It’s hard to watch a Concord High boys’ hockey game and not immediately notice Brooks Craigue. Wednesday night was no exception, as the senior captain tallied a goal and three assists in the Tide’s 5-4 victory in overtime against Exeter at Everett Arena.
After falling behind in each of the first two games this season, Concord (3-0-0) started fast. Really fast.
Just 26 seconds into the game, junior A.J. Dow scored off a pass from Craigue to make it 1-0. Then, less than three minutes later, Craigue found junior Dawson Fancher for the Tide’s second goal.
But similar to Saturday against Trinity, while the Tide controlled play for the first part of the opening period, they made a few mistakes that cost them. First, Exeter’s Cam Snee slid the puck past Tide goalie Kalan Gaudreault to make it 2-1, and 21 seconds later, Cam Keaveney found the back of the net, evening the game at 2-2.
“We talked about coming out strong and getting a lead, and we did,” Concord head coach Dunc Walsh said. “Then, the first goal they got was a bad angle by our D, and then the second goal we turned it over.”
The second period was one with several penalties – six to be exact. That included two five-on-three opportunities for the Tide. After going 0-for-5 on the power play on Saturday, Concord finally capitalized on the man advantage at 11:43 of the second when Joey Tarbell scored on Exeter goalie Charlie Mozina.
Then in the third, Exeter (1-2-0) tied the game at 3-3 just 1:26 into the period, but Concord’s Trevor Craigue scored less than three minutes later to reclaim the lead for the Tide. Ty Robinson tied the score again at 6:54, and the game headed to overtime.
At 3:24 of the extra period, Brooks Craigue, who assisted the first three goals of the night, found the back of the net himself off an assist from Tyler Fennelly.
“We’ve been watching it for four years. That’s what he does,” Walsh said of Craigue’s play. “He just steps up big, makes big plays in big moments.”
Like Saturday, the Tide can take solace in their ability to strike back after adverse play, but cleaning up those mistakes still remains a focus moving forward. On all four goals allowed, Exeter simply capitalized on the opportunities presented. The Blue Hawks weren’t necessarily generating sustained pressure but took advantage when given chances.
“Just gotta be better on our end (with) more composure,” Walsh said. “Just gotta be more composure and knowing the situation, knowing who’s around you, just make better plays, better decisions. But that comes with time, and we got a lot of young kids out there.”
As one of the older players, Craigue said he tries to set the example of how playing hard all the time significantly increases your chances of winning battles and scoring goals. Walsh said his senior captain loves to play at 100 miles per hour, and sometimes he needs to tell him to calm down.
Craigue doesn’t know any other speed.
“I just go hard,” he said. “Just going 100% all the time. Just how I play. Kind of hard to stop that.”
After Wednesday night’s performance, Exeter would surely agree.