Tyler Coskren stood outside the locker room at JFK Coliseum in Manchester in just his hockey pants while he ran his fingers to align his light brown hair back into its middle part.
The senior winger is one of many that fuels the engine that is Concord High hockey, but against Hanover in the NHIAA Division I semifinals Wednesday night, Coskren delivered in a big way.
Coskren delivered two assists and the game-defining goal in the third – more on that in a bit – as the No. 1 Crimson Tide defeated the newly renamed No. 4 Bears, 5-1, Wednesday.
“It feels great,” the senior captain said. “We were really hoping to get back to the championship. It’s an outstanding feeling when this place just erupts when we score a goal.”
Concord entered the third period with a two-goal lead as its fast start quickly slowed midway through the second period once it traded scores with Hanover (13-6-1). Knowing that a goal early in the final period would more than likely seal their third consecutive championship appearance, the Tide’s offense was aggressive in both their passes and shots.
If there was an open look, someone in white and crimson was sending the puck toward the net in hopes it would find its way in. Defensemen fired from the blue line while forwards out in front sent rebounds flying back toward the goal. Concord’s offensive barrage was merciless, and it showed on the stat sheet as it outshot Hanover, 41-18.
It was a shot from Coskren that the Tide not only wanted but needed in order to feel more comfortable with the prospect it could prevent a comeback by the Bears. Just 17 seconds into a power play, Coskren crashed the net, sent the puck home and stretched Concord’s lead to 4-1 with 11:24 left in the game.
While it clearly wasn’t Everett Arena, the Tide (18-0-2) made the neutral rink feel like home early when senior Cam McGonigle scored the game’s opening goal after he capitalized on a misplayed puck deep into Hanover’s zone and sent in a one-timed wrist shot into the top left-hand corner of the goal.
A little over two minutes later, senior Brooks Craigue scored from behind the net, poking a lose puck in from behind Hanover goalie Luke Ives’ skates.
It was the quick start Concord coach Dunc Walsh was glad to see and, specifically, one he hadn’t for a while.
“That’s as good as we’ve been in a long time,” Walsh said. “We came out tonight flying, moving the puck. We had great chances. We could’ve had a substantial lead at the end of the first.”
It appeared that strong start would carry over into the second period after A.J. Fennelly scored a short-handed goal 1 minute, 36 seconds into the middle period to extend the lead to 3-0. But the Bears created chances and cut into the Tide’s lead when Van Bailey scored.
Each team traded possessions as they skated up and down the ice until the period came to a close. Wednesday’s semifinal was the fourth time Concord and Hanover played against each other, and after four meetings, they’ve gotten to know each other’s style well enough for anticipated play – specifically on the power play.
“Coming into this game, we had to change our power play a little bit,” Coskren said. “We knew that they were starting to pick up on the plays we do, so we had to come up with new ones to produce.”
The new wrinkle to the power play worked, with Coskren proving the point in the third and Joey Tarbell adding the emphatic fifth goal to sign off the semifinal win.
Now the Tide will play for their third consecutive final on Saturday when they travel back to Manchester in a rematch of the final that never was – 2020’s suspended game against Bedford.
Concord’s mission wasn’t to just make it to championship Saturday, either.
It’s to win it.