Last weekend, freshman defenseman Reece Mounsey scored a rocket to send Concord to the semifinals with a 4-2 win over Bedford. Next up for the squad is the state championship game against Bishop Guertin on Saturday night.
Reece’s father, Michael Mounsey, is rooting for a little repeat history.
As a freshman defenseman for Concord, Michael “Mick” Mounsey scored the game-winner against Bishop Guertin in the championship 30 years ago and had 44 points on the undefeated squad. His son is now set to face that same opponent in the championship 30 years later.
“There’s a level of pride,” Mounsey said about seeing his son in the Concord uniform and facing the same opponent three decades later.
Freshman defenseman Reece Mounsey celebrates vigorously after scoring late in the third period. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip 
Olympic gold medal winner and Concord native Tara Mounsey plays with team Babes of Glory during the Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships at White Park in Concord on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. Credit: ELIZABETH FRANTZ
This year, new faces with familiar last names have emerged to power the Tide ahead. The team is finding success, currently 22-1 on the season and 19-1 in NHIAA play, as it vies for another Division I state title.
“I think you’re going to see a very similar BG team that we played against back in ’96. I mean, Gary Bishop’s still the hockey coach at Bishop Guertin,” the elder Mounsey said about the match-up.
The Mounsey name carries weight in Concord, as Reece’s father and aunt Tara Mounsey played together on Concord’s first defensive line during the team’s championship-winning 1995-96 season.
He was the runner-up for Division I Player of the Year, finishing behind his senior sister, Tara, in 1996. He later left to play for Avon Old Farms and returned to New Hampshire to play for the UNH Wildcats.
She went on, as many already know, to win the first-ever gold medal for the USA Women’s Hockey team at the 1998 Olympics and earned a silver medal in 2002. Most recently, she was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Concord Head Coach Dunc Walsh has coached multiple generations of Crimson Tide players during his 36 years at the head of the program.
Just a few years ago, in 2023, the Monitor wrote about Joey Tarbell and Brooks Craigue’s dreams of playing for the Tide, former Tide leading goalscorer Mike Commerford and the intricate web that makes up Concord hockey.
Walsh said he calls sometimes mistakenly calls Reece “Mickey.” They are spitting images of each other on the ice.
“Just the way his body moves, it’s so similar. It’s just his mannerisms, you know. So that’s kind of funny,” Walsh said.
In that same quarterfinal game against Bedford, sophomore winger Nolan Walsh, no relation to coach Walsh, scored a hat-trick on Saturday to seal the deal. On Wednesday against Windham, he assisted four of the Tide’s six, and brought his points tally to 64 for the season.
Walsh, however, is the son of another Concord hockey alum, Tim Walsh, who currently coaches the Bow boys’ hockey team. Tim Walsh played for Concord and went on to play at the University of New Hampshire from 1996 to 2000.
“My dad taught me everything I know. I’ve trained with him. I worked hard to get here and it’s paying off,” Nolan Walsh said after Wednesday’s semifinal win. “I’ve always wanted to play for Dunc.”
Sophomore winger Nolan Walsh opened the scoring with a strong shot against Bedford goalie Savo Ftorek. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip 
Bow Head Coach Tim Walsh has deep roots in Concord Hockey, as a player in the 90’s and now as a father to the Crimson Tide’s top scorer this season. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip
A pair of brothers on the team, senior center Jack Gfroerer and sophomore Finn Gfroerer, can trace their roots way back too. Their father, Matt, played for the Tide from 1993 to 1995 and went on to play for Norwich University.
Matt Gfroerer played alongside Tim Walsh then, and now their sons get to share the ice, continuing the legacy.
When the dads wore the Tide uniforms, the team had an unlucky run of state championship losses. The team lost to Hanover in 1993 and again in 1995 to Manchester Memorial.
Watching last year’s quadruple overtime championship at Bishop Guertin was nerve-wracking, Matt Gfroerer said, and he was glad his boys didn’t experience the same fate.
“To see them kind of follow in the footsteps of what we did, it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “There’s a lot of second-generation sports out there from my class that have come back to Concord and are now on the team.”
Walsh noted the similarities between the Gfroerer sons and Matt, especially in Jack’s leftie shot. It’s both a weird and fun experience for him, he noted.
Sophomore winger Rhys Craigue’s father, Nate, was not on the hockey team but played with Walsh and Gfroerer on the baseball team that ultimately lost to Nashua in the 1994 championship.
Craigue’s two older brothers both played for the Tide and crowned themselves champions, Brooks and Trevor Craigue, and now Rhys has a chance for a second title.
Senior center Jack Gfroerer is one of many Crimson Tide hockey players continuing a family legacy on the team. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip 
Sophomore Finn Gfroerer is playing alongside his older brother Jack for the Crimson Tide as they both carry on their father’s legacy on the Concord boys’ hockey team. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip 
Nothing could stop Brooks Craigue, except a trip in the second period, as the Concord sophomore forward had three goals and two assists in Division I quarterfinal game against Bow on Saturday night at Everett Arena. Concord won, 9-1, and will face Bishop Guertin in Wednesday’s semifinals at JFK Memorial Coliseum in Manchester. Credit: GEOFF FORESTER/ Monitor staff 
Concord’s Trevor Craigue and Trinity’s Noah Levesque (34) battle along the boards on Wednesday at JFK Coliseum in Manchester. Concord won the Brian C. Stone Memorial Tournament game, 5-4, to advance to the championship for the second consecutive year. The championship game was not completed at press time. Credit: Rich Miyara / NH Sports Photography 
Concord sophomore forward Rhys Craigue (3) pokes the puck from Manchester senior defenseman Max Valacanas. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip
Of course, coach Walsh has been there for it all. His coaching staff is all former players as well: Pat LaCasse (Class of ’11), Billy MacDougall (Class of ’06) and Colin Nelson (Class of ’22).
“When they started having kids and started getting them into hockey, they probably figured I’d be long gone by now, but I’ve kept coaching,” he said.
As Walsh, the players and parents look ahead to the eighth time Concord will face Bishop Guertin, they’re all rooting for another victory in a long-running history they all share.