Explosive third period lifts Bedford boys hockey past Bishop Guertin

GOFFSTOWN - Marty Myers wasn't unhappy with the way the Bedford High School boys hockey team played through two periods of Wednesday night's game against Bishop Guertin.

But the Bulldogs coach felt his team had missed out on some opportunities, getting outshot in the first 30 minutes, and after taking four penalties, had been a little sloppy at times.

Bedford wanted to turn things around in the third period, and the Bulldogs wasted no time doing it.

Parker Roberto scored seven seconds in, the first of six goals in the third period for the Bulldogs, as their offense exploded for an 8-3 win over Bishop Guertin at Sullivan Arena.

Roberto finished with a goal and two assists and Jake Sanclemente had two goals - both in the third - and an assist, while Owen Roberto had a goal each in the first and second period that had Bedford (12-1-1) up 2-1 going into the final 15 minutes.

"I thought we played a good three periods," Myers said. "The second period was a little sloppy with some penalties, but overall, we played well in all three zones for all three periods.

"I think when they started to get more pucks in the net, they started to loosen up a little bit and play a little more free. I think that they got the confidence to continue to skate for the remainder of the game."

Jack Sylvain finished with two assists while Cameron Wasylak and Quinlan Kerr had a goal and an assist apiece. Brett Niland also scored as Bedford scored eight or more goals for the third time this season.

"BG has always been a really good team, so putting up eight on them is a huge statement for us," Sanclemente said. "It’s a big win. Usually, we don’t have too many lines scoring. (Wednesday) we had a couple of lines scoring and that was big for us. The younger kids are stepping up and that’s going to be big going into the playoffs."

Aidan Wilkie, Mark McGaughey and Michael Kiely each had a goal for Bishop Guertin (7-7), which lost for the fifth time in its last seven games.

Both goalies were big early in the game, as Bishop Guertin's Evan Butler made back-to-back stops on Nilland and Alexander Lobdell on a Bedford power play, and was able to stop Kerr one-on-one later in the first. On the Cardinals' first power play, Bulldogs goalie Shea Guimont made a save on a shot by Patrick Madden and watched as the second effort by Benjamin Young sailed wide.

With Bishop Guertin's Sean Kelley in the box for roughing, Parker Roberto sent a pass across the front of the goal to a wide-open Owen Roberto, who buried the shot in the back of the net for a 1-0 Bedford lead with 5:35 left in the first.

Owen Roberto got his second goal with 8:41 left in the second, as he found himself alone in front of the net with the puck and was able to beat Butler for a 2-0 lead.

Wilkie made it 2-1 with a power play goal with 4:04 remaining in the period, as he knocked down the puck at the blue line and eventually got it back to get the Cardinals' on the board.

During the second intermission, the Bulldogs talked about get more shots on goal than they had in the first two periods.

"We were getting outshot through the first two periods, which I was kind of surprised," Myers said. "We talked about getting more pucks to the net and putting yourself in position to get that second shot."

Parker Roberto didn't need a second shot, though, scoring on the power play just seven seconds into the period. McGaughey answered for the Cardinals, but Sanclemente put Bedford back up by two just 10 seconds after that.

After Bishop Guertin had a shot hit the crossbar, Kerr and Wasylak scored 15 seconds apart, the second of which made it 6-2 with 10:12 to play and chased Butler.

Nicholas Hall stopped the first couple of shots he faced for Bishop Guertin, but Nilland would beat the senior goalie on a breakaway with 7:43 remaining to make it 7-2. Kiely got one back for the Cardinals with 5:55 remaining, but Sanclemente would finish the scoring with 2:48 to go.

"We never count Guertin out," Myers said. "The first couple periods, they were coming back, and they were willing to continue. But being able to pile on some offense, where I wish we’d spread it out throughout the game, but we’ll take them as they come. I’m glad the kids made adjustments in the third period to get the result we got."