The standards, and expectations, are high for the Concord High boys’ hockey program. That was very clear when listening to Crimson Tide coach Duncan Walsh after Wednesday’s season-opening 7-1 win at Everett Arena.
“The score looks like we played great, but it was sloppy, there were a lot of turnover, I thought there was some not great decision making,” said Walsh, now in 30th year on Concord’s bench. “We did move the puck well at times and the power play looked good, but we got the lead and guys tried to do too much.
“Hopefully all that will get better, and it can happen in the first game. But we’ve got a ways to go to get better.”
Of course “better” for the Tide is being in contention for a state title, like the team was last year, when it went 15-4-1 and lost in overtime in the semifinals 2-1 to eventual champion Bedford. This Tide team could get to that level, and there’s no question it was “better” than a young Windham team on Wednesday.
Concord sophomore Tyler Coskren had two goals and two assists, Ryan Doherty had two goals and Cam McGonigle, Zach Drew and Colin O’Brien each had one goal. Joey Ala and Noah Drew both had a pair of assists.
All that scoring was evenly divided as the top line of Coskren and the Drew brothers produced three goals, the second line of sophomores Doherty and Ala and freshman Brooks Craigue scored twice, as did the third line of O’Brien, McGonigle and Donovan Hayes. And they did all that with senior Matt Hauschild, the team’s leading scorer last season, still out with an injury (he may be back as soon as Saturday night at Exeter).
“The top line moved it well and the second line created a lot of chances, too,” Walsh said. “They’ll be fine. And Hauschild will add a lot when he comes back. He had 38 points for us last year, he’s one of the top forwards in the league, really.”
Senior Parker Taylor, an Honorable Mention Division I goalie last year, finished with 14 saves for the Tide.
“Parker looked good, he’s fine,” Walsh said. “We’re pretty confident in him.”
Doherty opened the scoring 4:30 into the first period with assists from Ala and Coskren. McGonigle’s first career goal gave Concord a 2-0 lead after one.
The Tide went on the power play early in the second and Coskren took advantage with his first goal. Zach Drew made it 4-0 midway through the second before Windham scored 11:51 into the period. Concord took the momentum back when Coskren scored another power play goal to give his team a 5-1 lead through two.
O’Brien, unassisted, and Doherty, from Ala and Craigue, completed the scoring in the third period.
Bishop Brady 3, Nashua North-Souhegan 3
Highlights: The Green Giants were up 2-0 going into the third period when Nashua North scored three power-play goals. Brady tied it up with .12 seconds left in regulation.
Records: Bishop Brady 0-0-1; Nashua North 0-0-1
Concord 6, Souhegan 0
Key players: Concord – Kaitlyn McKinnon (2G), Jaelyn Kelleher (G), Joanna Dustin (G), Emma LaRiviere (G), Greta Norton (G), Abby Corbett (shutout)
Coach’s quote: “We are really proud of the team effort tonight. We were able to show our depth and speed and all goals came off of good, hardworking plays. I’m excited to see what this team can do this season.” – Concord’s Patrick McDonough
Records: Concord 1-0; Souhegan 0-1
Concord 66, Londonderry 19
Key players: Concord – Evan Berube (win by pin at 152), GJ Gimaranzi (win by pin at 170), Kody Rasheed (win by pin at 182), Abbas Abdulrahman (win by pin at 195), Tristan Sharich (win by forfeit at 220), Hunter Jeffers (win by pin at 285), Ghana Darjee (win by pin at 106), Sam Wagner (win by pin at 113), Ethan Comeau (win by pin at 120), Jack Sargent (win by pin at 138), Khan Amiri (win by pin at 145)
Highlights: The Tide pinned 10 opponents in its home-opener en route to a decisive dual meet victory over the Lancers.
Records: Concord 2-0
Bow 66, Winnisquam 6
Key players: Bow – Nick Wray (win by pin at 113), Wyatt Rheinhardt (win by forfeit at 120), Andrew Krause (win by forfeit at 126), Alec Schultz (win by pin at 138), Anthony DiPhilippo (win by pin at 145), Andrew Bliss (win by pin at 152), Eli DiPhilippo (win by forfeit at 160), Hollis Jones (win by pin at 170), Daniel Scott (win by pin at 182), Ryan Nicholls (win by pin at 195), Will Zachistal (win by pin at 285)
Highlights: The Falcons won eight matches by pin en route to a decisive dual victory on their home mats.
Concord at Bretton Woods
Key players: Concord – Kevin McDonough (1st slalom, 2nd GS), Neil Shea (6th GS, 7th slalom), Michael Case (13th slalom, 20th GS), Read Merrill (7th GS), Matt Burns (17th slalom)
Highlights: Concord finished second behind Exeter in both the two-run morning GS and the one-run afternoon slalom in a six-team event at Bretton Woods. Exeter topped the Tide 378-370 in the GS and 381-366 in the slalom in a six-team meet at Bretton Woods.
Concord at Bretton Woods
Key players: Concord – Savanah Shannon (1st slalom, 1st GS), Hannah Golden (5th slalom, 5th GS), Emma Burbank (7th GS, 9th slalom), Sarah Jenness (20th slalom)
Highlights: Six teams traveled to Bretton Woods for two runs of GS in the morning and one slalom run in the afternoon. Exeter won both events with 378 GS points and 384 in the slalom. Concord had 372 slalom points to just beat out third-place Goffstown (370). The Grizzlies did take second in the GS with 376 points to the Tide’s 369. Shannon’s winning time in the slalom run was 33.11 seconds, which was 2.03 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Goffstown’s Olivia de Matteis. And her combined GS time of 1:15.25 was 2.19 faster than the second best.
Hopkinton, Bow
Highlights: The Bow and Hopkinton swim teams competed in a meet at Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction, Vt. against Bishop Brady, Conant, Kearsarge, Lebanon, Mascenic, Stevens and hosts Hanover. The Hopkinton girls topped Bow, Bishop Brady, Stevens and Mascenic and went 4-4 on the night, while the Bow girls bested Stevens, Mascenic and Bishop Brady to go 3-5. The Bow boys defeated Kearsarge, Lebanon, Mascenic and Stevens and went 4-4.
Newmarket 41, Pittsfield 19
Key players: Pittsfield – Haylee Gilleney (16 points, 4 rebounds)
Highlights: The Mules jumped out to a 21-6 halftime lead and never looked back. Pittsfield doubled its offensive output in the second half but couldn’t close the gap.
Coach’s quote: “I am proud of how hard the girls worked. We had trouble finding any rhythm initially but after half we did some really nice things offensively to gain some confidence.” – Pittsfield’s Heidi Hall
Records: Newmarket 2-1; Pittsfield 0-5