Early And Late - Goffstown 3 at Dover 5

February 04, 2023 – Early And Late: This was a good matchup for the Goffstown Grizzlies. The game was quite competitive. The Goffstown hockey team played well for stretches of this game, but they got beat early and late. That was the difference in their 5-3 loss at Dover.

The first part of early and late is the early part. From the opening face-off of this game, Dover set the tone. Owen Culcasi received a pass from Kyle Behen and skated up the left wing unimpeded. He ripped a shot at point blank range. Ethan Santoro made a nice shoulder save. The rebound bounced out front, and Dover was there to put the puck in the net. Logan Spagna, surrounded by three Grizzlie defenders was able to win the puck and get the goal. Spagna, as it turned out, seemed to be in some key places, early and late.

Lessard scores on the power play. (Photo from LiveBarn)

For the next several minutes, the Dover hockey team played like their engines had been running for quite awhile before the puck dropped. They were playing with a much better speed and intensity than the Goffstown hockey team. Eventually, Goffstown got their legs going little by little. By the end of the period they had closed a huge deficit in shots on goal, to just a 13-9 edge to Dover. But they did trail on the scoreboard, 2-0.

Dover scored their second goal on the power play. The Goffstown Grizzlies had taken a bench minor penalty for too many skaters on the ice. With a Goffstown defenseman way out along the boards, Spagna worked the puck low to Culcasi. Culcasi stepped from behind the goal line and fired a shot at the top corner and hit Santoro’s shoulder again (like the first shift of the game). The rebound came out to the other post where Brady McDonough poked the puck home for the power play goal, and a 2-0 lead.

The reason there is mention of early and late is because, in between, the Grizzlies battled back to tie this game twice. First, Brandon Bograd was hauled down from behind on a breakaway bid that ended being called a major penalty on Dover. The call was for boarding. I am not sure it was boarding, although Bograd did get hit hard and eventually slid into the boards with the Dover player still on him, sort of. Bograd was definitely shaken up as the hit came up high and directly from behind. Bograd ended up being okay, thankfully.

Tarrier takes a shot on the power play against Dover. (Photo from LiveBarn)

This gave the Grizzlies an opportunity to score multiple goals in a power play scenario, as the Dover player would have to serve all 5 minutes of the major penalty. Goffstown scored twice in the first 1:13 of the penalty time. Suddenly the game was tied and the visitors still had 3:47 left of power play time.

The first power play goal for the Goffstown hockey club came from Tyler Lessard. Dover cleared the puck for a second, but Zack Tarrier retrieved the puck quickly and sent a pass to Jake Klardie on the right wing. Klardie re-entered the zone and was stood up and stopped along the wall. Lessard was there, grabbed the puck on the wall, and did a little hop and skip with the puck to avoid a check and get to the face-off dot in the circle. Just as Lessard took a hit approaching the slot, he let a shot fly. The shot was true and the puck found the twine. Power play goal, Lessard from Klardie and Tarrier, 2-1.

47 seconds after the Goffstown Grizzlies got on the board, Klardie scored on the power play. Brennan Pierce blasted a shot from the left point but it was well wide, and high. The puck caromed off of the end boards and halfway out of the zone. Tarrier picked up the puck on the half-wall and took an innocent enough shot on goal from the top of the circle. But shots are a good thing, and this shot was saved but there was a rebound. Jake Klardie was right there to shovel the rebound into the net and the game was tied, 2-2. Klardie from Tarrier and Pierce, on the power play.

After the second straight power play goal, Dover made a noticeable change in their effort and intensity on the penalty kill. They did take another penalty though. Goffstown do anything with the brief 5-on-3 advantage and then they took two penalties in a row. Dover did cash in on their power play opportunity as well, a 4-on-3 advantage, and they were back in front, 3-2. Jacob Lapierre end up in the slot, on his knees, with the puck, and he wired a shot that beat Santoro up high. I think the pace surprised everyone. That shot looked like it went in but play continued for another second until Brady McDonough tapped in the ‘rebound’.

After two periods, the Grizzlies trailed, 3-2. All three goals scored in the period came on power play chances. There were 13 minutes in penalties called in the middle period between the two teams.

Klardie puts in Tarrier’s rebound for the PPG. (Photo from LiveBarn)

Goffstown tied the game once again, this time at 3-3, in the final period. From out of nowhere the Grizzlies struck for an amazing goal. Dover dumped the puck into the zone. Santoro eased the puck to the side and Brennan Pierce grabbed it. Pierce looked up and made a somewhat risky flip out of the zone type pass that split everyone and ended up on Nick DiMarzio’s stick at center ice. This was a breakaway chance.

DiMarzio lost the handle for a second but he was behind the D when he put a backhand shot on net. Brett Davis made the save as he slid over to, and outside of, the nearside post. But the puck stayed behind, right in the crease area all by itself. Max Ouellette was next on the scene and he slammed the puck into the net for the even-strength, game-tying goal with 6:03 to play. Ouellette from DiMarzio and Pierce.

Then came the late part of early and late. Logan Spagna scored his 2nd and 3rd goals of the game, with 4:04 left to play, and with 2:57 left to play. Both goals were unassisted, from the same face-off dot. One move to the outside, shot and score. One move to the inside, shot and score. Great individual plays in both instances. In the beginning and in the end, early and late, Dover, or at least Logan Spagna, seemed to want this victory just a little bit more. Final score, Dover hockey 5, Goffstown hockey 3.

How much do I love covering hockey, especially covering Goffstown hockey? Well, this is my 8th season with the Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team. Even I got through high school in less than 8 years. It truly has been my pleasure.

It’s a great game. The team is fun to watch, year after year. I know I love what I do for many reasons. The kids, the coaches, the families, and game coverage are among the reasons. Covering the games is about the kids.

Folks, this kind of stuff isn’t happening in other places. Why? Because people have stepped in and stepped up. The Goffstown hockey game presentation has been a staple of the program for several years now. It takes people stepping up and out of their ice-side seat to leave the program better than you found it.

: DiMarzio collects a sweet pass from Pierce. (Photo from LiveBarn)

: Ouellette puts the DiMarzio rebound into the open net. (Photo from LiveBarn)

I think of the people watching Goffstown hockey (and their opponents) games all over the United States, and Canada. The feedback I have head from the NH hockey community, all over the state, over these last several years has been nothing short of positively inspiring. But it doesn’t just keep happening because it happened once. It takes renewed effort and prioritizing something bigger than just sitting at the arena to watch your kid play.

I think of the parents, siblings, and grandparents that hear their player’s name on the broadcasts or even in the arena. I think of the players on both sides of the ice who get to see their names, hear their names, and represent their schools to folks everywhere.

Afterall, isn’t it all about the kids? Would you rise and take action to make something better for your kids? Of course you would. Then why draw the line at your kids, our kids? Keep stepping forward to make the game experience, the entire high school hockey experience, better for all of the kids. They say it takes a village. Well, I believe we represent a pretty spectacular village. Keep raising the bar, on and off the ice.

I look at a few things as signs of things to come. In this game alone, Tyler Lessard probably could have scored 3 or 4 goals, maybe more. Andrew Skora had a few good looks too. Others had chances to score. But the shots didn’t go. I trust that those goals will come, along with many more chances.

When I played varsity baseball my younger brother was a freshman on the team. He only batted .250 that season, but he rarely struck out, and hit everything hard. I remember telling him that his time would come, and to keep doing what he was doing because the sky was the limit for him. Well, he ended up re-writing the baseball record books over the next three seasons.

The Grizzlies can strike quickly and pile up shots in a hurry, and whether those pucks start finding the net this season, or in the future, I believe they will come.

You can follow other Goffstown Hockey stories, here.

You can also follow this blog here. I write a lot about hockey. It’s a long season. It’s not all just about the hockey, but rather about lessons and takeaways that come up throughout these seasons. Yes, I am biased. I am biased toward the truth and the right way to do things, whether anyone is watching or not.

The players play the games. The kids score the goals and make the saves. Most of the time, the kids band together for something that is bigger than themselves; the team. The kids do so many things right on any given play, on any given day. I have found that more often than not, the kids pleasantly surprise us all. It’s awesome. It’s all about the kids.

NHIAA Hockey:

Updated records.

Goffstown (6-4-2 NHIAA) (7-6-2 Overall) vs. Dover (7-6-0)

Dover Arena, Dover, NH

Saturday, February 04, 2023. 1:44 PM Start.

Summary:

Goals:

Goffstown: 00 – 02 – 01 = 03

Dover: 02 – 01 – 02 = 05

Shots:

Goffstown: 09 – 09 – 10 = 28

Dover: 13 – 10 – 07 = 30

Scoring:

1st Dover at 0:14. Even. Logan Spagna from Owen Culcasi and Kyle Behen.

1st Dover at 11:59. PPG. Brady McDonough from Logan Spagna and Owen Culcasi.

2nd Goffstown at 4:29. PPG. Tyler Lessard from Jake Klardie and Zack Tarrier.

2nd Goffstown at 5:16. PPG. Jake Klardie from Zack Tarrier and Brennan Pierce.

2nd Dover at 10:07. PPG. Brady McDonough from Jacob Lapierre.

3rd Dover at 10:56. Even. Logan Spagna unassisted.

3rd Dover at 12:13. Even. Logan Spagna unassisted.

Special Teams:

Goffstown Power Play: 2 for 4.

Dover Power Play: 2 for 7.

Saves:

Goffstown: Ethan Santoro 25 of 30. (.833). (43:45)

Dover: Brett Davis 25 of 28. (.893). (45:00)

(from Jen Webber Photography)

Remembering Jen Cheney…

The Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award (awarded each season)

As a sixteen-year-old junior, Jen was a manager for the very first Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team in the 1999-2000 club season. Her infectious smile and friendly nature was a joy for everyone fortunate to know her. Jen is now our eternal team angel. The spirit of Jen lives on…our team champions an angel memorial patch sewn to each uniform jersey.

On Thursday, May 18th, 2000, Jen was killed by a drunk driver. We are dedicated to memorialize Jen’s life with the Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award. But we also want to deliver a message from our team angel… simply…if you choose to drink, don’t drive.

The current look at my ‘hockey office’. So many hours spent in this space, tracking numbers and capturing season after season. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2023.

The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017.

The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do, but you would have to ask them directly.

Either way, “It’s a great day for hockey” ~ the late “Badger” Bob Johnson.

“We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we’re too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams.” ~ the late Herb Brooks.

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it: If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” ~ Jim Valvano on how to live life, during his ESPY speech.

“I started writing sports stories 20 years ago. I still do. I write because somewhere, in some game, a kid might be having the time of his or her life. That’s awesome to think about. It’s all about the kids.” ~ Steve Beal Sr.