West Lebanon
Every team in every sport forges an identity over time. Simpson’s Admirals have been working on theirs for most of the past year, knowing Alvirne’s declining numbers and Milford’s interest in adding hockey would produce a union. In their first on-ice test, the Admirals used a three-goal burst over 68 seconds late in the second period as the foundation of an 8-3 win over Lebanon-Stevens-Mount Royal at Campion Rink.
Jake Natola had a hat trick with an assist for Alvirne-Milford (1-0-0), and Anthony Viola followed with two goals and two helpers. The Raiders (0-1-0), with just three seniors on the roster and underclassmen facing significant roles this winter, had no answer.
“It’s kind of the state of New Hampshire hockey right now, for the most part,” Simpson said. “High schools are losing a lot of kids to juniors. … It was a unanimous decision by the parents that we want to do this. Everything felt good, and once we made that decision, it’s been a tremendous amount of work by the kids to come together.”
The combination of reduced school enrollments and reduced participation has made co-op hockey a major part of the NHIAA landscape. Seventeen of the state’s 42 boys hockey teams this year are two- or three-school co-ops, including that of the Raiders. Another seven co-ops populate the 17-team girls hockey league.
Makeup leads to different dynamics. Where Alvirne-Milford is roughly a 50-50 split between the schools, Lebanon has just three out-of-district skaters adding depth to a 21-athlete roster this winter. For second-year Raider coach Jim Damren, age is the biggest obstacle; identity, not so much.
“We definitely need to work harder; we need to work smarter,” Damren said. “Some of our young guys got exposed tonight. But the only way that’s going to get better is with experience, and they’re going to have to get ice time.”
Simpson, who took over the Alvirne High program last season, saw the writing on the wall even as the Broncos skated through a 4-14-0 campaign. The Hudson school talked to several possible co-op partners, Simpson said, before linking up with Milford, which has never had its own NHIAA hockey team.
The challenge of forging an on-ice identity took a backseat to players just getting to know players. The Admirals spent much of the summer working out together or hosting social outings to ease the transition into team. That’s even before factoring in the 15-mile distance between the schools or the 20 miles Milford skaters must travel to reach the team’s home rink in Tyngsboro, Mass., for practices and games.
“They’ve done an amazing job by themselves of merging,” Simpson noted. “It’s really cool to see the two schools bring themselves together.”
It took a scoreless first period on Wednesday before both squads could break out.
Lebanon’s Andrew Duany dented the scoreboard first just 36 seconds into the middle stanza, solving A-M goaltender Zach Partridge (20 saves) on an unassisted breakaway. The Raiders kept Partridge hopping through the first half of the period, with Aidan Yates and Duany forcing saves to close a three-on-two and two other Raiders hitting posts on rebounds. Even Lebanon’s first power play, just past the game’s midway point, provided promise.
Six seconds after it ended, the Admirals exploded. Viola tied the game on a breakaway at 10:27, Justin Carbonneau netted his first of two at 11:00 and Natola kicked off his hat trick at 11:35. Natola sent Alvirne-Milford into the dressing room up, 4-1, with a second strike 11.1 seconds before the intermission.
“We go up, 1-0, we got a little bit of momentum, and we let it get away from us,” Damren said. “I think I said in my preseason prediction that we’re really young, and when you’re really young, it takes a while.”
The visitors’ Corey Girouard and Natola scored in the opening 1:45 of the third period to chase starting Lebanon goalie Hunter Robb (23 saves). Defenseman Trey Chickering, who looked strong with the puck on his stick all night, and forward Jonathan Sandmann provided the Raiders’ final goals.
Simpson sees the Alvirne-Milford co-op as being a long-term thing. He’s already started talking to eighth-graders in both districts about the future. Wednesday will serve as good publicity.
It’s less about uniting unfamiliar faces for Damren than it is about simply getting his young Raiders up to speed. There’s plenty of time.
“We did some good things; it wasn’t all unfortunate,” Damren said. “The guys didn’t quit. They’re working hard. It really comes back to the experience. They’re going to gain experience. It might be a rocky road at the beginning, but if we can stay healthy and we can get guys understanding what we’re doing a little better … I think we’ll be OK.”
Ice Chips: Sebastian Yates played the final 13:15 in goal for the Raiders, making five saves on seven shots. Jon Cloud, Brian Daly and Mason Adams all had assists for Lebanon. … The locker assignment screen in the Campion lobby listed Timberlane as the Raiders’ foe. … It was so cold, time stood still — literally. The Campion Rink scoreboard clock froze with 2:32 left in the opening stanza, its buzzer sounding off for a good minute before rink operations could pull the plug. Referees played out the rest of the period without it as the public-address announcer counted down the time. The clock was back in operation during the first intermission. … Former Lebanon High skater Tate Singleton has signed a National Letter of Intent to play hockey at Ohio State starting with the 2019-20 season. The West Lebanon native initially committed to Army last year but changed his mind before entering West Point. Singleton — who is skating for the USHL’s Central Illinois Flying Aces this winter — had 30 points as a Raider sophomore in 2013-14 before finishing his prep education at Proctor Academy. … Lebanon visits another co-op, Somersworth/Coe-Brown, at the Rochester Ice Arena on Saturday evening.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.