The Concord boys’ hockey team will end the season the same way it began – staring across the ice at the Bedford Bulldogs, the defending champions in Division I.
The Crimson Tide lost to Bedford in overtime, 3-2, on Dec. 14 to open the 2016-17 season. Concord never held the lead in that game, but the Tide did tie the score twice and force overtime. On Saturday, No. 2 Concord (17-3-0) will face No. 1 Bedford (18-1-1) in the D-I title game with puck drop scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at SNHU Arena in Manchester.
With the state title up for grabs, Concord senior Matthew Chorlian said all things come down to desire.
“Sometimes hockey is about playing systems and techniques, and sometimes it’s about who wants it more,” he said. “Oftentimes, the team that wants it more will win.”
The Tide’s power play is tough to beat with leading scorer Alex Marceau clogging the middle and Chorlian, one of the best defensemen in the state, quarterbacking from the point. Concord’s top two lines have scored consistently and the third line has turned in a few goals of its own goals during the Tide’s current playoff push.
Concord has maintained stability on defense with co-captains Chorlian and Dan LeBell manning the blue line. And the team went 15-3 in the regular season while splitting goalie duties between juniors Spencer Burgess and Griffin Gilbert.
Concord Coach Dunc Walsh gave Burgess the start in their tournament opener, a 7-1 win over Londonderry. Burgess turned in a 4-0 shutout win a few nights later against Salem in the semifinals. Walsh will likely stick with Burgess’s hot hand heading into Saturday’s championship tilt with Bedford.
Concord put together 14 straight wins through the middle bulk of the season. On the other side, Bedford didn’t drop a game until its 16th of the season, a 5-4 loss to Pinkerton on Feb. 20.
The Bulldog’s top line of forwards Jack McDonough, Jay Roberto and Griffin Gagne, all seniors, were responsible for every goal in Bedford’s 5-0 semifinal win over Bishop Guertin on Wednesday. While Burgess turned away all 21 shots he faced against Salem, Bedford peppered BG with 21 shots in the first 30 minutes. The Cardinals, to that point, only had 13.
Bedford scored twice in the first period on two goals produced near the crease.
“We need to be good in front of our net,” Chorlian said. “First period, we need to come out flying and take the game to them. They took it to BG and just ran away with it. If we match their intensity and can jump on them quickly, I like our chances.”
Burgess has proven to be a reliable option between the pipes through two games, but he faces a different sort of challenge against Bedford, a team that has more skill than any other he has played against this season. Saturday is also the first time Burgess has faced Bedford after Gilbert made 24 saves as the starter in the season opener.
“There will be times when they carry the play, especially when they’re first line is out there,” Chorlian said of Bedford. “They’ll go through spurts of offense and we’ll need to hold them off.”
Last year, Concord’s season ended a week before Bedford hoisted the championship trophy. The Tide was knocked out by Exeter in a 1-0 game in the quarterfinals, and that experience carried into this season as a lesson for the upperclassmen heading into their senior year.
Before the season began, Chorlian told the Monitor that he didn’t want his teammates to forget about that game.
“(Exeter) taught us not to take a team lightly,” he said in December. “Hopefully we’ll always remember that.”
Concord clearly remembered that lesson before its quarterfinal win against Londonderry, a team it beat 7-1 in the regular season. The Tide clearly kept its focus as it posted another 7-1 win against the Lancers. Concord had to improve its play against Salem in the semifinals after losing to the Blue Devils in the regular season, and the Tide did just that with the 4-0 shutout.
Outscoring playoff opponents by a combined 11-1 is impressive, but not quite as impressive as Bedford’s 14-1 margin.
“We’ll have to play our best Saturday to have a chance,” Walsh said.
It is that simple, and Concord is playing its best hockey of the season at the right time. The only problem for the Tide is that Bedford is doing the same.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3339, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)