Powell helps Merrimack hockey beat Trinity in Bauer tourney

MANCHESTER - Connor Powell scored twice Thursday to help the Merrimack High School boys hockey team defeat Trinity 4-2.

Josh Roy and Ryan Downie also scored a goal each to get the Tomahawks the win in the second day of the Bauer Christmas Hockey Classic at JFK Coliseum.

"It was a good rebound after losing a tough one (Wednesday) night," Merrimack coach Kurt Mithoefer said. "Winning 4-2 against Trinity, right now they're having a good year, so it was a confidence boost for the kids, that what we are doing, even though we lost last night, it still works."

Roy got Merrimack on the board with his fourth goal of the tournament, corralling the puck after it took a strange bounce behind the Trinity goal to beat Jacob Zimmerman 26 seconds into the game.

"It was huge," Mithoefer said of the goal. "We've been preaching to get the puck to the net. It doesn't have to be on net. It can bounce off the back of the boards like that was. If the guys are hungry enough, I said if they want a goal, they go to the net, they're going to get some."

While it was a great start for the 'Hawks, Trinity coach Mike Connell saw it as the beginning of a long afternoon. With Spaulding of Rochester unable to secure a bus for its 4 p.m. game against Bedford, the Pioneers stepped in to give the Bulldogs a scrimmage immediately after the loss to Merrimack.

"We got outplayed," Connell said. "I thought that Merrimack came with a little more fire than we did. Merrimack is a good team and we just didn't give them all that we had unfortunately. The (start) time, it could have been the weather, just a weird day overall. We just didn't come out playing."

Downie gave the 'Hawks a 2-0 lead, deflecting a shot by Jason Fortin with 7:44 left in the first period.

Trinity cut the lead in half 55 seconds into the second period when Merrimack goalie Matt Brewster played the puck right to the Pioneers' Justin Sirois, who found Jack Collins for the goal.

That was the only mistake Brewster made all game, as he stopped 35 shots in his first game action of the season.

"He's a good goalie and he's backed up (starter) Brett (Glendye) for the last year and then this year," Mithoefer said of Brewster. "We know he's capable of having good games like that, shutting down the front of the net. I thought he played really well."

Powell gave Merrimack a two-goal lead with 4:08 remaining in the second, but Colby Fortin answered for Trinity, scoring off a two-on-one to make it 3-2 after two periods. Powell finished off the scoring late in the third, when his wrist shot found its way through traffic to beat Zimmerman.

Dom Valluzzi finished with two assists and Jason Fortin also had a helper for Merrimack.