While Alvirne-Milford’s season did not end in the way that the team and their fans wanted, there was still more hockey to be had in the world of New Hampshire high school sports with the annual Senior All-Star Games in Exeter. This year, unlike in past years, the teams were mixed with Divison I, II, and III players on all four squads. Gone were the days of Division I and Division II being in one game and Division III being a separate contest. All players who played for the same squad during the season were placed on the same team for the tournament, with Alvirne-Milford’s group being assigned to Team Red.
Team Red was comprised of players from Alvirne-Milford (3, Trent Scarbro, Cedrik Beaulieu, Cade Bouchard), Winnacunnet (5, Owen Helton, Ian McCormick, Nolan Rennie, Brady Thompson, Drew Morelli), Hanover (1, Jack Wilkenson), Bishop Guertin (3, Joe DeKarski, Caleb Young, Aiden Kelley), Salem (1, Luke Barton), Nashua North-Souhegan (1, Chase McBride), John Stark-Hopkinton (1, Lucas Gagnon), Kennett (1, Robbie Murphy).
This season, due to the introduction of a round-robin tournament, the day was divided into 25-minute running-time games where everyone got to play each other once. Team Red began their afternoon with a matchup against Team Blue, who rostered players from Pinkerton, Concord, Bow, Dover, Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma, Berlin-Gorham, and Porsmouth-Newmarket. Team Red went with Trent Scarbro in net while Blue went with Kolin Masterson of Berlin-Gorham. Brady Thompson of Winnacunnet tallied the lone marker for Team Red, giving them a 1-0 victory in the first game. Scarbro continued to prove to the state exactly why he was selected as an all-star, stopping all nine shots he faced in his first 25 minutes of action.
The second game was divided into two 12:30 halves to allow the ice to be cleaned. Team Red’s second opponent was Team White 1, which was comprised of players from Londonderry, Manchester, Somersworth-Coe-Brown, Spaulding, Pembroke-Campbell, and Kearsarge-Plymouth. Team Red made the move to swap their goaltenders for the second game, giving Winnacunnet’s Owen Helton the nod. Helton played well, only allowing one goal on a rebound chance that Owen Carey found the back of the net. For Team Red, it was Jack Wilkinson and Joe DeKarski with goals, good enough for a Team Red 2-1 victory and a 2-0 start to the tournament.
Game three was between the two heavyweights. Both Team Red and Team White 2 came into this matchup undefeated at 2-0 with Team White 2 having beaten Team White 1 3-1 in their first game and then beating Team Blue 4-3 in their second game, setting up a defacto championship game between the two teams with Team Blue and Team White 1 battling for third place. Team White 2 was made up of stars from Merrimack, Windham, Exeter, Trinity, Bedford, Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield, and Belmont-Gilford. Team Red decided to stick with Helton in goal while Team White 2 turned to Bedford’s Tristan Kerr to start.
Team White 2 jumped out to an early lead before Nolan Rennie and Chase McBride scored to make it 2-1 in favor of Team Red. It wasn’t long before Helton allowed a pair of tallies for Team White 2 that gave them the lead 3-2 with about 13 minutes left in the game. That goal meant that Helton’s night was over and coaches Mike Lane and Tom Beaulieu sent in Scarbro to finish things off.
As the Admirals and opponents alike had seen all year, when Trent is on his game, there is no way to beat him cleanly. On Sunday, Scarbro was on another level, stopping all 17 shots he faced in 38 minutes of action. He lived up to his “quadruple him” nickname that has been jokingly given to the senior netminder.
When all was said and done, McBride added a second goal and Nolan Rennie got the game-winner for Team Red, as they emerged victorious 4-3 in what will be the final game many of these star players will play in competitive hockey.
While Cade Bouchard and Ceddy Beaulieu didn’t find their way onto the scoresheet in the tournament, both had several key plays in the form of blocks, clears, or setup passes that allowed their team to play sound hockey and keep the puck out of the net.
