injury.” – Hopkinton’s Rob Rothe
Kearsarge first, Gilford fourth, Bishop Brady fifth, Belmont sixth
Key players: Kearsarge – Michael Salo (5th), Hunter Burns (6th), Trevor Pauling (9th), Ben Boulton (11th), Tom Lick (18th); Gilford – Josh Valentine (1st), Sander Valpey (4th), Seth Valpey (10th); Brady – Jeremy Bates (29th), Garin Treybig (30th), Johann Eliasson (31st); Belmont – Zac Ennis (3rd),
Highlights/key moments: The Cougars, who claimed the top spot with 373 points, took advantage of a few skiers missing from Gilford (288 points) to win the program’s first ever Nordic race. Kearsarge placed three skiers in the top 10 in the race at Bretton Woods while Gilford’s Valentine notched the fastest overall time at 14:49.
Coach’s quote: “I’m very happy to see the guys get the win today because they have been working so hard. We know there’s a great deal of skiing left before States and we’ll keep working towards our team and individual goals.” – Kearsarge’s Kevin Lee
Hopkinton second
Key players: Hopkinton – Lily Sabol (1st), Emma Rothe (2nd), Carley Kanter (7th), Lillian Eckberg (15th)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks had a 1-2 finish from freshman Sabol and Rothe, leading Hopkinton to second-place on their home course. Moultonborough (382.5) narrowly topped the Hawks (380). Inter-Lakes (364), Derryfield (351.5) and Sunapee (332) rounded out the team scores.
Coach’s quote: “A strong showing by the girls’ team which continues to improve, led by two freshman, Sabol and Rothe.” – Hopkinton’s Rob Rothe
Kearsarge third, Bishop Brady fifth
Key players: Kearsarge – Maddie Cook (3rd), Marliese Baer (8th), Hayden Keene (9th), Jenna Bears (11th); Brady – Mary Trafton (23rd)
Highlights/key moments: Racing without two of its top skiers, Kearsarge placed third in a five-school meet at Bretton Woods with 372.5 points. Cook, Baer, Keene and Bears all scored for the Cougars, who placed seven skiers in the top 20.
Coach’s quote: “It was great to see how much skiers like Hayden Keene, Jenna Bears and Mya Dube have improved this season. They are all really starting to ski well.” – Kearsarge’s Kevin Lee