Hockey: Goffstown 7 vs. Somersworth-Coe-Brown 4

From Thomas F. Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH – January 11, 2020

Goffstown battled undefeated Dover on Friday evening, winning in the end, 5-3. Then they quickly had to turn around and play another game just about 17 hours later. The Bearcats from Somersworth-Coe-Brown (SCB) came to Sullivan Arena for a Saturday noon game against Goffstown. The Bearcats were ready though, they came out flying, and counter-punching like well trained assassins.

The Grizzlies came into the game with a 6-2 record in league play, after the big win against Dover, but they quickly found themselves trailing, 3-1 just seconds into the second period. Then again, with 20 seconds to play in the middle period, the Grizzlies found themselves down 4-2 with few answers to the Bearcats speedy transition game. I am not sure what exactly turned the tide in this game, but it may have been the goal that Goffstown scored with 17 seconds left in the 2nd period. Xavier Bibaud and Theo Milianes set up Grady Chretien for an enormous goal to cut the deficit to one goal and maybe everybody in the room believed a little more, that a comeback was possible. In the final period, Goffstown was hotter than the 60-degree January temperatures outside. The Grizzlies scored four times and held SCB to just five shots on goal. The final score was 7-4 in favor of the home town Grizzlies.

(Jen Webber Photography)

In the first period Goffstown had 10 shots to the Bearcats 6. What was noticeable was how quickly the Bearcats could take a save, a loose puck, or even a missed shot, and be at the other end of the ice with speed and that was evident in their first goal. Before that though, Colby Gamache had a good chance in tight on his backhand and the shot went over the net. Then Theo Milianes drilled Kevin Baker in the body with a wide open shot from the slot right before Goffstown got on the board first. Jack Wilkinson and Milianes worked the puck nicely, back and forth, with Theo sending a pass to Jackson Burke in the right circle. Burke struck for his fifth goal of the season at 2:00 of the opening period with a shot behind Baker who wasn’t quite sure where the puck was after the passes down low. A few minutes later a SCB shot hit the post all while the Bearcats were swarming and creating other chances that didn’t always result in shots on goal. At 9:23 Cam Frank scored on a 2-on-1 break with a pass from Gage Gagne. Luke Ouellette had dumped the puck in deep for the Grizzlies but SCB moved the puck in a flash from Calvin Lambert who picked the puck up off of the end boards to Ryan Nester on the half wall. Nester turned and hit Gage Gagne with a short quick pass and they were off. They struck in a hurry as Goffstown had pinched in a defenseman with no fore-check pressure to support the pinch. Cam Frank skated up right wing with Gagne in the middle, isolating Eric DesRuisseaux skating back on defense all alone. Gagne moved the puck across to Frank who beat Webber through the five-hole, moving with speed. Then at 12:33 of the period the SCB scored again when Ryan Nester scored on a gorgeous passing play from Gagne and Frank, and the Grizzlies trailed, 2-1. The SCB offensive trio went through the Grizzlies like they weren’t even there. With 8 seconds left in the period the Grizzlies had an offensive zone face-off and pulled Jake Webber from the net. Nothing happened but it was the last we’d see of Webber for the night. Jake didn’t return to the ice after the first intermission due to an injury that stemmed from the pre-game warm-up. So James Amorelli was called back into action after a 32 save win just a few hours before.

In the second period the Bearcats were ready for action and scored a goal before the Grizzlies even knew what hit them. Given some room in front of the net, Jake Pelletier got a stick on the puck and left it in the right wing circle. Aaron Bono grabbed the puck and rifled a shot past Amorelli for a SCB goal at 0:25. Goffstown responded rather quickly with a power play goal to get back in the game, and maybe also a false sense of security. Colby Gamache scored the goal at 2:11, just 9 seconds into the power-play. Gamache won the face-off and Theo Milianes gained possession of the puck and moved the puck to Colby Wright. Wright hit Gamache with a pass and Colby popped the water bottle through a Jack Wilkinson screen and Goffstown was only down by one goal. The goal came roughly 30 seconds after Amorelli made a wonderful left pad save on a SCB shot that seemed to materialize from nowhere. Over the next several minutes, Goffstown and Somersworth-Coe-Brown traded some chances. The Grizzlies had another power play opportunity but could not score on the advantage. Then at 9:13 of the period Aaron Bono blocked a shot, managed to get control of the puck and used his speed to separate from the defense and score an unassisted goal to give the Bearcats a 2-goal lead again. With less than a minute to play in the second period, the Grizzlies were down 4-2 and the outlook was looking a little bleak. Then Grady Chretien scored on a quick wrist shot that broke off of Baker’s glove in net. Xavier Bibaud made the initial pass down low to Theo Milianes. With Jackson Burke battling a defenseman in front of the net Milianes tried setting up Chretien a couple of times before Grady finally got a sliver of space for the shot at 14:43 to get back within a goal and give Goffstown some renewed faith in their game.

(Jen Webber Photography)

Early in the final period the Grizzlies had a power play after SCB was called for too many skaters on the ice. Goffstown did not score but they picked up their game. Just 14 seconds after the penalty ended the Grizzlies tied the game. Gamache scored again, this time from Chretien and Drew O’Brien, at 3:25. Chretien grabbed the puck from his own defensive end behind the net and bolted the length of the ice before circling back and feeding a pass off of Drew O’Brien that slid to Gamache. With a bouncing puck Colby somehow pulled off a trick shot type goal with a perfect shot into the far side top corner. A few minutes later, Luke Ouellette made his presence felt on the forecheck. Gamache picked off a puck on the forecheck and beat everyone to the slot before ripping a shot into the net for an unassisted goal at 7:28 to give Goffstown their first lead since the first period. 37 seconds after the Gamache goal, Grady Chretien scored a great goal from Gamache and O’Brien, and that may have been the straw that broke the back. After the Grizzlies had a chance on an Eric DesRuisseaux back door shot, the offense kept the pressure on. The call would have gone something like this, Gamache gets the puck down low to O’Brien. O’Brien reverses back to Gamache behind the net. Gamache centering pass to Chretien in the slot. He shoots. He scores! Chretien from Gamache and O’Brien! Not long after the goal, on the next shift, Daniel Strum took a 5-minute major penalty and was disqualified for a hit on Jack Wilkinson. Less than a minute later, Luke Ouellette was whistled for an unsportsmanlike like penalty when he smacked the stick out of an opponents hands. Nobody would score during the served penalties. While Goffstown was pounding 16 shots on goal, to 5 for SCB, Drew O’Brien scored his first career goal on a beautiful play from Eric DesRuisseaux and Grady Chretien at 13:26. The game would end with the Grizzlies taking a come from behind win, 7-4 over a talented Somersworth-Coe-Brown team. Goffstown now sits and waits for their next game when they are scheduled to play Alvirne-Milford on Saturday night, January 18th at Skate 3. There is currently a whole bunch of snow scheduled for the 18th.

Standings in Division II as of this weekend:

NHIAA Hockey:

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