Concord sophomore goalie Carter Heise was fired up after a shutout in the last home game of the season. He scraped the ice with his stick after the buzzer, sweeping away the Hanover Bears.
Concord (16-1) beat out the Bears (8-9), at Everett Arena on Wednesday afternoon, 5-0, to clinch the first-seed in Division I and a first-round bye.
Heise kept the score at zero with 14 saves. He was backed up by solid performances on defense, especially by the first two lines made up of senior captain Brayden Beauregard, freshman Reece Mounsey, senior Michael Barry and sophomore Finn Gfroerer.
“The boys are playing good right now,” Heise said with a victorious smile. “I think we’re on a roll starting the last few weeks here, and we’re looking to work hard in practice.”
It was a special night, not just for the Tide, but also for New Hampshire hockey because it was a match-up between two 600-win coaches, Dunc Walsh and Hanover’s Dick Dodds. After Walsh achieved the milestone earlier this year, the rivalry reached new heights.
The game started, and then stopped, and then started and stopped again.
It was largely fought on the boards and through faceoffs, with only a handful of shots on net either way for the first 12 minutes.
Concord’s junior winger Sean Mulkerron received a minor penalty for hooking with 2:49 remaining and it seemed like a moment where Hanover might capitalize.
As soon as play resumed, Concord sophomore Nolan Walsh scored one of the most skillful goals of the season.
Senior Chad LaRiviere forced a turnover and sent it ahead down the right side to Walsh. With the puck glued to his tape, he pulled it parallel to the goal toward the middle. He lost the defender with a spin, pulled the puck back to bait the goalie, and found his opening to score.
Tyler Morin scored shortly after with only 15.7 seconds remaining in the first period. Suddenly, Concord was ahead 2-0 after a sleepy start. They kept pouring it on.
Walsh and Morin both ended the night with two goals and an assist each; Mounsey assisted two and LaRiviere assisted another to end the night with two. In total, the team only fired off 19 shots.
“We’ve got one game left and next week’s a long week,” Walsh said after the win. He’ll have the boys focusing on the details to polish up before the playoffs.
The game was one of Concord’s most valiant defensive efforts as well. Hitting hard on the boards and forcing turnovers were key to keeping Hanover at bay.
Beauregard, the captain on defense, scored a goal from the blue line and then went the other way to make a diving block with his outstretched stick to prevent Hanover from shooting.
“I whiffed on the power play. I had to get back, bad look on me if I didn’t. Got the team fired up too,” he said.
So far, the defense has allowed 19 goals against in 17 games while cycling through both goalies, Heise and senior Luukas Mayer.
He said the team’s communication has been crucial to keeping opposing offenses shut down. The upperclassmen were always there for him during bad games, so he tries to lead in the same way now.
“Play simple defense. Watch the body,” Beauregard said. The team’s defensive identity isn’t anything illustrious; it’s just hard-nosed fundamentals.
Concord will play one more game before the playoffs. On Saturday, Feb. 28, the Tide will travel to Pinkerton for a 7:40 p.m. start time to end the season.