By Blake Santana
The Alvirne-Milford Admirals will kick off their season on December 2 with a preseason matchup against Nashoba Valley Technical and the Vikings. The Admirals are coming off a season in which they finished 7-10, missed the playoffs by just two games, and finished 8th in NHIAA’s Division II.
While the Admirals lost several key pieces last season in Matty Ryan, Sal Pace, Hayden Ricard, and Brennan Levesque, as well as the likes of alternate captain Chris Bedard, center Maddy Debelis, and defensemen Kelci Waters, who unfortunately missed the entirety of last season with a hip injury, expectations remain high for the Alvirne-Milford Co-Op. After all, they were able to retain netminder, Trent Scarbro, after some rumors that he would transfer over the Summer.
All in all, the Navy and Maroon will return 14 skaters and 2 goalies, with the aforementioned seven players graduating, as well as losing D Colton Laroe, who transferred to Trinity High School, G James Brew who left for Merrimack, and F Sam Fortin, who opted not to play in his senior year.
Returning 16 players in total is far from a bad thing. The issue, however, is that the three big names that graduated in 2023-Hayden Ricard, Matty Ryan, and Sal Pace-combined to score all, but a handful of goals for the Admirals. Big shoes to fill for sure for Ceddy Beaulieu, Bryce Larco, and James Nemeth. That trio combined for just six goals last season. Alvirne-Milford will need more from those three.
Luckily, last year’s third line, this year’s second, is staying mostly intact, with Braydon Atwood remaining on the left wing, Brandon Callahan moving to center, and BG transfer Brandon Ganas on the right wing. Hopefully, this line will account for more than the measly two goals they had last season, both coming off the stick of Atwood.
On the third line, the wingers are both returning in Ryan Ricard and Cory Tomkins. This line also sees freshman Dylan MacLoud join them in the middle. Ricard is moving from being a defenseman to a winger and will play on the opposite side of his older brother who graduated with the second most goals in Alvirne history.
On the fourth line, it’ll be three players who didn’t get much ice time last season and will be hoping to contribute in Eddie Marchese, Gavin Darrigo, and Chris Bozza.
On defense, four of the five defensemen will be returning from last season with Landon Briand, Cade Bouchard, Mason Tomkins, and Luc Pelletier back for the Admirals.
Additionally, possibly the pieces that could carry Alvirne-Milford to glory this season, Trent Scarbro and Kian Corcoran will be back between the pipes. Trent has been stellar in net for the past three seasons, and Corcoran has shown flashes at times when given the opportunity last season.
This year, Alvirne-Milford is only bringing in four players, three on the front end and one on the blue line. Up front, two of the new players to the team are expected to make an immediate impact: Brandon Ganas and Dylan MacLoud. While Mason Komarek may make an impact at some point, all projections seem to have him potentially playing a much smaller role than MacLoud and Ganas will.
On the blue line, it’ll just be Nathan Ricci joining the team. Ricci will likely serve as an extra defenseman to complement Bouchard, Briand, Mason Tomkins, and Luc Pelletier. While not expected to make a major impact this season, it will be crucial experience this season that Ricci will be gaining for the Admirals. It’s always good to have a few freshmen coming in and getting Varsity experience.
Ultimately, the Admirals and their expected level of success could fall all over the place. Depending on how they play this season, there could be a realistic floor of possibly 4-14 or 5-13, but also a ceiling of the inverse at 13-5 or 14-4. It will all depend on a few factors. Who plays up to their potential? Do any players exceed expectations? Are the Admirals able to replace the potent scoring of Pace-Ryan-Ricard? Can the defensive group keep the puck out of high-danger spots on the ice? And perhaps the most important question: can the duo of Trent Scarbro and Kian Corcoran play to their potential and carry this team to its first playoff berth since 2021, and first time earning a playoff spot since 2018-19?
At the end of the day, is it possible for the Admirals to make the playoffs? It is. The biggest plus is that Division II has added the Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma Raiders to the mix, making the number of teams jump from 11 to 12, and meaning that 8 teams will make the playoffs.
That means the Admirals just have to best four teams to earn a ticket to the dance. Not anything impossible, but obviously, the goal is to be as high of a seed as possible and possibly get a home playoff game. Once they get there, this team has what it takes to not only be competitive but potentially break some brackets and win a game or two.