Concord boys hockey takes its best shots, and then some, in win over Trinity
Concord High School boys hockey coach Dunc Walsh did not believe his team’s shot count when he looked at the scoresheet.
GOFFSTOWN – Concord High School boys hockey coach Dunc Walsh did not believe his team’s shot count when he looked at the scoresheet.
He did not think the Crimson Tide tested Trinity goaltender Ethan Messner with 71 shots in their 4-0 victory over Trinity Thursday night at Sullivan Arena.
They did.
Concord (5-1) outshot the Pioneers, 43-6, over the first two periods and 71-8 overall. The Crimson Tide achieved that feat without junior forward Drew Livingston and one of its three captains, senior forward Alex Marceau, in the lineup.
Concord took a 1-0 lead into the third period thanks to senior defenseman Matt Chorlian’s goal 3:49 into the contest. Andy Cole, Ethan Donlon and Devin Philbrick were responsible for Concord’s three-goal outburst in the final frame.
Cole scored a rebound goal from the slot following a shot by Dan Lebell 3:31 into the third period to give Concord a 2-0 lead. Donlon jammed the puck home from the crease 7:17 into the third to build a three-goal Crimson Tide lead. Walsh said Philbrick’s backdoor goal off a feed from Anders Norton with 5:19 left was his team’s best goal of the contest.
“Sooner or later, the puck was going to go in. We took (so) many shots,” Walsh said. “The puck was bouncing around and we had so many chances at rebounds and loose pucks sitting there so it was nice to finally knock in a couple in the third period.”
Trinity coach Mike Connell was proud of how Messner played in the loss.
“Ethan played very well,” Connell said. “He seemed focused all night. At the end, after 1,000 shots or whatever (Concord) got on him, he’s going to get tired.
“As a team, I just don’t think we were doing enough to release that pressure because we had opportunities to get out of the zone and we didn’t. We coughed the puck up (and) had too many turnovers in our own end for no reason.”
Both teams had crucial penalty kills in the second frame. The Pioneers (1-5) found a way to kill off Dominic D’Amico’s four-minute, double-minor penalty and Concord escaped unscathed from a five-on-three disadvantage.
One of the Pioneers’ best chances to get on the scoreboard came with less than two minutes left in the second stanza. Senior forward T.J. Fell received a pass and flipped a shot from the crease but the puck sailed wide left of Crimson Tide netminder Griffin Gilbert (eight saves).
Trinity did not have many other opportunities to put one past Gilbert. The Pioneers logged four shots on goal in the second period and just two shots in both the first and third periods.
“It’s a good thing to see that we’re able to dominate the play,” Chorlian said. “There are still things to work on but it’s definitely nice to see that – being able to dominate.”
