Third time not a charm for ’Hawks

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Merrimack's Colby Hoyle looks on as teammate Cal Lezama lines up a shot while under pressure from Bow's Bryan Barker during a hockey game Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at the West Side Arena in Manchester.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Tomahawk players celebrate their first goal during a hockey game against Bow Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at the West Side Arena in Manchester.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Merrimack's Colby Hoyle looks on as teammate Cal Lezama lines up a shot while under pressure from Bow's Bryan Barker during a hockey game Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at the West Side Arena in Manchester.

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SALEM – In the case of Saturday night’s Division II quarterfinal matchup between Merrimack High School and Timberlane Regional, the upset was that fourth-seeded Timberlane beat fifth-seeded Merrimack, 4-2.

The lower-ranked Tomahawks had beaten the host Owls twice during the regular season (6-3 season opener, 4-3 regular-season finale).

Two age-old sports adages were in effect at Salem’s Icenter, though. First, it’s hard to beat the same team three times in one season. Second, in the playoffs, experience matters. And for Merrimack, with its freshman and sophomore-laden roster, the game will have to be chalked up to the learning experiences that the veteran Owls have already had.

It was a Timberlane senior who set the tone early, as forward Zach Fox dominated the first period, scoring twice and having two other excellent scoring chances that ’Hawks goalie Brett Glendye (27 saves) gobbled up. Fox ended up with a hat trick on an empty-net goal with just two seconds left in the game.

Merrimack battled back with a goal by Tyler Caron with just under four minutes left in the first period. Chris Kinney and David Downie assisted on the goal. Both teams had a player in the box for a roughing skirmish, and the ’Hawks seemed to appreciate the open ice, immediately taking the play to the Owls.

The visitors nearly scored with under a minute to go as well, as a puck trickled past Timberlane goalie Brett LaPerriere (12 saves), but slid along the goal line long enough that an Owls defender was able to sweep it away.

The ’Hawks penalty-killing units were brilliant all night, but unfortunately, called upon far too frequently. And with just seconds left in the second period, it cost them. Facing a five-on-three situation, Timberlane star David Evans drove in on Glendye untouched before dishing off to Ross Ferullo for an easy tip into an unguarded net and a 3-1 lead.

“We’re a team with emotions, and mixed experience,” said Merrimack coach Dan Legro. “But 75 percent of the games we’ve lost this year have been on the penalty kill. They’ll learn – they have to.”

The third period was a back-and-forth affair that generated very few actual scoring chances. That seemed to suite Timberlane just fine, until Caron took a feed from Casey Bourque and scored five-hole from an odd angle on LaPerriere to make it 3-2 with just over six minutes left in the game.

Merrimack set up for one last chance with a faceoff in the Owls’ end and Glendye pulled for an extra skater, but their shot from the point was blocked. Timberlane’s Jordan Marchetto fed Fox for the game-ending empty-netter.

Despite the experience versus inexperience angle, Merrimack’s freshman goalie was spectacular. With the chances Fox was getting in the first period, it was inevitable he was going to score, and the second period goal was during a 5-on-3.

“That’s the type of kid he is. He kept us in the game,” said Legro. “I was surprised the first two goals went in, and he almost made that save on the power-play goal – he missed by one, two, three inches.”