Winter Sports

Top teams have eyes on D3 boys hockey title

The Division III high school boys hockey tournament gets underway on Saturday, and it appears to be a three-team race, with two other contenders poised to jump in if one of the favorites slips.

Connor McCall and Souhegan are the No. 2 seed for the Division III tournament.

The Division III high school boys hockey tournament gets underway on Saturday, and it appears to be a three-team race, with two other contenders poised to jump in if one of the favorites slips.

Berlin, Souhegan and Belmont-Gilford battled for the No. 1 seed to the final day of the regular season, while Portsmouth and John Stark/Hopkinton, last year's champion, could surprise any of those three on any given day.

Here's a look at the quarterfinal matchups.

Quarterfinals: Saturday, March 8

No. 8 ConVal (4-13-1) at No. 1 Berlin (16-2), 4 p.m. at Notre Dame Arena: For the second year in a row, Berlin is the top seed. But unlike last year, when the Mountaineers were undefeated through the regular season, Berlin slipped into the top spot when Souhegan lost to Belmont-Gilford in the regular-season finale. Connor Jewett again set the scoring standard in the division with 51 goals, 26 assists for 77 points, 27 more than the next player. Justin Vien (36 points) and Dominic Morse (30) were also among the top scorers in the division. Erik Leger was the top scorer for ConVal during the season, with 13 goals and 21 points. Berlin won the only regular-season meeting, 9-2 on Jan. 25.
No. 5 John Stark/Hopkinton (10-6-1) at No. 4 Portsmouth (11-4-1), 1:15 p.m. at The Rinks at Exeter: These two teams couldn't have played two closer games during the regular season, playing to a 6-6 tie on Dec. 21 while JSH won 5-4 on Jan. 29. The Generals had four players with more than 20 points, led by Jake Blanchette (20 goals, 32 points). Portsmouth's Aaron Rancourt was seventh in the division in points with 20 goals, 34 points.
No. 7 Laconia-Winnisquam (7-11) at No. 2 Souhegan (15-2), 5 p.m. at Conway Arena: Souhegan was on its way to the No. 1 seed, having won 13 games in a row before losing to Belmont-Gilford, 4-2, in the last game of the season. The Sabers have the highest scoring duo in the division in Joe Nutting (24 goals, 50 points) and Mike Hayden (15 goals, 42 points), who are second and third, respectively, while Matt Wilson (21 goals, 34 points ) is eighth. But just as importantly, Souhegan has given up a division-low 34 goals this season and goalie Connor McCall led the division with a 1.96 goals against. Dakota Tyno leads L-W with 22 goals and 36 points.
No. 6 Kennett (8-10) at No. 3 Belmont-Gilford (15-3), 4 p.m. at Laconia Ice Arena: Kennett scored 56 goals on the season, and 21 of the came from Brad Canavari. Belmont-Gilford picked up two regular-season wins over the Eagles this year by a combined score of 11-4. Goalie Calvin Davis is second in the division with a 2.13 goals against while Caleb Drouin (21 goals, 31 points) leads the offense.

Most likely upset: It's tough to call a No. 5 beating a No. 4 an upset, but John Stark/Hopkinton looks like the only visiting team on Saturday that has a legit shot at knocking off a home team. In fact, the Generals already did once this season and that was before a season-ending stretch of five wins in seven games. Also of note, JSH's losses were to the top three teams in the division.

Quarterfinal winners: No. 1 Berlin, No. 2 Souhegan, No. 3 Belmont-Gilford, No. 5 John Stark/Hopkinton.

Championship: Souhegan over Berlin.

Tournament Schedule