At the beginning of the month, the Moultonborough-Inter-Lakes boys’ ice hockey team’s outlook for the playoffs was bleak in Division III. But a late-season surge has carried the team into the tournament as the Renegades capped off their regular season with a 6-3 victory over Kearsarge-Plymouth on Saturday for their fourth win in five games.
Collin Sheehan (two goals, two assists), Tyler Reid (two goals) and senior forward Michael Dalzell (three assists) carried the Renegades (9-9), who scored five goals in the contest’s final two periods to knock off Kearsarge-Plymouth (7-11) at Merrill Fay Arena.
Thanks to a pair of first-period goals for the Cats – one apiece from Garrett Demas and captain Alex Nangle – Kearsarge-Plymouth skated into the second period with a 2-1 advantage, but quickly saw it disappear as the Renegades offense began to click.
Moultonborough-Inter-Lakes outscored Kearsarge-Plymouth 3-1 in the second period, tying the game at 2-all with a score from Dom Doliber and then bouncing back from going down 3-2 by netting two more goals off the sticks of Reid and Drew Dunlap.
Sheehan would finish off the Cats by netting a pair of goals in the final period as goalie Hunter Sanders (30 saves) blanked Kearsarge-Plymouth for the final 15 minutes of action.
“Our four captains – Jakob Arnold, Doug Breault, Maddie Folcik and Alex Nangle – played their hearts out, as they did all season,” Kearsarge-Plymouth Coach David McKenney said. “In the end, however, we couldn’t pull out a win. … The 6-3 margin wasn’t indicative of how close the game was. Not to take anything away from Moultonborough-Inter-Lakes. They played well and it was a battle until the end.”
Bow 4, Portsmouth-Newmarket 0
Key players: Bow – Alex Killion (2 goals), Ryan Tobeler (2 assists), Austin Beaudette (goal, assist)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons finished off the regular season by winning 14 of their last 16 games to secure second place in Division II.
Coach’s quote: “This was a sluggish game with a lot of penalties so there wasn’t much flow to the game. It was good to get the win as our seniors stepped up when it was needed.” – Bow’s Tim Walsh
Records: Bow 15-2-1; Portsmouth-Newmarket 8-10