Top four seeds Spaulding and Dover were extended into overtime before advancing to the semifinal round of the NHIAA Division Two Tournament.
No. Spaulding 4, No. 5 Windham/Pelham 3 (OT)
Windham/Pelham’s Bryce Blanchard forced OT with 1:09 left in regulation but Justin Jewell notched the game-winner, converting a set-up by Zander Allen.
Blanchard had a hat trick for WP while Jewell scored two and Allen had a goal and two assists as Spaulding reached the semifinal round for the third consecutive year. Anderson Doble also scored for the Red Raiders and Chad Desautels recorded two assists for WP. Goalies Ben Toussaint of Spaulding and Mike Donovan of WP had 32 saves each.
“It was a very hard-fought game with lots of momentum swings. In the end Spaulding caught the right bounce of the puck,” said Spaulding coach Paul George.
Windham/Pelham finished its final season as a co-op program at 14-5-0. Windham will be a standalone program next year while Pelham pairs with Alvirne.
No. 2 Dover 3, No. 7 Merrimack 2 (OT)
The Green Wave was nine seconds from elimination when Greg Stohrer netted the tying goal with goalie Luc Ravenelle out. Mitchell Welch got Dover on the board at 4:31 of the third period after Merrimack took a 2-0 lead on Mark Feeney goals at 34 seconds of the first period and 4:46 of the second, the latter on a 5-on-3 power play.
The goalies Ravenelle (23 saves) of Dover and Devin Gillis of Merrimack (27 saves) both played well. The Tomahawks finished 11-9-0.
“The boys played their hearts out all season and overcame adversity this year. I’m very proud of all my players especially the seniors,” said Merrimack coach Kurt Mithoeffer.
No. 1 Bedford 6, No. 9 Lebanon 0
There wasn’t much mystery to this one as the undefeated Bulldogs were in complete control, despite taking a number of penalties. Bedford thrived on the PK, scoring three times while shorthanded.
The two-time defending champions got a hat trick from Harrison Voloshin, two goals from junior Asa Palker and a shutout performance from senior keeper Steve Tempesta.
Lebanon capped an 8-11-1 season.
No. 3 Bow 4, No. 6 Goffstown 0
This one was far closer than it sounds as the Falcons scored three goals in the final four minutes to close out the Grizzlies. Chris Fournier scored what proved to be the game-winner at 12:43 of the second period after forcing the Goffstown defense into an in-zone turnover.
Freshman Chris Mead doubled the margin with 4:04 to play, then Jake Rand stretched it to 3-0 with 2:17 left. Bow added an empty-netter to account for the final. Robbie Margeson had 17 saves for the shutout while Goffstown’s Ben Genest finished with 23 saves.
Goffstown finished 13-6-0.
