Bedford boys hockey beats Concord in OT to advance to D1 final

MANCHESTER - With the Bedford and Concord high school boys hockey teams meeting in the first Division I semifinal at JFK Coliseum Wednesday, it meant that the D1 title game would feature one of the two squads as it has every year since 2014.

It took a little over four minutes of extra hockey Bedford sophomore forward Owen Roberto poked home a rebound to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 overtime victory.

Roberto had both of Bedford’s goals. His first came midway through the first period when he wristed in a quick shot from the right circle.

“Owen getting the first goal was a quick shot that I think surprised the goalie,” Bedford coach Marty Myers said. “Owen has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. He’s not the biggest kid on the team, but he plays big in big games.”

Concord tied the game with 50 seconds left in the second period when Derek Kelleher sent a shot into the top of the net.

While goals were scarce, defense was not. The Bulldogs (16-3-1) came up big when they had to, especially in the third period. Bedford spent six of the first eight minutes in the penalty box and never let Concord (15-4-1) fully set up its power play.

A point of emphasis the last few weeks in practice, the penalty kill did the heavy lifting for the Bulldogs in crunch time.

“It’s something all season long that we struggled with,” Myers said. “The last couple weeks of the season we focused on penalty kill. It’s come with the kids working hard and understanding.”

Concord was 0 for 4 on the power play in the game and only generated two shots over those eight minutes.

“They pressured us a lot, and we just lost a little composure,” Concord coach Duncan Walsh said. “Once they pressured us, we didn’t get it set up. Going into the overtime that’s behind us, and we got to get the next goal. I thought with the way the overtime started we might knock one in. Then they throw it to the net and we couldn’t clear it, and the guy knocks it in.”

Both goalies were spectacular. Bedford sophomore Shea Guimont and Concord junior Parker Taylor each turned aside 24 shots in the contest.

“I thought he was excellent,” Walsh said of Taylor. “I thought both goalies were good. (Taylor) made a lot of good saves, covered up pucks, didn’t give up big rebounds. Our team played so hard.”

“Shea got us out of trouble early in the game, and he got us out of trouble kind of late in the game,” Myers said of Guimont. “Without Shea (Wednesday) I don’t think we’d be advancing.”

The win sends Bedford to its fourth straight state championship game. The Bulldogs won titles in 2016 and 2017 and lost to Hanover last year. The Bulldogs also win Division II titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

“It’s special,” Myers said. “That game, that venue; it’s special for any high school player or coach. We’re going to enjoy every minute of it.”