Brinity-Bow falls to Oyster River-Portsmouth in overtime undefeated showdown

In a clash of the only two girls’ hockey undefeated teams remaining, Bishop Brady-Trinity-Bow got a taste of what it takes to be at the top.

On Wednesday night at the newly renamed Delta Dental Arena (formerly Tri-Town), the Oyster River-Portsmouth ClipperCats came back from a two-goal deficit in the third period and won it in overtime to beat Brinity-Bow, 3-2.

The end of the game was deflating and frustrating for a young Brinity-Bow team that features eight freshmen among its 18 players on the roster. Still, starting the season with a 5-1 record and losing to the top team in the state is nothing to scoff at.

Senior captain Ali Pelletier said that the team won’t hang its head after the loss. The team chemistry is high, and she’s confident they can bounce back.

Oyster River-Portsmouth sophomore Ava Gasowski led the charge to overturn the score with a hat-trick — two goals in the third period and the game-winner in overtime.

Brinity-Bow Head Coach Aaron House put the loss on himself for not taking his timeout and settling the game late. “I didn’t only because it was going to be an offensive zone faceoff for them, but that’s on me,” he said.

How did Brinity-Bow get here?

Last season, Bishop Brady-Trinity-Bow finished fourth in Division I Girls’ Ice Hockey and had a strong playoff run that ended in a 5-1 loss to the top-seeded ClipperCats.

It was the first iteration of the semi-new cooperative team as the Bishop Brady-Trinity squad dropped Londonderry and added Bow players to its ranks in a more geographically sensible cohort.

Head Coach Dan Earley, then in his 14th year in charge of the squad, led the team to a fourth consecutive playoff appearance after the pandemic and its second semifinal appearance in that timeframe.

Now in year two of the Brinity-Bow iteration of this team, Earley stepped away and handed the reins over to Aaron House, the Athletic Director for Bishop Brady.

“I think we’ve got to be appreciative of the program that he built, but as far as me working with these kids, they’ve been amazing,” House said after the loss to the ClipperCats.

House, who has extensive experience as a hockey coach, said he never had a team absorb his strategies and buy into his coaching style so quickly before. The regular season’s winding road is still long ahead, but the start is promising for this squad.

“What I’ve said all along is we want to peak come playoff time, not in the fifth game of the season,” House said.

Takeaways:

Bow’s senior left winger, Audrey Starr, knows what to do when she sees an opening in the goal.

Starr scored on a breakaway in the first period, assisted by junior Kaylee Jacques and senior Ali Pelletier. She carried the puck all the way into the low slot, where she snuck it through with ease to open the scoring.

Her second goal came with two minutes remaining in the second period, assisted by Bow freshmen Olivia Roy and Maddy Kenney. It was a long, low glove shot, just past the neutral zone in front of her own bench, and it caught Oyster River-Portsmouth’s goalie by surprise.

Bow junior goalie Mikey Lydon had a very solid night in goal despite the adverse score in the final box score. Throughout the game, the ClipperCats exerted significantly more pressure in Brinity-Bow’s zone and fired countless shots.

Lydon held them scoreless for two periods and only held them to one goal until Oyster River-Portsmouth scored with 21.8 seconds remaining in the third.

Limiting shots will be key for this team to continue winning as they move ahead. The team did well during penalty kill situations but struggled to clear the puck down the stretch.

House said there were a few other things he will work with the team on, and he has some ideas he wants to try after this big test.

“As I told them in the locker room, there were four or five things that we saw late in the game that gave us ideas on what we need to do in practice,” he said.

What does the future hold?

Pelletier said that, although frustrated by the loss, the season has been a success. It was their first year going through a full pre-season and that’s been crucial to their success.

“That benefitted us, not in the way like on the ice, but team bonding. Once we hit the locker room for that first practice, it was like, okay we’re all best friends,” she said.

The chemistry and energy are there. This game was the most energetic and determined one they’ve had, according to Pelletier. She was proud of her teammates and their effort—chalking the loss up to bad luck.

“I think we’re perfectly fine. We know that we’re one of the top teams,” Pelletier added.

Brinity-Bow will face a gauntlet of tough teams ahead. On Saturday, they’ll travel to St. Thomas-Winnacunnet-Dover for a 5:30 p.m. puck-drop. Next week, they’ll stick around near Concord and play the Crimson Tide on Jan. 14 at Everett Arena starting at 7:30 p.m.