STATE CHAMPIONS; AGAIN

The  Kennett Eagles captured their third State Championship in four years with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Alvirne Broncos Saturday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. Anthony LaRusso scored the game winning goal with 26.3 seconds remaining in overtime to send the Eagle faithful home happy. “It was a thrilling day,” said head coach Michael Lane. “I could not be happier for the kids. We played a really tough team and came out on top.”

Early on Saturday Alvirne carried play, throwing a lot of rubber in John Bishops direction. The talented senior was up to the task however and kept the game scoreless with number of key saves. Captain Kevin Murphy got the Eagles on the board first with a rocket from just inside the blue line that hit off Alvirne goalie Brian Carpentier’s glove, but trickled in for a 1-0 lead. The Broncos answered 57 seconds later when Trevor Perron snapped a wrist shot past Bishop after the Eagles failed to clear the zone, tying the game 1-1. The Eagles were out shot in the first period 14-7.

In the second, Alvirne carried play early and Bishop was forced to make a number of key saves, including a breakaway save midway through the period on Broncos sniper Cam Brock. “I saw Brock come in on Bishop and I got nervous, I mean he is as good as there is in the league, but Bish was confident at the top of crease and shut him down, just one of many on the day that he made look easy,” said Lane. The Eagles took a 2-1 lead late in the second when LaRusso picked up a puck on the left wall at center ice and went in on a two on one with Nick Massa. LaRusso made no mistake, snapping a shot past Carperntier’s blocker to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. “Cody did a nice job of getting the puck up the wall to Anthony to create the two on one. Then Massa drove the net hard which gave Anthony room to shoot and he did a good job of hitting his spot,” said Lane. Bishop made a great right pad stop as time expired in the second to keep the game 2-1 headed to the third.

In the third period, the Broncos tied things up quickly when freshman Cam Blake was left wide open in front of the net and burried the puck, to make it 2-2. “We were just to aggresive defensivley,” said Lane. Three guys all went to their best player and that left Blake wide open.” The Eagles took their 3rd lead of the night at the 5:04 mark of the third when James Gallo picked off a clearing pass, and fired a wrist shot on Carpentier. He made the save but Gallo followed his rebound and banged it home five hole to make it 3-2. “James was really under the weather but had great legs all day, especially in the 3rd, great to see him rewarded,” said Lane.

Both teams traded scoring opportunities down the stretch but it was the Broncos who finished, when Brock spun around with a wrist shot that Bishop never saw to tie the game 3-3 with 3:05 to play. “The puck kind of bounced around like a pin ball,” said Lane. “We were not in bad position, but we just lost track of the puck and Brock did what goal scorers do and finished. Bishop was forced to make two key saves in the final minute to send the game to overtime.

Alvirne was 3-0 on the season in overtime, including a 4-3 semi-final overtime win over Belmont Gilford. The overtime was the first the Eagles had played since they tied Belmont Gilford in February of the 2010-2011 season and the first overtime play-off game since the 2008 State Championship which they lost to Souhegan 3-2. “We just wanted to have two or three good defensive shifts and get into a flow in OT,” said Lane. “So often overtime ends before it starts, so we knew with them playing mostly two line and us playing three, the longer it went, the better it was for us and the kids did a good job of executing.”

Both goalies were stellar in overtime. Throught the first 13 minuutes both teams had golden opportunities to win the game, but both goalies made saves to keep play moving. WIth 1:59 to play in the first overtime Murphy drew an interference call, it was the 3rd penalty Murphy drew on the day. The Eagles set up the power play and with 35 seconds to go the play was set in motion. Murphy missed from the left circle short side with a wrist shot. Dillon Smith raced to the right point and kept the puck in. He made a shoulder move freeing himself from Brock and snapped a wrist shot towards the net. It was blocked in front but Massa picked up the pass and slid it across to LaRusso who burried it for the game winner, sending the Eagles into celebration. “All around, great effort,” said Lane. “Murph gained the zone and set in up, Dillon made a nice move to free himself from Brock and those two juniors just outworked their defense down low, so proud of the kids.”

Bishop made 34 saves in the win and made his mark on the state about what kind of goaltender he is. “We all know by now that Bish didn’t get 1st or 2nd team All State for goaltenders, but stats don’t lie, he played the best teams all season and has some of the best numbers this league has seen, and his performance today speaks for itself” said Lane. Lane also praised Alvirne. “They are a class act, they gave us everything they had and in a game like this no one deserves to lose. It just came down to a couple of breaks and we got them today, but I wish them nothing but the best in the future.”

The Eagles close out the season with a 19-1 record (20-1 overall). The 20 wins ties the 2010 team for most wins in a season, but don’t expect coach Lane to compare.”Not going there, two different teams who accomplised an awful lot. All I will say is the 2012 team is as close a group as I have seen in my 5 years coaching and they deserve 100% of the credit for that. We had great leadership from our upper classman and our kids all bought into the system. I will miss coaching this team”

The Eagles finished ranked 7th in the entire state according to Marc Thaler’s blog. Marc is the official high school hockey writer of the Union Leader.

Post season awards for the Eagles included the following.

Kevin Murphy – NH Granite State Game, NH Division III Player of the Year & First Team All State Division III.

Matt Kelly- Second Team All State Division III

John Bishop – Honarble Mention All State Division III

Eagles advance to fifth straight hockey finals

CONWAY — Kennett High and Alvirne were the last two ice hockey teams in New Hampshire to go undefeated — this Saturday one of them will win the Division III State Championship.

The top seeded Eagles tied a state record with their 3-1 semifinal victory over No. 4 Hollis-Brookline at Concord’s Everett Arena Wednesday night — the boys from Conway have advanced to the state championship game seven out of the last 10 years and are currently riding a five year streak of finals. Dover, of Division II has also reached the title game seven out of the past 10 years.

Wednesday’s semifinal was a barn-burner and a nail-biter all rolled up into 45 minutes of non-stop, action packed high school hockey.

“I probably aged two years in one night,” Michael Lane, Eagles’ head coach, said, smiling. Kennett is an incredible 89-12-1 in Lane’s five years at the helm. “It was a fun, fun evening; I couldn’t have scripted it any better. (Laughing) During the game as a coach it might not have been all that fun, but afterward, looking back it was a great game to coach.”

Kennett, who beat Hollis-Brookline 2-1 in the lone regular season meeting between the schools, out-shot the Cavaliers 25-14 on the night and carried the play for large portions, but ran into a hot goalie (Jake Hahnl) and a stingy, physical defense. Kennett committed one penalty on the night to five for the H-B.

“We were very aware that they’re physical,” Lane said. “We knew we had to take the hits in order to make the plays. It was another physical game and to our kids credit they kept their composure and kept ticking.

“We talk about team play a lot,” he continued, “and all of the credit goes to this bunch, they did all of the little things and in the end that was the difference. It was a total team victory, everyone did what they had to do for us to win.”

The Eagles were unlucky not to find the back of the net in the opening minutes on the power-play. A Hollis-Brookline player was given a two-minute penalty for an illegal hit to the head just 22 seconds into the game. Kennett created five first rate chances with Kevin Murphy and Connor Todd both coming oh-so close seconds apart.

“Their goalie was solid and kept them in it early on,” Lane said. “We knew we’d see his best and we did.”

Kennett out-shot Hollis-Brookline 9-3 in the first period.

“We carried the play in the period and it was still 0-0,” Lane said. “That can be demoralizing to go to the locker room tied, but not one kid got down; they were so focused.”

Kennett finally broke the scoring ice 40 seconds into the second period on a goal worthy of the Play of the Day. Junior Dillon Smith found lineman Murphy with a pinpoint cross ice pass and the senior went in alone and made no mistake much to the delight of the massive flock of Eagles supporters.

“We knew the cross ice pass was there,” Lane said. “It was just a beautiful pass and Kevin did the rest. It was a quality goal from one of the best play-makers to one of the best finishers in the league.”

The Cavaliers knotted the game with 10:11 left in the period when foreign exchange defenseman Honza Havlena (from the Czech Republic) scored with a slap-shot just inside the blue line. That was the last time Hollis-Brookline had anything to celebrate because goalie Johnny Bishop became a human fortress.

“Bish didn’t have to make a lot of saves, but the ones he did were huge,” Lane said. “He made one save about five minutes in, a beautiful glove save, and I think that set the tone for him. Another huge thing for us was Bish’s play behind the net and his ability to turn the puck over for our breakouts. …Our defense was real special — Matt Kelly, Chris King and Dan Rivera — logged a ton of minutes and they were phenomenal.”

The Eagles had a pair of power-play opportunities with five minutes to play in the period, including a five-on-three advantage for 50 seconds, but were unable to find pay-dirt.

“I think quite honestly at point we were a little gassed,” Lane said.

The game was deadlocked at 1-1 after two periods with Kennett holding an 18-11 advantage in shots on goal.

Todd scored what proved to be the game-winner late into nail-biting time with 4:38 to play. Murphy intercepted a cross ice pass and then slid a soft pass to Todd, who beat the goalie from close range.

“It was nice,” Lane said. “During the second and third periods (Hollis-Brookline) was constantly trying to make cross ice passes and Kevin Murphy stepped up and intercepted one and got the puck to Connor. Connor Todd in tight like that with such good hands is such a special player.”

Hollis-Brookline tried to net the equalizer, but Kennett did everything right to thwart the efforts, diving in front of pucks, tying up forward and giving their all.

“What a great effort,” Lane said.

With 22 seconds left, Kelly lofted the puck to Nick Massa at center ice and the talented junior darted towards goal and tucked in the empty-netter to seal the victory in front of the Kennett fans.

“I can’t say enough about our community and the support we receive,” Lane said. “I just shake my head in a positive way. Hollis-Brookline had a great contingent and they’re just 20 minutes away. Our fans came from two hours away and we had more than them. I don’t know how many people we had there, but they were loud and the kids feed off that. You can feel the energy of this community and we really appreciate it.”

Kennett, who is now 157-44-6 as a varsity program, set a new Division III record by advancing to the championship game for the fifth straight year. The Eagles can match Souhegan with a win Saturday for most all-time titles. KHS is 2-4 in championship games.

“We definitely hope to improve on our finals record this Saturday,” Lane said with a grin.

Kennett is now 7-1 all-time in semifinal games at Everett Arena.

Lane is proud of the legacy Kennett hockey has created and maintained.

“From the beginning the kids have set a blueprint,” he said. “Each kid followed that when the were younger until it was their turn to carry the torch. The Chris Kings, Cody Richards, Kevin Muphys and on and on have followed and embraced their opportunities when they’ve come, it’s been special to see.

“…They’re not just good hockey players but they’re good citizens and students, too,” Lane added. “We had four NHIAA scholar athletes (Rivera, Murphy, Richards and Kelly); Chris King is the Senior Class President; and we had 10 players make the Honor Roll with honors or high honors. This a group we can all be proud of.”

Kennett will play No. 2 Alvirne, who beat No. 6 Belmont-Gilford 4-3 in 1:23 into overtime in Wednesday night’s first semifinal. The Division III finals are scheduled for this Saturday at 12:15 p.m. in the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.

You can pre buy tickets in the main office at Kennett High for the game. It is encouraged that you do this to avoid waiting in lines at the arena. Tickets are $6 for students/children and $8 for adults.

“Two teams 19-1, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Lane said.

Kennett beat Alvirne on the road 3-2 on Feb. 15 in the lone regular season meeting.

Since then, the Eagles have added a new look. The players have dyed their hair blond.

“It’s pretty ugly,” Lane said, laughing, “but they did it as a team and everyone did it. I don’t think any of them have a hair stylist career in front of them.”

Eagles headed back to Concord

CONWAY – The Kennett Eagles are headed back to Concord and the NHIAA Division III Frozen Four after a 7-1 win over Somersworth Saturday night at a packed Ham Arena (estimated over 600 fans in attendance). The game was tied 1-1 with under six minutes to play in the second, thanks in part to Peter Robertson, the Somersworth goalie who made an incredible 57 saves on the night, most of the spectacular category.

Scoreless after the first, Dillon Smith skated the puck end to end on a power play and beat Robertson blocker side for a power play goal with 13:54 to play in the second. Three minutes later on a 5 on 3 power play, Austin Siering blistered a slap shot past John Bishop to tie the game 1-1. The game would stay that way until the 9:26 mark of the second when Kevin Murphy picked up a puck along the wall after a Dan Rivera pinch kept the puck in. Murphy beat Robertson to give the Eagles a lead they would not surender. Two minutes later the Eagles extended the lead to 3-1 when Brad Canavari outworked a Somersworth defender in front of the net and banged home a rebound of a James Gallo shot. Thats the way the teams headed to the dressing room.

The third period once again saw the Eagles pepper Robbertson but the Somersworth keeper kept the game 3-1. Thats when Bishop made his biggest and most important save of the night. Steve Wolf and Jonathan Hansen came in on a 2-1. Wolf cut to the front and tried to beat Bishop, but the senior held his ground to keep the game 3-1. Minutes later the Eagles extended their lead to 4-1 when Murphy scored a shorthanded goal. Later on a power play, Murphy found Connor Todd back door for a wind open net goal and a 5-1 lead. The Eagles made it 6-1 when Chris King took a slap shot from the point that was deflected home by Gallo.  Smith netted his second of the night on a wrist shot to close out the scoring and a 7-1 win. The Eagles outshot Somersworth 64-13.

This is the Eagles 6th straight appearence in the Frozen Four, somthing coach Lane does not take for granted. “The kids understand what it takes to get back there (Concord) and its not easy. These kids work hard everyday and take nothing for granted, they deserve a lot of credit,” said Lane. The Eagles will play Hollis Brookline whom they beat 2-1 in a thriller in mid February. The two teams face-off at 7:30 p.m. In the 5:30 p.m. game the 6th seed Belmont Gilford Bull Dogs will meet the 2nd seed Alvirne Broncos. Previews of both games will be online Tuesday.

Eagles clinch top spot

CONWAY- The Souhegan Sabers scored 4 power play goals including two 5 on 3, but the Eagles were good enough five on five to skate past the Sabers 6-4 Saturday night at the Ham Arena and in the process clinch the top seed in the 2012 Division III play-offs. Over 300 fans packed the Ham Arena for the game which saw Dillon Smith lead the way for the Eagles with a hat trick.

The Eagles honored their seven seniors prior to the game, however not all seven were able to play. Gabe Lee missed his second straight game with a hip injury he suffered Monday afternoon at practice, he is expected back for the play-offs.

The Eagles came out strong and controled early play and took the lead just over seven minutes in when Smith took a feed from Connor Todd and slipped it five hole to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead, Kevin Murphy picked up an assist on the play as well. Then the Eagles got into penalty trouble and Souhegan took advantage, scoring twice on the man advantage, the second on a 5 on 3. The Sabers lead was short lived however as the Eagles scored a power play goal them selves. LaRusso took a feed from behind the net and made no mistake to tie the game 1-1, Nick Massa and Todd got the assists on the play. LaRusso gave the Eagles the lead with :42 seconds to play in the first when he took a feed from Massa who worked the puck loose, and LaRusso beat the goaltender blocker side for a 3-2 Eagles lead headed to the dressing room. The Eagles out shot the Sabers 17-8 in the period.

In the second the Sabers used another 5 on 3 to their advantage, scoring off a scramble in front of the net. The Eagles took the lead back thanks to Smith, who nettet two goals including a nifty back handed goal to send the Eagles to the dressing room up 5-3. Chris King and Todd got assists on the two goals.

In the third the Eagles extended the lead to 6-3 when Murphy ripped a slap shot past the Sabers goalie just five minutes into the frame. The Sabers cut the lead to 6-4 with a late power play goal, but thats as close as it got as the Eagles skated away with a 6-4 victory and the top spot in the play-offs. John Bishop made 22 saves in net for the Eagles. The loss drops the Sabers to the 5th spot in the standings, they will travel to Hollis next Saturday. The Eagles will meet the winner of Wednesday nights game between (8) Somersworth and (9) Portsmouth). Full play-off coverage kicks off Monday.

Wolf Pack skates past the Eagles

CONWAY — No one will go undefeated in New Hampshire high school boys and girls ice hockey this winter — Pelham-Windham saw to that Wednesday night. The Wolfpack scored a pair of power-play goals late in the second period on their way to pulling off a 4-2 upset of top ranked Kennett High at Ham Ice Arena.

In defeat, KHS Senior Kevin Murphy, who netted a pair of goals, became the school’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Griffin Meador (Class of 2010). He now sits on 159 career points.

The loss dropped the Eagles to 15-1 (16-1 overall) in Division III play while Pelham-Windham improved to 13-3 and moved into third place in the standings.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Pelham-Windham,” Michael Lane, Eagles’ head coach, said, “but I just don’t think we had the eye of the tiger. While I don’t think we played terrible, I don’t think we played with a sense of desperation either. You’ve got to give credit to (the Wolfpack) for coming to play.

“Now we’ve got to get back to work and concentrate on Souhegan (10-5-2) this Saturday (at Ham Arena at 6 p.m.),” he added. “We need to win this game if we want to hold onto the No. 1 seed.”

Prior to Saturday’s face-off, Kennett will recognize its seven seniors — John Bishop, Gabe Lee, Matt Kelly, Chris King, Murphy, Cody Richard and Gabe Rivera — for their contributions to the program.

“It’s a special group,” Lane said. “Hopefully, we’ll get a good crowd out to support the team. We’ll do a short presentation, then we’ll get down to the task at hand.”

Lane has a ton of respect for Souhegan.

“They’re a very good team,” he said. “They have five losses but two of them were against Alvirne and both of those were in overtime. Plus, they lost 6-4 at Pelham-Windham and the final goal was an empty-netter in the closing seconds. …They’ve got a dynamic power-play so we’ve got to stay out of the (penalty) box.”

Kennett out-shot Pelham-Windham in the first period 12-9, yet found itself trailing after the opening 15 minutes 1-0. the Wolfpack struck with 6:37 left in the first period.

The Eagles were able to knot the score just 46 seconds into the second period when Murphy scored on a breakaway and became the school’s all-time leading scorer.

“It’s really a great accomplishment,” Lane said.

Kennett fans had little time to celebrate the milestone as the Wolfpack reclaimed the lead 63 seconds later.

Murphy tied the game again two minutes and 14 seconds later when Connor Todd sent Dillon Smith and Murphy in on a two-on-one and the sharpshooter made no mistake.

Penalties plagued Kennett from that point on with the Eagles picking up four penalties in a row and were forced to play shorthanded for eight minutes. Pelham-Windham cashed in on two of its power-play opportunities to secure the victory.

The game-winner came with 4:42 left in the second period and the visitors added an insurance goal with 2:15 to play in the period.

“We got into penalty trouble and they capitalized on their chances,” Lane said.

Pelham-Windham out-shot Kennett 16-8 in the second period. The Eagles out-shot the Wolfpack in the third but never scored again.

“We left a lot of chances on the ice,” Lane said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead to prepare for Souhegan. They’re coming here looking at a chance to get a home playoff game if they win. A win should get them fourth, but a loss will probably push them to fifth. This game is going to be a real big test for us.”

Coach Lane praised the play of junior winger James Gallo and Bishop in goal.

“James was fantastic, he was all over the place,” he said. “Bish made a number of big saves that kept us in the game. He gave up four goals, but there was nothing he could do on any of them.”

Eagles sweep weekend

The Kennett Eagles outscored Somersworth and Manchester West 17-3 in a span of less then 20 hours to move to 15-0 on the season (16-0 overall). The two wins clinches at worst the number 2 seed in the Division III standings. A win or two ties in the final two games of the regular season this week will clinch the top seed.

Friday-4-0 win over Somersworth

There is one thing for certain, when the Eagles and the Hilltoppers play its going to be emotional, and Friday was no different. The two teams combined for 38 penalty minutes in a physical contest. The Hilltoppers got on the board first with 2:37 to play in the first period on a Jonathan Hansen breakaway goal. The Hilltoppers fans had not even finished celebrating and the game was tied. Anthony LaRusso tied the game up just 10 seconds later when he banged home a rebound of a Cody Richard shot, Nick Massa got an assist on the play.  John Bishop was solid between the pipes making 9 saves.

The Eagles quickly took the lead in the second when Massa found the back of net with a wrist shot from the left half wall. LaRusso and Richard picked up the assists on the play. The Eagles made it 3- when Richard scored from LaRusso and Massa with 11:28 to play in the second. “That line is starting to click, they had a real strong effort at Alvirne and they followed it up with another great effort tonight,” said Eagles coach Michael lane. Connor Todd made it 4-1 late in the second with Dillon Smith and Kevin Murphy picking up assists. The Eagles closed the door in the 3rd to go away with a 4-1 win. Bishop was solid in net making 25 saves.

Saturday 13 West 2 – Dillon Smith joins 100 point club

The Eagles closed out the weekend with a 13-2 win over Manchester West Saturday afternoon. Dillon Smith led the way for the Eagles with 4 goals and an assist and in the process joined an elite group with his 100th career point. He joins Michael Skelton (class of 2008), Griffin Meador (class of 2010), Taylor Cyr (class of 2010) and Kevin Murphy (class of 2012). “We are all really proud of Dillon, its somthing he should be really proud of,” said Eagles coach Michael Lane.

In game action, 13 different Eagles skaters registered a point in the win. Adding to Smiths 4 goal performance were Anthony LaRusso (3 goals 1 assist) Nathaniel Swift (2 goals), Kevin Murphy and Connor Todd each with a goal and 3 assists, Nick Massa a goal and 2 assists, Brad Canavari a goal, Cody Richard, James Gallo, Matt Kelly, Chris King, Robert Moody and Michael Ellison all had assists in the game as well. The assist for Ellison was his first career point. John Bishop played 38 minutes in goal making 17 saves while Bobby Davis closed out the night making  3 saves in seven minutes of play. The Eagles are now off until Wednesday when they host the 3rd place Windham-Pelham Wolf Pack at 5 p.m.

Kennett is the last undefeated hockey team in N.H.

By Lloyd Jones

CONWAY — Kennett High is the last undefeated ice hockey team in New Hampshire. Forty-two high school boys hockey teams started the season undefeated and now their is just one.

The Eagles went on the road to Skate 3 Arena in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, Wednesday night and topped previously unbeaten Alvirne 3-2 in a barn-burner.

The win lifted Kennett alone atop the Division III standings and secured a home quarterfinal playoff game at Ham Ice Arena on March 3 at 7 p.m. The Eagles are 13-0 (14-0 with a non-league victory over Bedford, the top ranked team in Division II).

Alvirne slides to 13-1 with the loss and into second place.

“It was a real good effort by the boys,” Michael Lane, Eagles’ head coach, said, “everyone did their job. I’m really happy for the team and proud of all of the guys, they all contributed.”

Kennett had more fans at the game than the host Broncos.

“We always travel well,” Lane said. “We’re so lucky to have such a loyal fan base. I can’t tell you how much the players and coaches appreciate it.”

Alvirne carried the play early in the contest while the Eagles were still getting their ice legs following the three hour bus ride to Tyngsboro. The Broncos took the lead at the 9:48 mark with a goal from the point on a screen shot.

“We changed some things up in-between periods,” Lane said. “We wanted to focus on getting the puck deep and applying pressure. It paid off within two minutes.”

The boys from Conway drew level two minutes into the second frame when junior Nick Massa banged home a rebound from close range to knot the game at 1-1. Cody Richard and Anthony LaRusso picked up assists on the goal.

The trio put Kennett in front for good six minutes later when Massa once again found pay-dirt from Richard and LaRusso to take a 2-1 lead.

“I thought Cody was about as dominant as he’s been all season,” Lane said, “and Anthony and Nick had great games, too. We really carried the play in the second period and out-shot (Alvirne) 16-6.”

The Eagles were unlucky not to add a third goal with less than two minutes to play in the period. Kennett thought it had scored but the referees nullified the goal believing the puck had been kicked into the net. Instead of a two goal cushion, KHS led 2-1 going into the final 15 minutes.

“It would have been nice to be up by two heading into the third,” Lane said, “but to the kids credit they didn’t dwell on it. I think it’s a sign that we’re maturing as a hockey team.”

Kennett did make it 3-1 on a goal that counted 4:52 into the third period when Kevin Murphy scored on a wrist shot off a feed from Dillon Smith and Connor Todd.

Alvirne managed to trim the lead back to a goal when it scored on a shorthanded effort with four minutes remaining.

Lane’s troop held on and withstood a late effort from the Broncos to leave town with the victory.

Senior goalie John Bishop picked up the win between the pipes while making 21 saves.

“Bish had a another good night,” Lane said. “He made some big saves down the stretch. I can’t say enough about team effort. Our defense played great. Matt Kelly once again probably logged over 35 minutes; Chris King was great and so was Dan Rivera. Everyone contributed. All three lines played well. Our Teal Line of Brad Canavari, James Gallo and Gabe Lee was very strong all night. Gabe has shifted over to center and is making all of the necessary adjustments, and it’s so nice to have Brad back (returned last week from a broken and dislocated wrist).

“…Before the game,” Lane added, “a lot of people were picking Alvirne — it’s nice to see our kids step up and answer the bell.”

Kennett out-shot Alvirne 28-23.

The Eagles don’t have a lot of time to savor this victory since they’re back in action Friday (8:10 p.m.) at Ham Arena when defending state champs Somersworth comes to town for another rematch of last year’s finals.

Kennett beat the Toppers 5-0 in Somersworth (9-6 and winners of seven of their last eight) on Jan. 14, but Lane firmly believes KHS will be facing a vastly improved squad this time.

“They’re coming in red hot,” he said. “We always have great games with them and I’m not expecting anything different this Friday.”

Kennett has four games, all at home, left on the regular season schedule and then will host a playoff game.

“No more road games until Concord (site of the Final Four), hopefully,” Lane said, smiling, “I can definitely live with that. We’ve still got a lot to play for (in the regular season). We’d like to go into the tournament as the No. 1 seeds.”

 

Eagles & Broncos set for showdown    

When the 2011-2012 schedule came out in September, many fans circled it as a must see game, but few probably thought it would match the only two undefeated remaining teams in the State. The Broncos come in at 13-0 in league play while the Eagles come in at 12-0 in league play, 13-0 overall.

The Eagles come in with the leagues best team defense, allowing just 14 goals in 13 games while both teams come in having scored 86 goals. The two teams have met three times in the past 13 months, with the Eagles winning two of those games and the Broncos winning one. Last season in January the Eagles beat the Broncos 4-2 at Alvirne. The two teams met again in the play-offs in Concord last season with the Eagles winning 6-3. The two teams met for the final time in Dover in the pre-season this past December with the Broncos winning 2-0.

	Alvirne	Kennett
RECORD	13-0	12-0 (13-0 overall)
G	86	86
GA	28	14
PEN. MIN.	124	170

Eagles slip past Cavaliers; 2-1

Dillon Smith ripped a slap shot under the cross bar with 3:11 to play Saturday night to lift the Eagles to a 2-1 win over Hollis Brookline at Cyclones Arena in Hudson. The win lifts the Eagles to 12-0 in Division III play, 13-0 overall while the loss drops the Cavaliers to 9-5. “This is a tough building to play in,” said head coach Michael Lane. “I thought Hollis really pushed us around in the first fifteen minutes, I thought we did a pretty good job of adjusting and played a better second and third.”

Hollis came out flying and controlled most of the first fifteen minutes, but John Bishop kept the game scoreless making 15 saves. In the second the Eagles found themselves in penalty trouble, but it was on the penalty kill that the Eagles struck first. Kevin Murphy picked off a pass at the Hollis blue line, walked in to the top of the left face-off circle and blistered a slap shot blocker side to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Later in the period the Eagles had a key penalty kill when they killed off a 5 on 3 of over a minute. Bishop was huge on the penalty Kill controlling rebounds and Matt Kelly, Dillon Smith, Kevin Murphy and Connor Todd were solid on the kill as well. The teams went to the dressing room with the Eagles up 1-0.

In the third Hollis tied the game with a power play goal with 11:09 to play on a two on one. A shot from the left circle was stopped by Bishop but the rebound was pounded home to tie the game 1-1. Later in the period, the Eagles found themselves down for four minutes, but the Eagles as they have most of the season stepped up on the penalty kill and did not allow Hollis to scored. Shortly after the Eagles killed off the penalty Chris King drew a hooking penalty from a hustle play. On the power play Murphy kept the puck in at the right point, slid a pass to Smith who ripped a slap shot over the shoulder of the goaltender to give the Eagles the lead 2-1 with 3:11 to play. “We worked on our play quite a bit on Thursday at practice,” said Lane. “Todd (Frechette) has been working hard with the kids on it and it was nice to see it pay off in a big spot.”

The Cavaliers tried to tie the game down the stretch but stellar team defense from Smith, Murphy, Todd, Anthony LaRusso, Nick Massa, Cody Richard and Gabe Lee along with defenseman Kelly, King and Dan Rivera kept the Cavaliers away from Bishop and gave the Eagles a 2-1 win. “Hollis has a great club, they are well coached, they work hard and are very physical, it took a total team effort to get this win,” said Lane. Bishop finished the game with 35 saves, a performance Lane said was his best of the season.

The win sets up a showdown Wednesday night at Skate 3 Arena. The Eagles will meet the Alvirne Broncos (13-0) in a battle of the only two undefeated teams remaining in the state. “Its going to be a dog fight,” said Lane. “We will get to work Monday, hopefully have a good couple of days of practice and see what we can do.”

Eagles take over top spot in February HNIB Poll

After previously being ranked 2nd in the December and January Hockey Night in Boston Poll the Eagles took over the top spot. (Records as of time of poll)

1- Kennett Eagles (10-0) Previous rank 2

2- Alvirne Broncos (9-0) Previous rank 3

3- Windham-Pelham Wolf Pack (8-1) Previous rank 4

4- Hollis Brookline Cavaliers (9-3) Previous rank 6

5- Belmont-Gilford Bull Dogs (7-4) Previous rank 8

6- Souhegan Sabers (7-4-1) Previous rank 1

7- Moult.-IL Renegades (6-5) Previous rank N/R

8- Portsmouth Clippers (5-6) Previous rank 5

Todd nets four; Gallo adds a hat-trick in 9-0 win against Kearsarge

CONWAY — The Kennett High hockey team enjoyed a brief stop at home Monday night and continued its winning ways much to the delight of a modest sized crowd at the Ham Ice Arena. The Eagles scored eight second period goals, including three short-handed to top the visiting Cougars of Kearsarge 9-0.

The win lifted Kennett to 11-0 and keeps them atop the Division III standings heading into an important upcoming stretch of road games. The Eagles are scheduled to play their final two road games of the regular season over the next 10 days. They play No. 4 Hollis/Brookline (9-4) on Saturday and then play at No. 2 Alvirne (11-0) on on Feb. 15.

“Saturday will be a real test for us,” Michael Lane, Eagles’ head coach, said. “Historically, we haven’t played well down in their building. I’m hoping it’s a different year and we’re a different team and we can change that. …Hollis/Brookline is pretty balanced and they probably one of if not the hardest working teams in the division. They make you work for everything.”

Lane was pleased with the effort from the troops on Monday.

“It was nice to be home even if was just briefly,” he said, smiling. “It was a good win — the kids came to play and worked hard.”

Goalie John Bishop picked up his league leading sixth shutout while turning away all 16 shots that came his way.

“It’s important to keep Bish fresh and on top of his game,” Lane said. “We have a number of important games coming up and are going to need him and the defense on top of their games.”

Kennett took the lead with 4:38 to play in the opening period. Connor Todd scored the first of his four goals on the night on a backdoor feed from Kevin Murphy for what proved to be the game-winner.

The Eagles out-shot the Cougars 12-5 in the first period, but had just the one goal advantage going into the second frame.

James Gallo, who also scored a hat-trick in the contest, lit the lamp three minutes into the second period with an assist from Chris King.

Two minutes later, Gallo scored again, this time shorthanded from Todd.

With 8:13 left in the period, Murphy made it 4-0 from Todd and King. Just eight seconds later Todd scored an unassisted shorthanded goal to make it 5-0 prompting Kearsarge to take a timeout to try to stem the tide.

It didn’t work.

Eleven seconds later Todd struck again to make it 6-0 for his hat-trick.

With 7:19 remaining in the second Gallo completed his hat-trick off a feed from King.

Dillon Smith upped the lead to 8-0 with 6:39 to play in the period from Murphy and Dane Rivera.

Todd closed out the scoring with the third shorthanded goal of the night from Matt Kelly with 4:35 to play in the period.

“It’s nice to get the win, like I said, and it’s nice to have a few days to really focus on Saturday’s game,” Lane said.

Eagles rally twice to skate past Bull Dogs; 11-6

The Kennett Eagles found themselves in a place they had not been in all season Wednesday night, behind on the scoreboard. In fact 11 minutes into the game the Eagles trailed the home Bull Dogs 3-0. The Eagles however show mental toughness and fought back not once, but twice and skated away in the third with an 11-6 win Wednesday night at the Laconia Ice Arena in front of a large crowd. “I was really happy with the kids efforts tonight,” Eagles head coach Michael Lane said. “We know how good they are, they have a lot of talent, but we stayed patient and took advantage of our chances and got help from all three lines.”

The hosts got on the board just over three minutes into the game and added to the lead less then ninty seconds later. With 4 minutes to play in the first the Bull Dogs made it 3-0 and were looking like they were going to run away with the game. Lane considered taking a time out, but chose not to, somthing he is glad he didn’t. Just 23 seconds after falling behind 3-0 Anthony LaRusso banged home a rebound of a Gabe Lee shot to make it 3-1, James Gallo picked up the second assist on the play. “If there was another minute left in the period I would have called the time out,” said Lane. “I just felt we were deep enough if the period where we could survive the period and even though we were down 3-0, I felt like we were having some good shifts. The teams went to the dressing room 3-1. John Bishop and Alex Conway (B-G goalie) each made 10 first period saves.

In the second the Eagles came out flying and quickly tied the game. Dillon Smith won a one on one race for a loose puck, he was taken down and delayed penalty was called, but the Eagles never made it to the power play as Connor Todd snapped a shot past Conway to cut the lead to 3-2, Kevin Murphy picked up the second assist on the play. With 12:36 to play in the second Lee tied the game with a wrist shot from the right circle, Chris King and Gallo got the assists on the play. The lead was short lived however as the Bull Dogs scored just over a minute later off a scrum in front of the net. The Bull Dogs made it 5-3 on a breakaway with 8:01 to play in the second. “The attitude was good on the bench, the kids were not happy, but determined,” said Lane. Murphy cut the lead to 5-4 with a slap shot from the top of the right circle and with 3:16 to play in the frame Justin Munck scored on the power play to tie the game, Todd got the assist on the play. Thats the way the teams headed to the second intermission. Bishop and Conway both made 8 saves in the period.

In the third the Eagles has a fast start. Munck picked up his second of the night with a wrap around just 68 seconds into the period. The play started with a great fore-check, causing a turn over with Nick Massa doing the work. Massa and Cody Richard got assists on the play. The Eagles made it 7-5 when Smith scored an unassisted shorthanded goal just over 4 minutes into the period with a great induvidual effort. The Bull Dogs didn’t go away, cutting into the lead with 7:08 to play with a power play goal. But the Eagles had to much fire power on the night. Smith scored his second to make it 8-6 and then Smith, Murphy and Todd combined for a beautiful tick tack toe goal with Todd finishing the play off. Munck put the Eagles in double digits with his 3rd goal on the night, it was Muncks first career hat trick, Massa and King got assists on the play. The Eagles closed out the scoring with a power play goal from Murphy, Todd got the assist and the Eagles had an 11-6 win. Bishop finished the game with 34 saves. The win moves the Eagles to 10-0 on the season, 11-0 overall. “This was a huge test for our team and the kids answered the bell,” said Lane. “BG is a great team and they are going to be there in the end, our team knows that, so to win in their building on a night we trailed by multiple goals twice feels pretty good. We need to enjoy this for 24 hours and then get ready to get back to work at practice tomorrow.” The Eagles will host Kearsarge Monday at 5:00 p.m. before they hit the road for their two final road games on the season. They travel to Hollis Brookline on February 11th and then travel to Alvirne on the 15th. The Eagles return home for the final four games starting with Somersworth on the 17th. Of the final seven games on the Eagles schedule five are against play-off teams. “Its what we want, to play the best teams in the league down the stretch, I think it better prepares you for the play-offs,” said Lane.

Eagles hit mid point of season; Beat Moult.-IL 3-2, now 8-0

The Eagles survived a gritty Moultonborough-Inter Lakes team Wednesday night, winning 3-2 and moving to 8-0 on the season (9-0 overall). The win means the Eagles have reached the mid point of the season. Senior goaltender John Bishop made 28 saves in the win and continues his solid play in the nets for the Eagles.

Nick Massa got the scoring going early in the first when he banged home a rebound of a Cody Richard shot. Later in the first Dillon Smith broke in alone to beat the Moultonborough Inter Lakes goaltender and give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. In the second the Renegades scored two goals three minutes apart to tie the game. In the final minute of the period Connor Todd took a pass from Smith and Chris King and put it right under the cross bar to make it 3-2 headed into the Eagles.

In the third, the Eagles killed off four penalties, including a one minute and twenty three second five on three to close out a 3-2 win. The Eagles are on the road Saturday when they travel to Conval for an 11 a.m. face-off.

 

 

Eagles beat Pembroke; now 7-0

The Kennett Eagles got five point nights from Kevin Murphy and Dillon Smith to lead the Eagles past Pembroke 7-2 Saturday night at the Ham arena. John Bishop mad 18 saves to earn his 6th league win of the season. “Our offense really carried us tonight,” said Eagles coach Michael Lane. “Our defense really fought the puck tonight, but our forwards moved the puck really well and created a lot of opportunities.”

The Eagles got on the board just 2:05 into the game when Murphy took a feed in his defensive zone from Chris King and went end to end, putting a wrist shot under the cross bar for a 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later Connor Todd banged home a rebound shot of a Smith back hand shot to make it 2-0 Eagles.  Pembroke cut the lead to 2-1 on a breakaway, but the Eagles answered 23 seconds later when Smith scored with a beautiful breakaway move, Murphy sent Smith in on the breakaway. The Eagles made it 4-1 when Murphy scored off a feed from Smith, thats the way the teams went to the dressing room.

In the second the Eagles scored the only goal when Smith scored on a breakaway for a power play goal. Smith took a feed from Murphy, split the defense and made a nifty back hand shot under the cross bar. In the third Pembroke made it 5-2 off a scramble in front of Bishop but the Eagles once again answered less then a minute later when Murphy finished his hat trick when he burried a pass from Smith on a 2-1. The Eagles closed out the scoring with 3 minutes to play when Anthony LaRusso beat the Pembroke goalie glove side on a 2-1. Lost in all the offense was two incredible saves by Bishop, the second being a left pad kick save with 4 minutes to play in the third. “Bish is quietly going under the radar, but not to us,” said Lane “He has been really solid back there, were really lucky to have him.” Lane also praised Murphy and Smith whom both had five point nights. “They (Smith and Murphy) both had their skating legs tonight, Connor had a great night too, there a tough line to stop when their skating like that.”

The Eagles are scheduled to host Kearsarge Monday before they head out on the road for a five game trip which starts Wednesday at Moultonborough-Inter Lakes.

Eagles ranked number 2 in HNIB January poll

1- Souhegan (7-0-1) Previous rank 8

2- Kennett (6-0-0) Previous rank 2

3- Alvirne (6-0-0) Previous rank 1

4- Windham-Pelham (5-1-0) Previous rank 3

5- Portsmouth (4-3-0) Previous rank Not Ranked

6- Hollis Brookline (4-3-0)  Previous rank Not Ranked

7- John Stark (4-3-0) Previous rank 7

8- Belmont Gilford (4-3-0) Previous rank 4

 

 

Eagles win state championship re-match; now 6-0

The Kennett Eagles scored three first period goals and cruised to a 5-0 victory at Somersworth Saturday night. The game was a re-match of last years state championship which Somersworth won 8-3.

The Eagles got the things rolling just over two minutes into the game when Justin Munck put home a rebound of a Nick Massa shot to put the Eagles up 1-0. “Justin is quietly having a great season,” said head coach Michael Lane. “He is doing all the little things that don’t show up in a box score, so its nice to see him rewarded on the scoresheet.”

The Eagles made it 2-0 when Connor Todd banged home a shot half way through the period. The Eagles extended the lead to 3-0 when Kevin Murphy scored on a break away. The teams went to the locker room with the score 3-0.

In the second period, The Eagles were seven for seven killing penalties. “We certainly don’t like taking that many penalties, but we play aggressive and sometimes were going to take penalties,” said Lane.

In the third the Eagles made it 4-0 when Anthony LaRusso beat the Somersworth goalie with a shot from the right circle. The Eagles made it 5-0 when Munck picked the top corner from a bad league.

John Bishop made 18 saves to pick up his league leading 4th shut-out of the season. The Eagles are off until Saturday when they host Pembroke at the Ham Arena at 3:30 p.m.

 

Eagles upset Bedford, Follow up with 10-1 win over Laconia

The Kennett Eagles turned some heads Tuesday night with a 5-3 non-league win over Bedford at Sullivan Arena on the campus of St. Anselm College. The Eagles were led by by Connor Todd, Dillon Smith and Kevin Murphy who combined for 11 points.John Bishop was fantastic in net making 36 saves in the win.

On Wednesday the Eagles cruised to a 10-1 win over Laconia at the Ham Arena. Twelve players registered a point in the win while Josh Kondrat and Bobby Davis combined to make 8 saves in the win. The Eagles will travel to Somersworth Saturday night for a State Championship re-match with the Hilltoppers.

 

Eagles use quick start to get past Cougars

The Kennett Eagles scored six first period goals and cruised to a 8-0 win over Kearsarge Satuday night in Andover. Dillon Smith led the offensive attack with five points and senior John Bishop earned his 3rd shutout on the season making 11 saves. “I was really happy with another quick start,” said head coach Michael Lane.

Smith scored two goals fifteen seconds apart, both beautiful shots under the cross bar glove side. Connor Todd assisted on both and Kevin Murphy assisted on the second. Nick Massa made it 3-0 when he banged home a rebound of a Justin Munck shot. Smith made it 4-0 finishing off his first period hat trick with Murphy and Todd getting assists. Todd made it 5-0 with Smith getting the assist before Gabe lee closed out the first period scoring with a late goal, James Gallo and Anthony LaRusso picked up the assists.

In the second the Eagles extended the lead to 7-0 when Todd scored, Smith and Murphy got the assists on the play. The Eagles closed out the scoring late in the second when Munck scored from Massa.

The Eagles are on the road Tuesday when they travel to Bedford for non league action. They return home Wednesday to host Laconia.

Eagles fly by Clippers in first; win 7-2

The Kennett Eagles moved to 3-0 in Division III play Tuesday night with a 7-2 win over the Portsmouth Clippers at the Rinks at Exeter. The Eagles scored five first period goals and never looked back on route to the victory.

 

The Eagles jumped on the board early in the first when Connor Todd came off the left half wall and whistled a snap shot over the Clippers goaltender to make it 1-0. Five minutes later the Eagles made it 2-0 when Todd led a rush into the Clippers zone. Todd slid a pass to Dillon smith who made a nifty backhanded pass to Kevin Murphy back door for a 2-0 lead. Less then a minute later the Eagles made it 3-0 when Gabe Lee streaked down the right side and beat the Clippers goaltender with a back hand shot.
The Clippers got on the board with a breakaway goal midway through the frame but the Eagles answered on the power play with another tick tack toe goal, Murphy to Smith to Todd. The Eagles made it 5-1 when James Gallo banged home an Anthony LaRusso rebound.

In the second the Eagles scored the only goal shorthanded when LaRusso beat the Clippers goaltender with a snap shot blocker side. The period was highlighted by the penalty killing of Gallo who according to Lane was “flying all night.”
In the third the two teams traded goals with Smith netting the Eagles goal. John Bishop made 18 saves for his 3^rd win on the season. It was not all good news for the Eagles as they lost Brad Canavari to a fractured and separated wrist in the final seconds of the game.
The Eagles are back in league action Saturday when they head to Ted Melody Rink to face Kearsarge.

 

Eagles go 1-2 at Christmas Tournament

The Kennett Eagles went 1-2 at the Maine High School Invitational Christmas Tournament in Portland this week, splitting two games on Wednesday (4-1 loss to Newington Berlin & 5-4 win over Lewiston) and losing 3-0 Thursday (versus Cheverus). “It’s tough playing three games in thirty hours but I thought the kids competed, they gave a good effort in the two losses,” said head coach Michael Lane. “We played some tough teams, hopefully this makes us better heading into the grind of January and February.”

The Eagles opened up play Wednesday morning in Saco, facing Newington-Berlin Connecticut. Senior John Bishop started in net and was tested early, making several key stops to keep the game scoreless. Late in the first Newington-Berlin got on the board when a screen shot from the point found the back of then net to make it 1-0, that’s the way the first period ended. In the second the Eagles carried the play only to see Newington-Berlin score two goals within a minute of each other, the first on the power play. “We took a penalty, they scored and then they took advantage of a defensive zone turnover and real quick were down by three,” said Lane. The Eagles got on the board before the end of the period when Matt Kelly took a shot from the top of the right circle to make it 3-1. In the third play was even, with the shots even at 9-9, but Newington-Berlin scored the only goal, winning 4-1. Bishop finished with 16 saves.

Later on Wednesday the Eagles took on Lewiston, winning 5-4 in a shootout. “We didn’t have our legs at all,” said Lane. “We sat around for much of the game and let them dictate the game,” he continued. Freshman Josh Kondrat started for the Eagles. He played the first twenty three minutes allowing just a breakaway goal. Trailing 1-0 the Eagles scored four straight goal. Kelly scored the first followed by Nick Massa who finished off a beautiful back hand pass from Justin Munck. In the third Dillon Smith scored two goals thirty seconds apart with Kevin Murphy picking up the assist on both goals. Freshman Bobby Davis closed out the game in net. The Eagles watched Lewiston erase the three goal lead late in the third, tying the game with 8 seconds to play, sending the game to a shootout. In the shootout the Eagles elected Smith, Connor Todd, Munck, Massa and Murphy to shoot. It never made it to Murphy as the first four Eagles scored and Kondrat stopped two of three Lewiston shooters to win the game for the Eagles. Kondrat finished with eight saves, while Davis had seven.

Thursday the Eagles closed out the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Cheverus at the Portland Ice Arena Thursday. The Eagles out shot the Stags 31-29, but allowed a power play goal and a short handed goal in the loss. Bishop made 26 saves. “I thought the effort was good again, we are just having trouble finishing right now. We have to do a better job of going to the dirty areas and getting some greasy goals, once they start going in I think we’ll be fine, we’re just pressing a bit,” said Lane.

The Eagles are off until Monday when they will practice in preparation for Portsmouth, who they visit next Tuesday. The Eagles play their next three on the road before retuning home on January 11^th to host Laconia.

Eagles penalty kill key to victory over Stark

The Kennett Eagles moved to 2-0 on the season with a 3-0 win in the home opener Saturday night at the Ham Arena in front of over 300 fans. Senior John Bishop stopped all 19 shots he faced while Junior Nick Massa scored two goals in the win. The Eagles had to kill off 13 penalties on the night, including four 5 on 3 power plays of over a minute. “Certainly we have to be more disciplined,” said head Coach Michael Lane.

The Eagles got on the board just over three minutes into the game when Kevin Murphy took a feed from Connor Todd and beat John Stark goalie Connor McDonald under the cross bar. The Eagles extended the lead to 2-0 late in the period. Justin Munck made a nice hit on the fore-check behind the net to free the puck for Cody Richard. Richard found Massa in front of the net who back handed it home for a 2-0 lead after one.

In the second the Eagles took six penalties, spending much of the period in the box. The Eagles penalty killers were up to the task, killing off all the chances. “Our PK was real good tonight, Gabe (Lee), James (Gallo) and Anthony (LaRusso) were all really solid as was our defense. We kept shots to the perimiter and Bish did a great job of not allowing any rebounds,” said Lane.

In the third John Stark seemed to tire and the Eagles took advantage as their fore-check bottled up Stark and limited them to just four third period shots. Massa added an empty net goal with just over a minute to play to close out the game. “Its great to see a kid like Nick get rewarded for his hard work,” said Lane. Bishop made 19 saves for his second straight shut-out.

The Eagles are back on the ice Wednesday night when they how defending State Champion Somersworth at 5 p.m. This is the first match-up since last seasons State Championship game which saw the Hilltoppers win 8-3. “Its a new season, were both different teams but one thing that is always the same is we have a great rivalry. There is a lot of respect between the two programs, I am sure both teams will be ready to play. The Hilltoppers are 0-2 on the season but have won the last four meetings between the two programs.

Eagles roll Wolf Pack, 12-0

The Eagles wasted little time jumping on the Laconia-Winnisquam Wolf Pack Wednesday night at the Laconia Ice Arena. The Eagles scored seven first period goals on route to a 12-0 opening night win. Thirteen different Eagles registered a point in the win which saw the Eagles score early and often. Connor Todd scored first with assists going to Dillon Smith and Kevin Murphy. Smith scored to make it 2-0 moments later with Murphy and Robert Moody picking up assists. The Eagles made it 3-0 on the power play when Chris King beat the Laconia goaltender with a slap shot from the point, Nick Massa got the assist. The Eagles score to make it 4-0 and then 5-0 with the same combination hooking up when Murphy scored twice, both from Smith and Todd. Justin Munck madeit 6-0 on an assist from Cody Richard and James Gallo closed out the first period scoring, with Gabe Lee getting an assist. John Bishop stopped both shots he faced in net.

In the second the Eagles continued to pepper Laconia. Lee scored to make it 8-0 with Smith and Matt Kelly getting the assists. Brad Canavari scored to make it 9-0 with Anthony LaRusso getting an assist. LaRusso scored to make it 10-0 with Lee getting the helper. Lee madeit 11-0 on an unassisted goal and finaly Moody scored his first career goal to make it 12-0 with just under five minutes to play in the second.

Josh Kondrat and Bobby Davis split the goalie duties in the 3rd. Bishop finished with 6 saves, Kondrat had 1 and Davis had 0.

The Eagles get back into action tomorrow (Saturday) when they host John Stark at 6 p.m. at the Ham Arena. Stark is coming off an upset win over Belmont Gilford. Stark has one of the top lines in the division led by All State Forward Nick Sabal. “They are a very good squad,” said Head Coach Michael Lane. “They beat us 5-4 on opening night down there and they return a lot from that team. We have to be ready to play and play good sound defensive hockey in our own zone.”
Following the game the Eagles will host the 2nd annual “Skate with the Eagles”. Youth Hockey kids are invited to skate with the Eagles following the game.

Eagles beat Berlin 5-4 in pre-season finale

The Kennett Eagles closed out the 2011 pre-season with a 5-4 win over Division I Berlin at Notre Dame Arena in Berlin Friday night. Dillon Smith scored the game winner with 8:01 to play in the third from a feed from behind the net by Connor Todd and John Bishop made it stand up in goal as the Eagles came from behind for the win.

Things didn’t start out well for the Eagles as Berlin scored just twenty eight seconds in to the game on a shot from the point.Berlinmade it 2-0 less then two minutes later off an Eagle turnover. Kennett closed the gap to one with a power play goal by Connor Todd at the six minute mark, Nick Massa picked up the assist.Berlinanswered right back forty one seconds later with a short handed goal. The wild first period continued as the Eagles made it 3-2 when Chris King led Justin Munck into the offensive zone with a nice feed. Munck came around the net and fed Cody Richard in the slot. Richard beat theBerlingoaltender glove side for the goal. With 2:45 to play in the first Smith took a break out pass fromMassaand made a great individual rush, capping it off beating theBerlingoaltender glove side to make it 3-3. That closed out the first period,Berlinoutshot the Eagles 17-5. “We certainly were not ready to play in the first,” said Eagles coach Michael lane. “We were very lucky to be in a tie game. With the exception of a few nice individual plays, we were totally out played.”

The second period both teams tightened up their game defensively. Neither team was able to score.Berlinhad two opportunities on the power play but couldn’t take advantage. The Eagles outshotBerlinin the second 7-6.

In the third the Eagles got off to a great start when less then a minute into the frame Anthony LaRusso banged home a rebound of a James Gallo shot to give the Eagles their first lead of the night. Later in the period Smith scored on the power play when Todd found him from behind the net, Richard picked up the second assist. The game would stay that way until 1:57 to play whenBerlincut the lead to 5-4 with a rebound goal. The Eagles closed the door in the final two minutes and held on for a 5-4 win. The Eagles out shotBerlin11-6 in the third, withBerlinoutshooting Kennett 29-23 for the game. “I thought we did a number of things really well after the first,” said Lane. “Bishop was solid in net and our PK was really strong. The Penalty kill was a perfect 7 for 7 in the game led by Gallo, LaRusso, Gabe Lee and Brad Canavari.

The Eagles will take Saturday off before hitting the ice for three days of practice (Sunday-Tuesday) in preparation for their regular season opener at laconia Wednesday night, face-off is 6 p.m. “I am pretty happy with the pre-season, the kids have had a good compete factor in practice, we need to carry that over into the regular season.

Game Notes: Senior Captain Kevin Murphy missed Fridays game once again from pneumonia. Sophomore Michael Ellison and freshman Robert Moody also missed the game due to illness.   

 

EAGLES PLAY TO TWO TIES AT JAMBOREE, FALL TO ALVIRNE

 

The Kennett Eagles made their annual trip to the Dover Jamboree Saturday night and had a solid showing, Tying Kennebunk (0-0) and Marshwood (2-2) while falling to Alvirne (2-0). Head Coach Michael Lane was pleased with the effort of his team. “We played pretty well, the effort was there. We have to clean up a number of things but they are all small things. We’ll get to work Monday and really start to fine tune things this week,” said Lane.

 

In the opening period of the night senior goaltender John Bishop was the story, making 11 saves to preserve the 0-0 tie with Kennebunk. Junior Dillon Smith set up sophomore Brad Canavari for the Eagles best opportunity midway through the frame, but his bid was turned away.

 

In period two the Eagles met pre-season favorite Alvirne. Freshman goaltenders Josh Kondrat and Bobby Davis split the period in net, each allowing a goal in a 2-0 loss.

 

The Eagles closed out the night versus Marshwood. Junior Nick Massa scored just fifteen seconds in to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Marshwood tied the game only to junior Anthony LaRusso give the Eagles the lead again on a beautiful individual rush. Marshwood scored late to close out the game with a 2-2 tie. Justin Munck and Matt Kelly each had assists in the period.
The Eagles played the night without senior captain Kevin Murphy who is battling Pneumonia and sophomore defenseman Dane Rivera. That forced the Eagles to count on freshman Robby Moody to play a regular shift and the freshman didn’t disappoint. “Robby is very solid back there,” said Lane. “He is aggressive and sees the ice well, were excited to have him for four years.”

 

The Eagles will practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for their final tune-up of the season Friday when they head to Berlin to face division I, Berlin. “It should be a good test for us,” said Lane. “We have a lot to do in practice this week but I think were on target for the season opener next week.” The Eagles open the season a week from Wednesday when they head south to face Laconia at the Laconia Ice Arena, face-off is at 6:00 p.m. and Valley Vision Channel 3 will broadcast the game.

Eagles picked 2nd in HNIB pre-season poll

HNIB released their 2011-2012 High School Hockey preview issue yesterday. The Eagles are ranked 2nd in the pre-season poll which is made up by writer Kevin Doyle with input from all Division III coaches. Alvirne who finished 2nd in the regular season last year and lost to the Eagles in the semi-finals starts at number one. Below is the complete poll.

1. Alvirne Broncos (16-4)

2. Kennett Eagles (15-4-1)

3. Pelham-Windham Wolfpack (13-6)

4. Belmont Gilford Bull Dogs (14-4-1)

5. Somersworth Hilltoppers (21-0)

6. Con-Val Cougars (5-13)

7. John Stark Generals (10-9)

8. Souhegan Sabers (8-10)

Not shown in poll Hollis Brookline Cavaliers, Moultonborough-IL Mailers, Laconia Sachems, West Blue Knights, Portsmouth Clippers, Kearsrage Cougars and Pembroke-Campbell PAC.

One of the major surprises from the annual preview issue was no sign of Hollis Brookline in the top 8 poll. The Cavaliers have made the play-offs three straight years and are regulary one of the toughest teams to play in the league. Some surprises in the poll were Con-Val at six. Coach Peter McLaughlin took over the program last season and the new look Cougars became a tough opponent every night. They are led by senior All State goalie Parker Wheeler.

The Somersworth Hilltoppers were shown no love, picked fifth after an undefeated season last year. Also jumping into the poll this season is Souhegan who missed the play-offs last season for the first time in school history. Coach Ed Viola has moved on and the program is taken over by Danny Belliveau.

Look for Hockey Night in Boston to read up on all the teams in Division III.