Three local teams will participate, with Souhegan and Hollis/Brookline opening the tournament at home, and Milford – which got in as the 16th seed – going on the road.

Souhegan earned the No. 3 seed after bouncing back from a loss to H/B with a win over Bedford last Thursday. After playing the Bulldogs twice during the regular season, the Sabers will get Bedford one more time. The Bulldogs are the No. 14 seed and will head to Amherst for the 7 p.m. game on Monday.

Thanks to last Tuesday’s win over Souhegan, H/B jumped up to the fourth seed in the tournament. The Cavaliers ended the season with a win over Pelham, and will take on No. 13 Merrimack Valley in the first round. The Pride are a lower seed despite having won 10 games in the regular season. Tip-off is schedule for 7 p.m. on Monday.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Milford is in the tournament as well. After starting the year with one win in 13 games, the Spartans won four of five to finish the season at 5-13. They’re once against the 16th seed and will travel to face No. 1 and undefeated Lebanon on Monday.

Technorati Tags: Class I, girls basketball, Hollis/Brookline, Milford, Souhegan

For one half, it didn’t go so well for the Cavaliers.

H/B went more than 10 minutes in the first half without any points, but still managed to battle back in the fourth quarter to make things interesting in a 50-42 loss to Hanover in Class I action.

Kelly Morgan led the Cavs (11-3) with nine points while Katie Stopera had eight points and Julia Stopera added four points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Hanover (8-3) got 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks from Kat Menge and Molly Tallman added 12 points. Emma Rosen also had seven points and four steals.

The loss is the third in the last six games for H/B, which had started the season 8-0. But of those eight wins, only two came against teams in the top 10 in the Class I standings.

“There are a lot of teams that are very weak and some teams are very strong,” H/B coach Bob Murphy said. “I’d much rather be playing teams like (Hanover) at the end of the season.”

The Cavs’ three losses have come against Souhegan (12-1), Oyster River (8-6) and Hanover, three teams that H/B is battling for a home game in the first round of the Class I tournament. Another game against Souhegan and one at Bow (8-5) still remain.

“We’ve got some tough basketball left,” Murphy said. “I’d rather be doing that going into the playoffs and I think any coach would say that. I’d rather have a high seed, but I’d rather not be playing teams at the bottom and then face a team like this and the game is over in the first quarter because you’re just not prepared for them.”

That was the case against the Marauders. The Cavs trailed 10-9 on a 3-pointer by Kelsey Berry with 2:36 left in the first quarter.

By the time H/B scored again – on another basket by Berry – Hanover had gone on a 16-0 run, keeping the Cavs off the scoreboard for 10:06. The Marauders went into halftime up 28-11 after shooting 48 percent in the first half while holding H/B to 18 percent from the field.

“The other team came out with great defensive intensity,” Murphy said. “We didn’t have much of an offense to deal with it. With a defense like that, you can’t really set up set plays. You have to run a motion-type offense to get people moving. That’s what we tried to do, but we had a tough time at both ends of the floor in the first half.”

The Cavs did their best to make it a game in the third quarter, and they did thanks to their own run.

After a basket by Menge gave Hanover a 32-15 lead, H/B scored 14 of the game’s next 16 points over the next 7:53. When Morgan made the second of two free throws with 6:22 left in the game, the Cavs were down just five, 34-29.

The Marauders stretched the lead to nine following a timeout, but free throws by Morgan, McHale Perkins and Olivia Gillis, and a 3-pointer by Jillian Gillis, pulled the Cavs within three points 39-36.

Hanover’s Sharina Stearne hit two free throws to push the lead back to five, but Olivia Gillis made a layup to make it a 41-38 game with 2:33 left.

But the Marauders went right back down the floor and scored again. Hanover made 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to keep control of the game.

“I was really happy with the way they came back; they could have folded,” Murphy said. “That’s a good team. They make up for their offense because of their defense. I had tough choices of trying to play my best defenders, but when you’re behind like that, you’ve got to put in your scorers, too.

“You learn from this stuff in the sense that you can’t start slow. Those two teams (Souhegan and Bow), along with this game, should prepare us real well.”

Technorati Tags: Cavaliers, Class I, girls basketball, Hanover, Hollis/Brookline

The Souhegan High School senior used to play other sports – football, baseball, basketball – but a knee injury sent him to the sidelines. Since then, he’s participated in youth bowling leagues, working on his skills in a sport he knows he’ll be able to play for life.

When he heard that the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association was going to add bowling as a sanctioned sport for his final year of high school, Crement had one reaction.

“I was so pumped,” Crement said. “I was ready to go and I was so happy that my school is involved and I’m so happy that they’ve done it. I’ve done this for about five or six years now. It’s a lifetime sport. All these kids here will probably keep bowling for the rest of their lives. I think it’s awesome that they made this league.”

There are a lot of bowlers from Souhegan. At the team’s final home match of the season – Feb. 6 meet at Merrimack 10-Pin – the Sabers had enough bowlers not only for the varsity competition, but to have a full junior varsity match against each other.

Seniors form the majority on Souhegan’s roster this year, but the loss of bowlers to graduation doesn’t have Crement worried about the team’s attempt at future success.

“We’ve got a lot of seniors, but I think they’re going to have a lot of good talent next year because a lot of people at our school didn’t know about it,” he said. “They didn’t get the chance to because they didn’t hear about it. I think there’s going to be a bigger crowd next year.”

One of those expecting to return is sophomore Kathryn Dillon.

A soccer player in the fall, Dillon thought bowling would be a fun way to keep busy during the winter sports season.

“It’s not what I expected,” Dillon said. “I thought it was going to be easy, but there’s a lot more to bowling. It’s been pretty intense. It’s harder than it looks.”

While this year’s state tournament will consist only of an individual competition, schools have still competed in team meets during the regular season.

The match starts off with each school’s varsity bowlers completing two games. The score for each bowler is added up and combined as total score for each school, and teams are seeded according to highest score.

From there, two teams go head-to-head using the Baker System. In that setup, five bowlers from each team take turns bowling two frames, with the first bowler doing frames one and six. The second bowler takes frames two and seven, and so on.

In its final home match, Souhegan earned the top seed, thanks in part to a 201 and 210 from Crement. Hollis/Brookline and Merrimack faced off as the second and third seeds, respectively, while Goffstown and Laconia bowled, with the winner going against the Sabers.

Goffstown topped Laconia, and in the first game against Souhegan, the teams were tied in the eighth and ninth frames. The Sabers eventually pulled out a 116-114 win, and followed it up with a 151-107 victory to advance.

Souhegan and Merrimack met to determine the winner of the match. The teams stayed close until the late frames, and in the 10th, Merrimack’s Jon Gagne blew the game open with three straight strikes to finish off a 167-123 win.

In the second game, it was more of the same as the Tomahawks won, 155-115.

“The team was pumped up to be first,” Crement said. “Against Goffstown we had some good breaks. Against Merrimack, we had some tough breaks, but we went with it. Second place isn’t something to complain about.”

The Sabers have one more regular-season match, on Saturday at Keene, before the state tournament on Feb. 20 at Raymond. The top 32 individuals, according to average, will compete for the individual title, and Crement expects to be in the mix.

“I just hope to bowl well,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Technorati Tags: bowling, Cavaliers, Hollis/Brookline, Merrimack, Sabers, Souhegan, Tomahawks

The Spartans finished four-tenths of a second behind Hollis/Brookline in the 4×200-meter relay to finish third in the event and wound up one point short of first-place Lebanon (53-52) at the Class IMS girls track championship at Dartmouth College Sunday.

Bow came in third with 33 points while Hopkinton (31) was fourth and Coe-Brown (24 1/2) came in fifth. Souhegan (12) finished 10th and Hollis/Brookline (11) was 13th.

Going into the final four events, Lebanon was in first with 32 points, four ahead of Bow and six ahead of Milford. But second-place finishes by Courtney Hawkins in the 1,500 (4:57.34) and Briana Corron in the long jump (16-6 3/4) gave Milford 42 points and a lead of nine over Lebanon.

After Lebanon won the 4×400 relay, Milford’s lead was just three points. The Raiders also won the 4×200, and the 10 points pushed them in front; the third-place finish by the Spartans netted them six points, while second would have been eight.

Milford’s Cassie Sebas, Courtney Hawkins, Dina Pitsas and Peggy Lai took first in the 4×800 relay (9:50.36), besting the class record, which was set by Souhegan in 2007, by more than five seconds.

Corron also finished third in the 55-meter dash (7.48) and teamed with Sebas, Jillian Holmes and Jessica Krafft for third in the 4×200 (1:52.54).

Cecelia Muller and Amanda Clark tied for fourth in the high jump (4-10) while Lai took fourth in the 3,000 (11:04.27). The Milford relay team of Pitsas, Sebas, Muller and Hannah Ladeau also finished fourth in 4×400 (4:22.57) .

Isabella Stuopis came in third in the shot put (34-9 1/2) for Souhegan, while Hillary Wilson took fourth in the 1,000 (3:15.4).

Julia Bury finished fifth in the shot put (32-3 1/2) for Hollis/Brookline while Megan Kagenski, Devin MacDonald, Ashlee Daoust and Lyndsay Vasquez finished second in the 4×200 relay (1:52.14).

Technorati Tags: Cavaliers, Class IMS, Hollis/Brookline, Milford, Sabers, Souhegan, Spartans, track

The title came down to the final two events – the 4×400 relay and the 4×200 relay. Heading into those events, Portsmouth was first with 43 points, with Souhegan and Monadnock tied for second at 42 and Lebanon fourth with 41.

Lebanon took fourth in the 4×400, while Portsmouth was fifth and Souhegan sixth, and the Sabers and Raiders finished first and second, respectively, in the 4×200 to tie for the title.

Portsmouth wound up third with 45 points while Coe-Brown and Monadnock tied for fourth with 42. Milford was sixth with 29 points and Hollis/Brookline came in 14th with seven points.

Peret won the high jump (6-0), the 55-meter dash (6.59) and the 300 (36.75) to score 30 points on his own for the Sabers. The senior also teamed with Chris Chininis, Dennis Elverson and Parker Hall to win the 4×200 relay in 1:34.91, setting a class record.

Chininis also took third in the 55 (6.88) and fourth in the long jump (20-4 3/4) while Grant Raymond, Bert DeForest, Jacob Kittredge and Aaron Prescott finished sixth in the 4×400 (3:44.36). DeForest, Kittredge and Prescott also teamed with Matthew Chareth to take fifth in the 4×800 relay (8:55.85).

Connor Crowley, Conor Dannis, Connor Jackson and Nick Muller took second in the 4×800 relay (8:22.34) to lead Milford. Parker Lyttle also finished second in high jump (5-10) while Tom St. Cyr finished third in the 55 hurdles (7.97) and sixth in the long jump (19-6 1/4).

Milford also got points from Max Goudreau, who came in fourth in the 55 (6.89), and Crowley, who finished fourth in the 600 (1:26.6).

Hollis/Brookline’s Sean Quinn took third in the 3,000 (9:09.64) and finished sixth in the 1,500 (4:18.75).

Technorati Tags: Cavaliers, Class IMS, Hollis/Brookline, Milford, Sabers, Souhegan, Spartans, track

The Spartans enter Sunday’s championship meet at Dartmouth College with all three relay teams ranked in the top five, including a No. 1 ranking in the 4×800 and a No. 2 ranking in the 4×160. Milford has 10 individuals qualified for at least one event, led by Briana Corron in the 55-meter dash (ranked No. 2) and the long jump (No. 3).

Three locals will go head-to-head in the shot put, with Hollis/Brookline’s Julia Bury, Souhegan’s Isabella Stuopis and Milford’s Katy Keller ranked three, four and five, respectively, in the event.

The following have qualified for Sunday’s meet:

Milford

• Briana Corron, 55-meter dash (T2nd) and long jump (3rd).
• Peggy Lai, 3,000-meter run (6th) and 1,500 (10th).
• Courtney Hawkins, 1,500-meter run (5th) and 1,000 (8th).
• Amanda Clark, high jump (T1st).
• Cecelia Muller, high jump (T5th).
• Katy Keller, shot put (5th).
• Cassie Sebas, 55 (T11th).
• Cassandra Wright, 3,000 (13th).
• Dina Pitsas, 300 (12th)
• KaJay Rooke, 55 hurdles (T22nd).
• Milford also has teams in the 4×400 (5th), 4×160 (2nd) and 4×800 (1st).

Souhegan

• Isabella Stuopis, shot put (4th).
• Kelsey Knight, 55 hurdles (T9th).
• Hillary Wilson, 1,000 (11th).
• Csilla Va’mos, 3,000 (12th).
• Jade Humphreys, 300 (12th).
• Angela Blume, 600 (14th).
• Souhegan also has teams in the 4×400 (16th), 4×160 (9th) and 4×800 (7th).

Hollis/Brookline

• Julia Bury, shot put (3rd).
• Felicia Lombardi, 3,000 (11th) and 1,500 (12th).
• Lyndsay Vasquez, long jump (T14th) and 300 (19th).
• Devin MacDonald, 55 hurdles (T22nd).
• H/B also had teams in the 4×400 (13th), 4×160 (T3rd) and 4×800 (10th).

Technorati Tags: Cavaliers, Class IMS, Hollis/Brookline, Milford, Sabers, Souhegan, Spartans, track

This year, it’s the Spartans boys team that has a chance to bring home a title.

Milford has eight individuals qualified in 10 different events, along with a team in all three relays, all of which are ranked in the top 10. The Spartans strength appears to be in the distance events, where they have three runners qualified in the 600-meter run, one in the 1,000, two in the 1,500 and two in the 3,000. Milford is also ranked No. 1 in the 4×800 relay.

The Spartans also have runners ranked high in other events – Max Goudreau is ranked second in the 55, Parker Lyttle is ranked third in the high jump and Tom St. Cyr is ranked fourth in both the long jump and the 55 hurdles.

Souhegan’s strength is in the sprints and jumps, with Michael Peret leading the way for the Sabers. Peret is ranked No. 1 in the 55, the 300 and the high jump and runs a leg of the Sabers’ top-ranked 4×160 relay team.

Joining Peret is Chris Chininis, who is ranked in the long jump, the 55 and the 300, and Dennis Elverson, who qualified in the 300.

Sean Quinn of Hollis/Brookline is qualified in four individual events while the Cavaliers have a team qualified in all three relays.

The following have qualified for Sunday’s Class IMS championship meet at Dartmouth College:

Milford

• Max Goudreau, 55-meter dash (2nd), 300 (17th) and long jump (11th).
• Tom St. Cyr, long jump (4th) and 55 hurdles (4th).
• Parker Lyttle, high jump (3rd).
• Nick Muller, 1,000-meter run (10th), 1,500 (10th) and 600 (13th).
• Connor Jackson, 3,000-meter run (10th) and 1,500 (15th).
• Connor Crowley, 600 (3rd).
• Corey Hahnl, 3,000 (9th).
• Conor Dannis, 600 (13th).
• Milford also has teams in the 4×400 (7th), 4×160 (10th) and 4×800 (1st).

Souhegan

• Michael Peret, 55-meter dash (1st), 300 (1st) and high jump (1st).
• Chris Chininis, 55-meter dash (8th), 300 (15th) and long jump (6th).
• Dennis Elverson, 300 (19th).
• Souhegan also has teams in the 4×400 (9th), 4×160 (1st) and 4×800 (9th).

Hollis/Brookline

• Sean Quinn, 3,000-meter run (5th), 1,500 (8th), 600 (10th) and 1,000 (12th).
• H/B also has teams in the 4×400 (20th), 4×160 (24th) and 4×800 (12th).

Technorati Tags: Cavaliers, Class IMS, Hollis/Brookline, Milford, Sabers, Souhegan, Spartans, track

And since Viola’s Sabers have put an extra emphasis on clamping down on play in their own zone, they’ve allowed one goal in each of the last three games, including Monday night’s 3-1 win over Hollis/Brookline at the Conway Arena.

“Exactly what I thought it would be, a hard-fought, defensive game and we just broke through on some of our chances,” Viola said. “I think that we’re both defensive teams, so a 0-0 score is not unusual. We said in the locker room between the second and third period, we’re both even and it comes down to whoever wants it more.”

The Sabers were the ones who got it, and it didn’t take them long once the third period started. Ben Rafferty broke the scoreless tie just eight seconds in to put Souhegan (7-4) up 1-0. Carson Burke added a goal and an assist and Quinn Carroll had two assists. Joe Stacy also scored while Erik Hayden made 34 saves in goal.

Griffin Brown scored the lone goal for H/B (4-5-1) and Jake Hanhl made 31 saves, including several early in the game that could have made this matchup a lot like when these teams meet last Wednesday.

In that game, the Sabers scored three times in the first period on the way to a 4-1 win. This time, Hanhl made a handful of big saves early and the Cavaliers defense was quick to turn away rebounds.

And when the defense couldn’t get to the rebounds, Hanhl made the save on the follow up. In the first period, Rafferty put a shot on goal that the H/B goalie turned away and then put himself into position to stop a shot by Carroll.

With the Sabers on the power play in the second period, Hanhl made it from one side of the crease to the other to make a pad save on Carroll.

The only problem for H/B was that Hayden was doing much of the same at the other end.

The Cavs controlled play throughout the second period, including a series of shots halfway through that Hayden was able to keep out of the net.

And then came the opening of the third period.

The puck bounced around off the face-off and eventually went to Burke, who carried it toward the blue line. Both H/B defenders went for Burke and the sophomore was able to get a pass off to Rafferty, who was streaking down the wing.

Rafferty went in alone on Hanhl and beat the Cavs’ goalie for a 1-0 lead with 14:52 left in the game.

“It was a nice goal,” Viola said. “Something else we talked about, we had too many scoring opportunities and the goals will come. Keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll eventually get the goals, which we did.”

H/B had a power play opportunity in the third, but couldn’t muster much on that man-advantage. After going 0-for-5 on the power play last Wednesday, the Cavs were empty on three Souhegan penalties.

The Sabers added to the lead with 5:18 remaining. Stacy shot the puck in off the post, but the Cavs were unable to clear it from the zone and it wound up back on Stacy’s stick before finding the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Brown scored off a face-off in Souhegan’s end a minute later to pull the Cavs back within one goal, but Burke added an insurance goal on a strange play.

A slap shot from the blue line hit Carroll in the stomach as he was skating through the zone. The Souhegan sophomore doubled over for a moment before realizing the puck was in his jersey.

Once he let it drop, Carroll turned and shot it on net before slowly skating to the bench. Hanhl made the save, but the rebound went right to Burke, who buried a shot past the goalie.

As much as Viola liked the offensive output in the third, it was the defensive effort turned in by the Sabers that was the highlight.

“One goal each game in the last three games, I can’t ask for much more than that,” he said. “We’re picking up the guys out front and (the defensive plan) is working. It looks like all the players are buying into it and play that way. I think they’re seeing the benefits of it.

“If we do that (play defense), our goals will come. If we can do that, than we can beat anyone in this league.”

The Sabers will go for their fourth straight win on Saturday at Con-Val. The Cavs will host John Stark on Wednesday.

H/B coach Tim Clark was unavailable for comment after the game.

Technorati Tags: boys hockey, Cavaliers, Division III, Hollis/Brookline, Sabers, Souhegan

One of those games takes place in Wilton in a battle of Class S boys teams hoping to get one of the top four seeds. Wilton-Lyndeborough (7-3) hosts Sunapee (8-4) in a game that each team needs to win to have any real chance at getting one of the top spots.

“It’s a huge, huge game for us,” WLC coach Sean Young said. “If could be the difference between us being a low seed, anywhere from six to nine. We’re still trying to get a top four seed. If we win this game, we’ll have a shot.”

This is the second time these teams have met – the Lakers won at home, 57-39, on Dec. 18 – but a lot has changed for the Warriors since that game.

For the first three games of the season, WLC had just seven players dress, four of whom were regular varsity players, due to injuries and disciplinary reasons.

“Everyone knows the expectations,” Young said. “We were really handcuffed. It was such a shake up, it wasn’t until the game at Hinsdale (on Jan. 6) that we finally had the entire team together.”

Young thought he had his team figured out, but then the Warriors lost back-to-back games against Pittsfield and Newmarket. He expects to know after Friday’s game.

“Sunapee is very tough,” he said. “They have, if not the best, one of the best, point guards in the state. They do a nice job with defenses, mixing and matching. They play a match zone, a 1-3-1 zone and man-to-man. They’re super aggressive and they get up to play us.”

Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday at Wilton.

Other games on the schedule for Friday include:

• A game for control of Class L boys basketball: Merrimack (7-0) heads to Bishop Guertin (6-1) for a 7 p.m. game. Doors open at 5 p.m. for fans, and attendance is limited to the first 750 who arrive.
• The battle for Nashua takes place on the north side: Nashua South (2-5) looks to keep its chance at a playoff spot alive when it plays Nashua North (4-3) at 6:30 p.m.
• Alvrine (5-2) heads east to take on a struggling Spaulding of Rochester (1-5) at 7 p.m.
• In Class I action, Milford (8-1) travels down the road to face Hollis/Brookline (3-6) at 7 p.m. The two teams met in Milford on Jan. 5, a game the Spartans won 80-40.
• Souhegan (6-3) travels west to take on Monadnock (0-7) at 7 p.m.  in a rematch of a Jan. 8 game the Sabers won 63-32.
• On the girls side of Class L, Bishop Guertin (7-2) heads to Merrimack (3-6) for a 7 p.m. start while Alvirne (4-5) hosts Spaulding (2-7) at 7 p.m.
• In Class I, Souhegan (8-1) goes for its fourth straight win under coach Wiley Billings – and ninth straight overall – when it hosts Monadnock (1-9) at 7 p.m., while Hollis/Brookline (8-1) looks to bounce back from its first loss of the year at Milford (1-9) at 6:30 p.m.
• In Class S, Wilton-Lyndeborough (6-5) heads to Sunapee (10-2) for a 7 p.m. start.

Technorati Tags: Alvirne, basketball, Bishop Guertin, Friday preview, Hollis/Brookline, Merrrimack, Milford, Nashua North, Nashua South, Souhegan, Wilton-Lyndeborough

An odd response considering they played against each other, and one of them lost.

This time, it was the Hollis/Brookline High School boys hockey team that came out on the short end of a 4-1 loss to Souhegan in a Division III game at Cyclones Arena. The game was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which the Sabers won to advance to their fourth straight championship game.

After this one, there were smiles all around.

Viola was pleased with the extra effort his players showed in playing team defense, a point the coaching staff had stressed in practice in the last week. Outside of a goal with a little more than a minute left in the game – when H/B had pulled its goalie – the Sabers held the Cavaliers in check, especially in the third period when H/B cranked up the pressure.

“The focus for the last week and a half has been better team defense,” Viola said. “We accomplished that tonight. We gave up one goal late. It worked perfectly. Everything we worked on in practice, they did tonight and that’s why we came out on top.”

The pressure that the Cavs applied was what made Clark happy. Other than a two-and-a-half minute stretch in the first period, when Souhegan scored three of its goals, the H/B coach felt his squad not only handled its own, but outplayed the Sabers at times.

“Would have liked to get a win, but I’m proud of them,” he said. “We had our chances. The puck was right in front a couple times and we were shooting it right at (Souhegan goalie Erik Hayden’s) glove. He’s got a good glove.”

While the Sabers played well in their own end, Viola knows that Hayden was just as responsible for the win as the way the team played defense.

“He had another outstanding game for us,” Viola said. “He’s been fantastic for us. He’s definitely taken the next step. Between his athletic ability and his work ethic, and the goalie coaches that we have, outstanding. That’s what has helped us all year long.”

It was H/B goalie Jake Hanhl who was coming up with big saves in the first period. But as the halfway point of the period approached, Quinn Carroll fired a shot from the middle of the zone that hit Hanhl and trickled into the net.

Joe Stacy and Isaiah Silvia-Chandley each added a goal in the next 2:21 to put the Sabers up 3-0 with 5:05 left in the first period. All three goals were scored from the same area in the center of the H/B zone, and once the Cavs figured out what Souhegan was trying to do, they adjusted.

“After we started knowing what they were doing, we started moving a guy out there,” Clark said. “We really took it to them. We got some shots, but the puck movement is just so slow.”

Where that hurt the Cavs the most was on the power play. H/B went 0-for-5 while Souhegan had a player in the penalty box, and during one man-advantage for the Cavs in the second period, the Sabers seemed to control play.

“If you have kids who are playing a diamond (defense) like that, it’s hard to work that,” Clark said. “They’ve got some kids who can handle the puck. If we’d knocked them down like we did in the middle of the second and the third period, then we would have had a better power play.”

The puck spent most of the third period in the Souhegan end, as H/B tried to get back into the game. But every time it seemed the Cavs had an opportunity to get on the board, Hayden was there to stop them.

“Even though, in the third period, it was down in our end, it was a great defensive period for us,” Viola said. “We didn’t let any shots get inside, and when we did, Erik Hayden was there.”

Zach Rotkowietz eventually got the Cavs on the board with 1:09 left in the game, but Dan Conroy pushed the lead back to three with an empty-net goal.

Both teams play again on Saturday before facing each other one more time on Monday at the Conway Arena in Nashua.

“I thought we played better, but we lost,” Clark said. “It happens. We’ll be ready to go again on Monday.”

Technorati Tags: boys hockey, Division III, Hollis/Brookline, Souhegan