Bishop Guertin boys hockey scores early, often in win over Manchester Memorial (video)

MANCHESTER - The Manchester Memorial High School boys hockey team had a plan going into Wednesday's game against Bishop Guertin.

It took less than a minute for the Cardinals to change it.

Bishop Guertin scored 29 seconds into the game and rolled past Memorial 9-0 in a Division I game at JFK Coliseum.

The Cardinals top line of Justin Pearson, Jordan Caito and Ben Petersen combined for six goals, as each player had two goals and two assists, and goaltender Thomas Norton (17 saves) earned the shutout.

Cam Hult, Mike Barrett and Joseph Leahy also had goals for Bishop Guertin (4-0), which has outscored its division opponents 28-3 this season.

"Everybody comes to play hard," Bishop Guertin coach Gary Bishop said. "We got a couple of early goals. The first goal trickled in, which was a fluke goal, and then our kids just started shooting. It changed the whole way they were going to play. I'm sure they had a plan, they had a strategy, and all of sudden, the first shot trickles through."

Memorial coach Mark Putney stressed to his team before the game that it would have to play mistake-free, but for the first two periods, that wasn't the case for the Crusaders (3-2).

"It was frustrating," Putney said. "We knew we were going against another championship-type team and our goal was to limit our mistakes and wait for opportunities. We didn't limit our mistakes. We had way too many turnovers and they capitalized on our mistakes. They have great players and they're a good hockey team."

Hult opened the scoring when his shot got by Memorial goalie Jarod Broussard just 29 seconds into the game, and the Cardinals quickly made it 3-0 midway through the period. Pearson scored at 7:58 of the first and it took Caito just 15 seconds to get his first goal.

But despite the 3-0 lead, Bishop felt the Cardinals could have played better, specifically in the way they moved the puck.

"First period, we didn’t move the puck, second period, we did, and when you move the puck, good things happen," the coach said.

Bishop Guertin exploded for five goals in the second, as Barrett scored at 1:42 to make it 4-0 and Leahy pushed the lead to five at 7:19. Then the Cardinals' first line took over in the final two-plus minutes, as Pearson, Caito and Petersen each scored in a span of 1:08 to make it an 8-0 game.

Petersen added his second goal in the third period to make it 9-0, as he beat Charlie Degust, who started the third in relief of Broussard. The pair combined to make 14 saves for the Crusaders, who lost their second in a row after a 3-0 start to the season.

"When you're going against a top team, you see what they do right, and how they get to be that good," Putney said. "We weren't coming back against them with limited opportunities, but we wanted to make sure we worked on some things and correct our mistakes in the third period. Hopefully it carries over to Saturday's game."

Memorial plays the first of three straight road games Saturday against Nashua South, while Bishop Guertin hosts Nashua North-Souhegan, also on Saturday.