HENNIKER – The John Stark-Hopkinton hockey team spent the first period Wednesday shaking off the post-holiday rust. It spent the next two periods taking the will out of its opponent.
Following a sluggish start in the team’s first game back from an extended layoff, the General Hawks left New England College’s Lee Clement Arena as the last unbeaten team in Division III. Behind a five-goal scoring frenzy in the second period and a hat trick for senior captain Paul Molnar, Stark-Hopkinton collected its third shutout of the season, topping Monadnock-Fall Mountain, 6-0.
“Their goalie played a good first period and kept us off the scoreboard other than the one (goal), but we knew the game would come back to us,” Stark-Hopkinton coach Denis Kolehmainen said. “We had three days off so the first period was like pond hockey. We shook off the holidays and then just started coming out strong. We came out (strong) right at the end of the first period, but the second period was definitely all us.”
With 20 returning players from last year’s championship team, the General Hawks have found their groove from the very first puck drop of the season. They improved to 5-0 on the year, sit alone atop the D-III standings and have outscored opponents, 37-4.
“I think everyone’s starting to click this year,” said Molnar, who scored two of his three goals in the game-changing second period. “Last year we had a really strong team. We were kind of young, but only graduated one senior and we’re right back it. We’re all just really enjoying ourselves.”
Molnar was the clear catalyst for the General Hawks in this one, lighting the lamp in the opening period by jamming the puck in from behind the net for a 1-0 lead.
But the Huskies stuck around – at least for a little while longer.
With Isaac Jasinki (25 saves) playing well in net, Monadnock-Fall Mountain didn’t allow another tally in the period and generated a few scoring chances with six shots on goal.
“You could tell by the first period that teams will stick with us early, but we have depth,” Kolehmainen said. “We have four lines that can go and our top three lines can go against anybody’s first line that I’ve seen so far. It’s not successful all the time, but they can hold their own and play good defense.”
Eventually that depth wore down the Huskies.
Senior defenseman Joe Sawitsky got the second-period scoring rolling with a goal from the blue line five minutes in before Molnar put Stark-Hopkinton ahead, 3-0, on a power-play goal off assists from Benny Madden and Cabot Lineberry.
Late in the period, Sawitsky sparked another goal, this time with his defense. With a diving effort, he poked the puck loose in the neutral zone, skated down toward the right dot and slung a pass toward Tyler Scordo in the slot. Scordo had a wide open net and scored to make it 4-0.
Madden added a score of his own with 1:34 remaining in the period to increase the lead before Molnar delivered the goal of the night. All alone on a breakaway after a shifty deke, the talented forward faked to the forehand wrister before quickly moving to his backhand and sliding it past Jasinki.
“That was the first deke I’ve scored on in like two years on a breakaway,” Molnar said. “I figured I was going to try and deke at the blue line, and then it’s just having fun, try to throw in something different and shoot it.”
Kolehmainen, who’s coached Molnar since he was in youth hockey, is still impressed with what the senior can do with the puck on the ice.
“He’s unbelievable. That kid can stick handle on his knees around people. It’s just amazing what he can do with the puck,” Kolehmainen said. “It’s like he has a string on the puck. It just keeps coming back to him and he’s able to control it. He’s a special talent and there’s not a lot of him around out there.”
Senior netminder Jameson Bourque came up with 21 saves for yet another shutout for the General Hawks as they prepare to visit Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield on Saturday.
“That’s where we start,” Kolehmainen said of Bourque. “We have him in goal and if we keep people to the outside, keep the shots to the outside, we’ve done well.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)
Boys’ hockey
Pinkerton 3, Concord 1
Key players: Concord – Kyle McKinnon (G), Matt Hauschild (A), Ryan Philbrick (A)
Highlights: McKinnon scored a power-play goal with three minutes left in the game, but the first-place Astros had already built a 3-0 lead, despite being outshot by the Tide.
Records: Pinkerton 5-0; Concord 4-1
Bishop Brady 4,
Manchester Memorial 1
Key players: Bishop Brady – Mike Kenison (3G), Dom DuBreuil (G), Kevin Anderson (defense), Matt Strickland (goalie)
Coach’s quote: “Great team win tonight. We played hard from start to finish. It was nice to see Mike Kenison get the empty-net goal for the hat trick. Matt Strickland was solid all game in goal.” – Bishop Brady’s Ed Seney
Records: Bishop Brady 2-2-1; Memorial 0-5-0
Portsmouth-Newmarket 5, Bow 4, OT
Key players: Bow – Jake Mielcarz (2G, A), Ben Tobeler (G, 2A), CJ Smethurst (G, 2A), Nate Carrier (29 saves)
Highlights: Bow was able to fight back from 2-1, 3-2 and 4-2 deficits to force overtime and had some great scoring chances, but the Clipper-Mules scored with 19 seconds left for the win.
Coach’s quote: “The boys kept fighting back to climb back into the game and we had our chances to win. We saw a lot of progress in many of the kids tonight, so that is a positive, but we need to learn how to win these close games that we have been in as the season goes on. ” – Bow’s Tim Walsh
Records: Portsmouth-Newmarket 3-1-0; Bow 0-4-1
Belmont-Gilford 5,
Laconia-Winnisquam 4
Key players: Belmont-Gilford – Hayden Parent (GWG), Troy Gallagher (G), Joey Blake (G); Laconia-Winnisquam – Cole Reed (3G)
Highlights: The Wolfpack led 4-2, but Blake’s goal was the first of three for the Bulldogs with just 5:40 remaining in the game and Parent netted the game-winner on a power play with less than two minutes to go to give Belmont-Gilford its first win of the season. The Bulldogs led 2-0 heading into the final period, but Laconia-Winnisquam scored three goals in seven minutes to open the third and Reed recorded a third-period hat trick to give the Wolfpack a 4-2 lead.
Records: Belmont-Gilford 1-4; Laconia-Winnisquam 0-5
Concord 55, Alvirne 52
Key players: Concord – Scott Lampron (25 points), Tyler Bruns (16 points, 8 rebounds), Rylan Canabano (9 points)
Highlights: The Tide led 28-24 at halftime, trailed by seven at one point in the third quarter, but came back to take a 39-37 lead heading into the final frame. The Tide made some key plays down the stretch, especially Canabano (six fourth-quarter points) and Bruns, who scored all 16 of his points in the post, connected on all four free throws and held Alvirne’s best player, Joey Canales (averages 20 points per game), to two points.
Coach’s quote: “Tyler Bruns was a monster out there. He played (Canales) man-to-man and shut him down. I can’t say enough about how well he played. We played team basketball and defense. We’re looking forward to playing in our first home game in our own gym in over a year (due to weather damage last season). We’re looking to white out the gym and get some fans in there.” – Concord’s Dave Chase
Records: Concord 2-0; Alvirne 2-1
Concord 61, Alvirne 50
Key players: Concord – Elizabeth Blinn (14 points), Caroline Clark (13 points), Quinn Daniels (11 points), Megan Cox (7 points), Ky Buchholz (6 points), Elli Cox
Highlights: The Tide jumped out to a 19-6 lead and never looked back, extending its lead to 35-18 at the half. Defensive pressure, forced turnovers and fast-break opportunities, fueled by freshman point guard Cox, allowed for the hot start. The game turned physical, with the two teams taking a combined 72 free-throw attempts, but Concord prevailed for its first regular-season win.
Coach’s quote: “It feels good to get a win under our belt. We were close. Our girls deserved this tonight. We competed hard, we had a lot of players step in with some of our starters were in foul trouble and made some big plays on both ends of the floor. I am proud of our kids for shaking off the slow start to the season and come away with a win. We now need to find a way to string a few together, expect to win and build that into our culture change.” – Concord’s Tim LaTorra
Records: Concord 1-4; Alvirne 0-4
Merrimack Valley 53,
Manchester West 19
Key players: MV – Aislinn McDonald (12 points), Kylie Marquis (6 points), Kaitlyn Belanger (6 points)
Highlights: The Pride had a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 30-13 lead at halftime. MV held the Blue Knights to two points in the fourth quarter.
Coach’s quote: “All around good team win on the road. We were able to get minutes for a lot of players and work on a few things. It’s nice to see some of our younger players in the program get some time at the varsity level and play well.” – MV’s Bob McNutt
Records: MV 3-2; West 0-5
Bow 40, Merrimack 39
Key players: Bow – Wyatt Reinhardt (win by pin at 113), Skylar Hattendorf (win by pin at 126), Zack Anderson (win by pin at 132), AJ Bliss (win by pin at 152), Alex Boufford (win by pin at 170), Jonathan Sutera (win by pin at 195), Matt Nicholls (win by pin at 220)
Highlights: The Falcons were forced to forfeit three matches, putting Bow 18 points behind before the competition even began, but won enough bouts to tie the match, 39-39, and won on the Criteria H tiebreaker (most matches with the first point scored), topping the D-II runner-up from the past two seasons. The dual meet victory is the first meet for the Falcons since winning the Hubie Wagner Invitational in Middlebury, Vt. over the weekend, the first team tournament championship in program history.
Coach’s quote: “It looks good on paper, but we have a lot of work to do to get where we need to be. … Merrimack was one of the classiest teams we’ve competed against. I’d like to compete against them again.” – Bow’s Brock Hoffman