Bedford boys hockey takes early lead, hangs on to beat Windham (video)

SALEM - The way Wednesday night's game started, it looked like there would be no stopping the Bedford High School boys hockey team.

The Bulldogs scored just 46 seconds in, had a three-goal lead over Windham at the end of the first period, and went up 4-0 early in the second.

But the Jaguars hung tight, keeping Bedford out of the back of the net the rest of the way, and cut the lead in half early in the third. The Bulldogs were able to regroup enough, and kill off two penalties, to hang on for a 4-2 win at the ICenter.

Parker Roberto had two goals and two assists to lead Bedford (5-0-1) while Jake Sanclemente added a goal and an assist and Owen Roberto also scored.

But all that scoring came in the first 20 minutes of the game.

"We came out really good," Bedford coach Marty Myers said. "We had a great start, but our finish just wasn’t what we wanted it to be. We took a couple of penalties and didn’t finish our opportunities. We didn’t play like we did in the first period.

"We hit a road block there. I don’t know exactly why, but they played us well. They made us skate from one end to the other and made us get every inch that we earned. They’re a good club and we kind of ran out of gas toward the end of the game."

Matt Crowley and Charlie Breen each had a goal for Windham (4-2-1) while Tommy Langlois assisted on Crowley's goal, which made it 4-1 with 4:06 left in the second period. It wasn't until Breen scored 2:05 into the third that the momentum started to shift toward the Jaguars.

"We started the second period pretty good, but I think because we had a big lead like that, we kind of sat back," Parker Roberto said. "We haven’t been doing a great job playing a full three-period game. We have to set our minds to it, and we can do it, but until then, we have our work cut out for us. It’s still early in the season, but we’ve got to play harder."

Bedford's Parker Joyce was called for interference just 1:05 after Breen's goal and Windham came close to cutting the lead to one during the power play, but Bulldogs goalie Shea Guimont came up with a couple of stops to keep it a two-goal game.

"Shea (Gulmont) when we had a flurry of shots at the end, he came up big, which certainly helped," Myers said. "Penalties are part of the game, but we play better with flow. I don’t care if we get a penalty or a power play, we play better five-on-five. The longer we play five-on-five, the better we are. We did what we had to do at the end of the day."

Jack Sylvain was called for a slash with 5:57 left, giving Windham another man-up opportunity, but again, Bedford's penalty kill was up to the task.

"I think when we realize we’re down a man and they have a good chance of scoring a goal, we have to work harder," Parker Roberto said. "We have to carry that same intensity through all three periods."

Bedford's power play got the Bulldogs the lead early after Langlois was called for a slash just 27 seconds into the game. Owen Roberto made it 1-0 just 19 seconds later and that's where it stood until Sanclemente scored off an assist from Sylvain with 4:52 left in the first.

Parker Roberto scored with 37.5 left on the clock to make it 3-0 and got his second goal at 4:57 of the second.