Alvirne-Milford came into their second to last week of the regular season at 8-6-1 with a chance to earn a bye through the preliminary round and into the quarterfinals of the Division II tournament. All they needed was a Spaulding loss to either Portsmouth-Newmarket or Oyster River, and a win of their own against Somersworth-Coe-Brown. They also had a chance to keep Goffstown from being able to catch them, as well, earning a top 6 seed. The Admirals just needed to keep their unbeaten streak rolling, and they did just that, pushing the streak to five games with a 2-2 tie against the Grizzlies on Wednesday and a 2-1 victory over the Somersworth-Coe-Brown Bearcats on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Alvirne-Milford hit the road for the last time in the regular season to play the Grizzlies at St. Anselm College on the Grizzlies’ Autism Night. The two teams wore special jerseys that were decked out with puzzle pieces on the shoulders and logos of each team, all in autism-friendly colors. After an extended pregame ceremony, the two teams got to work battling tooth and nail, coming out of the first period the same way they went in, tied at 0-0.
Nick Caldwell would get the scoring going for Goffstown, beating Kian Corcoran blocker-side after finding himself wide open in front of the net off a perfect feed from Gavin Diodatti top make it 1-0 Goffstown with 9:55 to play in the second period.
Bryce Larco would tally his 12th goal on the season with 3:36 to play in the frame on the rebound from Ceddy Beaulieu’s shot, evening the score at 1-1.
In the third, Dylan Elbeg beat Corcoran over his glove on a shot from the hash marks to give the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead over the Admirals, but Brandon Ganas took a centering pass from defenseman, Cade Bouchard, and beat Brock Bennett to tie the game back up at 2-2. Alvirne-Milford then seized the momentum, having a few opportunities to end the game in regulation, the best one being a breakaway for Bryce Larco with 40 seconds left in regulation that he sent wide of the net.
This game would go into overtime, and the Admirals and Grizzlies each had chances to win the game, but ultimately, Kian Corcoran and Brock Bennett came up with some big saves, forcing the game to end in a 2-2 tie, sending the Admirals’ record to 8-6-1 on the season. Goffstown’s loss to Nashua North-Souhegan on Friday and their tie against Merrimack on Saturday meant that the Admirals were guaranteed at least a top eight spot, and with a win against the Bearcats, they’d be top seven at the worst.
On Saturday, the Admirals turned to senior netminder, Trent Scarbro, to keep their hot streak going, and Scarbro did just that, stopping 31 of the 32 shots he saw on the night.
Braydon Atwood opened the scoring with his team-leading 17th goal of the season and gave the Admirals a 1-0 lead just 5:42 into the game.
Unfortunately, Tulley Keefe tied the game up at 1-1 13:52 into the frame on a deflection goal off Dylan Berovac’s initial wrist shot. The game entered its first intermission with the same score. The Bearcats were out-shooting the Admirals 10-5 through one period, but Trent Scarbro, or “quadruple him” as the broadcast team has nicknamed him, was keeping his team in the game and Braydon Atwood did his usual thing with open space in front of the net.
Just 4:43 into the second period, Brandon Ganas tallied his 8th goal of the season, which would be the eventual game-winning goal and made the score 2-1.
Both teams had solid chances to score in the remainder of the second and throughout the third, but Dylan Cossette and Trent Scarbro were brick walls from that point on, not allowing another marker the rest of the way. The Bearcats even had a full two-minute 5-on-3 after Landon Briand was called for tripping and Brandon Ganas was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Scarbro still kept them off the board.
Their win, coupled with Spaulding’s loss to Oyster River on Sunday afternoon, earned the Admirals at least a sixth seed in the playoffs, with the opportunity to get as high as 4th by the end of the week.
The Admirals will play their senior night on Saturday, February 24 against their biggest rival, the Merrimack Tomahawks in what could very well be a semifinal or championship preview for a final tune-up before the playoffs. If the Admirals can win that game and Dover loses too
Spaulding on Wednesday, the Admirals will secure a fifth seed or better.
To earn the fourth seed, Alvirne-Milford needs to beat Merrimack, Dover needs to lose to Spaulding, and the Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma Raiders need to lose to two of Timberlane, Monadnock-Fall Mountain-ConVal, and Oyster River. If all of that happens, the Admirals will play host to Dover in a rematch at Skate 3 in the quarterfinals on March 2.
