Pembroke-Campbell boys hockey comes back to beat ConVal-Conant in D3 prelim
Pembroke-Campbell boys hockey coach Marc Noel describes his team as a scrappy one. That attribute was on full display Wednesday.
CONCORD – Pembroke-Campbell boys hockey coach Marc Noel describes his team as a scrappy one. That attribute was on full display in Pembroke-Campbell’s 5-4 comeback victory over ConVal-Conant in the first round of the NHIAA Division III playoffs Wednesday night at Everett Arena.
Eighth-seeded Pembroke-Campbell scored four goals over the final 7:36 to overcome a 4-1 deficit and advance to the quarterfinals. Pembroke-Campbell (9-10) will travel to play top-seeded Kennett of Conway (15-3) Saturday at 6 p.m.
Matt Tremblay completed Pembroke-Campbell’s four-goal comeback when he scored from the crease with 31.7 seconds remaining.
“We were coming down and I saw Sean (Moore) whiffed and the puck came right to me and I just went high on the goalie because he was going down and it went in, luckily,” Tremblay said.
Jayden Lamy helped power Pembroke-Campbell’s comeback with his two third-period goals. The sophomore forward knotted the score with a rebound goal with 3:19 remaining. Lamy’s first goal began the comeback, cutting ninth-seeded ConVal-Conant’s lead to 4-2 with 7:36 left.
Alex Mailhot scored a rebound goal just 1:14 after Lamy’s first tally to bring Pembroke-Campbell within a goal.
“Even with the 4-1 lead, I knew that the next goal was going to be the big one,” ConVal-Conant coach Mark Leger said. “When (Pembroke-Campbell) got it, they started building on that. I could sense that the ice was really starting to tilt in their direction.”
Pembroke-Campbell pinned the Griffins (7-10) in their own zone for long stretches in the third period, which limited their ability to make substitutions.
“The other team couldn’t get the puck out of the zone,” Noel said. “We kept on pressing and pressing and pressing and at the end of the day, at some point the other team is going to get tired.”
Pembroke-Campbell held a 24-12 shots advantage through the first 30 minutes but ConVal-Conant had the 4-1 lead entering the third period.
The Griffins scored three goals before the game was eight minutes old to take a 3-0 advantage into the first intermission.
Trevor Johnson opened the game’s scoring at the 1:38 mark when he scored on a wrister from the slot.
Cam Tracy doubled ConVal-Conant’s lead 4:41 into the game. The junior forward worked around Pembroke-Campbell’s Dylan Fisher at the blue line before skating toward goal and going top shelf on Pembroke-Campbell goaltender Connor Locke (12 saves).
Luca Haufler scored a backhanded rebound goal following an Aidan Kirby shot 7:34 into the first period to give the Griffins a 3-0 advantage.
“We got a couple early goals but I think that may have cursed us more than helped us,” Leger said.
Tracy and Pembroke-Campbell’s Nate Lamontagne traded goals over the first 2:29 of the second period to make it 4-1 ConVal-Conant.
Pembroke-Campbell had four power-play opportunities over the first two periods but could not best ConVal-Conant senior netminder Chance Kirby (25 saves) on any of them. Kirby turned away 13 shots over the Griffins’ four penalty kills.
“As far as I’m concerned, they worked really hard,” Noel said of his players. “It’s all about heart. … These guys found their heart today.”
