It took a lot of work at the beginning of the season to figure out what to expect from the Admirals. Had the team’s window slammed shut with the graduation of Matt Ryan, Sal Pace, Hayden Ricard, and Brennan Levesque? Or could the remaining core pieces, Trent Scarbro, Bryce Larco, James Nemeth, and Cade Bouchard, among others, carry the team to the promised land? Either outcome was believable back in December, and not even those close to the team knew what would happen.
Once the puck dropped on the regular season, the Admirals made it clear that they weren’t fazed by the loss of last year’s “red”, or top, line, as they jumped out to an easy 1-0 record after a 5-1 victory over Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma. This team would eventually ride a vastly Division III schedule to a fourth seed in the tournament. Surprisingly for the Admirals, it wasn’t the likes of Trent Scarbro, Ceddy Beaulieu, or even Braydon Atwood that shined that night, but it was sophomores Kian Corcoran and Brandon Callahan led the way for Alvirne-Milford.
In the team’s second game, they took to home ice for the first time to battle the Goffstown Grizzlies with Corcoran again manning the net. Corcoran proved that he was not just a backup for the Admirals, but a solid option in net and perhaps the team’s ace. Corcoran’s 41-save shutout led his team to a 1-0 victory and a 2-0 start, something the program hadn’t seen since 2018-19. That was also the last time the team had made the playoffs, and this group was chasing the program records set in that season.
Alvirne-Milford’s third matchup was against the Monadnock-Fall Mountain-ConVal Huskies. This bout was the first time we saw senior netminder Trent Scarbro between the pipes. An 11-2 victory moved Alvirne-Milford to 3-0 on the season, establishing themselves as potential title contenders. Things were shaking up to be interesting at Skate 3, as by this point in the season, the Admirals had seen Bryce Larco, Kian Corcoran, and Brandon Callahan begin to break out and Braydon Atwood showing the potential that he showed two years ago as a freshman. The Admirals were back and had Alvirne’s first 3-0 start since 2011-12, another year that this team would draw comparisons to.
Like any team, the Admirals had their rough patches during the season, and the month of January was the low point for this squad, as they started the month 0-3 with losses to Nashua South-Pelham, Merrimack, and Somersworth-Coe-Brown before what might have been the most crucial game of the season: a 4-4 tie against the Green Wave. While the result kept the Admirals at NHIAA-.500, it signified something far more important for Alvirne-Milford-the resurgence of Trent Scarbro.
After falling behind 3-0 to Dover in the first period, it was clear that something was wrong with Kian Corcoran, and head coach Dave Thibeault decided to turn to the veteran netminder to right the ship. Scarbro did just that, stopping all but one shot he faced, a 3-on-1 chance that Zach Grigg beat Scarbro on. Alvirne-Milford, fortunately, took the momentum of having their senior goaltender back in his best form, and they stormed back, evening the game at 4-4 and having a fifth goal wiped off the board. A tie after being behind 3-0 through 15 minutes showed something this team had not yet shown, an ability to fight through adversity and make games out of seemingly non-competitive contests.
The Admirals followed the tie up with a 4-0 victory over the Huskies, sweeping the season series, and giving Scarbro his third and final high school shutout. More importantly, the Admirals were back over .500 at 4-3-1 heading into their toughest stretch of the season. Games at Spaulding, Winnacunnet, and St. Thomas Aquinas, followed by home games against Oyster River and Nashua North-Souhegan were the next cluster of the schedule, and a daunting task to stay afloat through the beginning of February.
After dropping a heartbreaking game against Spaulding 5-4 that saw the game-winning goal cross the goalline with 38.8 seconds left in the third and then falling just short in a classic battle against Winnacunnet 4-2, the Admirals battled back, giving Corcoran his first start in quite some time against St. Thomas. They got the victory 4-3 with the third St. Thomas goal coming on a penalty shot after Ceddy Beaulieu had committed a hooking penalty on a breakaway chance for the Saints.
Sitting at 5-5-1 coming back home for Oyster River and Nashua North-Souhegan, the playoffs were in sight, and the team knew that they had the chance to make it, “I’m not worried. Division II has been crazy this year. It’s our year this year,” said sophomore Brandon Callahan before their matchup with Oyster River.
The team managed to jump out to a 2-1 lead in the first after goals from Braydon Atwood and Bryce Larco through the first period, and carried that lead into the second before the Bobcats broke the brick wall that was Kian Corcoran and Cayden Giordani came away with the game-winner late in the third. Another heartbreaking loss for Alvirne-Milford. “We’ll bounce back Monday,” said senior Trent Scarbro. “I’m not losing to Zach [Veillieux] twice this year.”
Bounce back is exactly what the Admirals did behind goals from Ceddy Beaulieu, Brandon Ganas, and two from Brandon Callahan as well as a stellar performance from Scarbro in net that led the Admirals to an upset 4-3 victory over the Sabre-Titans in a game that inched the Admirals closer to the playoffs and would ultimately keep the Sabre-Titans out in Division I.
The Admirals then got a bit of a break from the top-tier competition with a trip back to Dover to play the Portsmouth-Newmarket Clippermules, and they came away with a 4-1 victory. The biggest highlight of the night was the first and only high school goal for team favorite Cory Tomkins. Brandon Ganas, Braydon Atwood, and Cory’s little brother Mason Tomkins also found the back of the net for Alvirne-Milford, pushing the team’s magic number down to just two. They could clinch with a win against Timberlane.
The Admirals took care of business against the Owls, winning 7-1 in a game that was never close. After knowing that the Saints and Clippermules both had lost earlier in the day, the Admirals knew they had earned themselves at least a playoff berth for the first time since 2018-19.
“We’re not done yet,” Corcoran said after the team earned the playoff spot. “We won’t be done til we raise a banner. This is just the beginning.”
Knowing they had earned a playoff spot, the Admirals had just three games left. A trip to Goffstown followed by home dates against Somersworth-Coe-Brown and Merrimack.
The second matchup with Goffstown ended in a thrilling 2-2 tie that the Admirals had several chances to take late, missing a trio of open nets down the stretch. Fortunately, it only cost them two points and not four. This tie, however, earned them at least a share of the best record in Alvirne-Milford Admirals program history, guaranteeing them an 8-8-2 finish at worst with two games to play.
Somersworth-Coe-Brown came to town looking to sweep the season series once again in the team’s penultimate regular season contest. The Admirals had different ideas, however, as they not only jumped out to a lead early on, but behind goals from Braydon Atwood and Brandon Ganas and more outstanding goaltending, Alvirne-Milford took the game by a final score of 2-1.
By the time the team hit the ice against the Tomahawks, they had been locked into the sixth seed in Division II and been guaranteed a trip back to Phillips Exeter Academy and a rematch against the Winnacunnet Warriors in the first game of the playoffs. Alvirne-Milford was unfortunately unable to solve former backup netminder James Brew who, thanks to a weak goal scored by Will Farrell, managed to sweep his former squad with a 1-0 victory, spoiling senior night.
In the playoffs, it was nearly impossible to tell if the Admirals were a favorite to win it all or if they were playing with house money. Regardless of this, the Admirals turned to Trent Scarbro in hopes of him carrying the team to a state title. While the Warriors got the first goal off a Brayden Emery deflection, Alvirne-Milford showed a level of resiliency not seen since Dover with James Nemeth responding with a deflection goal, Brandon Callahan giving the team the lead, and then James Nemeth scoring on a delayed penalty off a rebound from Ceddy Beaulieu, all in under five minutes with Nemeth’s second being the eventual game-winner. Even after Drew Morelli brought the game to a one-goal battle, Brandon Ganas sealed the deal with a ripper of a wrist shot that beat Owen Helton, giving his team a 4-2 lead. The Admirals were outshot heavily, but Trent Scarbro was able to stop 48 of the 50 shots he faced, which was enough to send his team to the final four against Oyster River. The team’s first final-four appearance since 2011-12 against the team that upset them at home in the preliminary round back in 2018-19.
Unfortunately for the Admirals, the Cinderella story came to an end in the semifinals as the Bobcats took them out with a whimper 4-0. The Admirals ran into the one thing they hadn’t seen much of all season, a game in which there was a goalie not named Kian Corcoran who outplayed Trent Scarbro. While the loss was a painful one for the Maroon and Navy, this season was far from anything anyone on the team should be disappointed in. The best finish since 2011-12 when the team was still in Division III, the team’s first playoff appearance since 2018-19, and all-in-all, the best season in Admirals program history.
