Souhegan goes on offensive in third

Thursday, February 4, 2010

By JOE MARCHILENA

Correspondent

NASHUA – When goals are hard to come by, it usually takes an almost perfect play to get one on the board, and it usually happens when it’s least expected.

Just eight seconds into the third period of a scoreless tie Monday, the Souhegan High School boys hockey team got that play.

Ben Rafferty scored with 14:52 left in the third period and the Sabers added two more goals late to hold off Hollis/Brookline, 3-1, in a Division III game at Conway Arena. The game was the second meeting of the season between the two teams, with Souhegan having won 4-1 against H/B last Wednesday.

Carson Burke had a goal and an assist for the Sabers (7-4) while Quinn Carroll had two assists and Joe Stacy also had a goal. The Cavaliers (4-5-1) got a goal from Griffin Brown, while Jake Hanhl made 31 saves. Erik Hayden made 34 stops for Souhegan, which has allowed only three goals in its last three games.

“I can’t ask for much more than that,” Souhegan coach Ed Viola said. “We’re picking up the guys out front and it’s working. It looks like all the players are buying into (the defensive system) and play that way. I think they’re seeing the benefits of it.”

With two wins over H/B sandwiched around an upset of Somersworth on Saturday, Viola’s team is thinking big as it enters the stretch run.

“I want to see us do what we’re doing here,” he said. “If we can do that, than we can beat anyone in this league.”

It looked like the Sabers might open this game in the same way they started last Wednesday’s win over the Cavs.

Souhegan had a few good scoring opportunities in the first period, but Hanhl and the Cavs’ defense stepped up to the challenge.

And on the other end, H/B’s offense did a nice job of moving the puck into the Sabers’ zone. But once there, the Cavs couldn’t get past Souhegan’s defense or Hayden.

With the game scoreless through 30 minutes, Viola told his team not to panic.

“Keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll eventually get the goals, which we did,” he said. “I think that we’re both defensive teams, so a 0-0 score is not unusual. We said in the locker room between the second and third period, we’re both even and it comes down to whoever wants it more.”

Off the period’s opening face-off, a bouncing puck went to Carson Burke and he skated toward the H/B blue line, where he was met by two defenders. Burke got a pass through to Rafferty, who was streaking down the wing, and the senior beat Hanhl to give the Sabers a 1-0 lead.

The Cavs had a power-play opportunity with 9:52 remaining, but they couldn’t muster much against the Sabers’ penalty kill. For the season, H/B was 0-for-8 against Souhegan with a man-advantage.

Stacy put the Sabers up by two with 5:18 left in the game. His initial shot hit off the far post, but the Cavs couldn’t clear the puck and Stacy ended up scoring for a 2-0.

Just a minute later, Brown scored off a face-off in Souhegan’s end, cutting the lead to one. But Burke added a goal of his own on a strange play to put the Sabers back ahead by two.

As Carroll was skating across the zone, a slap shot from the blue line hit him in the stomach, doubling him over for a moment before he realized the puck was in his jersey.

Once he let it drop, Carroll turned and shot it on net before slowly skating to the bench. Hanhl made the save, but the rebound went right to Burke, who buried a shot past the goalie.

H/B coach Tim Clark was unavailable for comment after the game.