WEST LEBANON — Mike Sheehan is all of two games into his Lebanon High coaching career, and he’s already come to a conclusion. NHIAA girls hockey needs to be split into two divisions, and the sooner, the better.
Who can blame the former New Jersey teacher and bench boss? His Raiders are a solid squad, mixing several standouts with a couple of new skaters and about a dozen players in between. They’re 2-0-0 and have outscored their opponents by a combined 23-0.
“I’m in favor of it, yes,” Sheehan said of splitting the division after Wednesday’s 12-0 rout of visiting Bedford at Campion Rink. “And I’ll leave it at that.”
That’s understandable. No one wants to rock the boat during their first season in a league, but Sheehan can clearly see what’s been evident for years: Far too many games are lopsided. As detailed earlier this year in the Valley News, last season’s bottom six teams in the 16-team NHIAA Division I each lost at least six games by six goals, the deficit at which running time is implemented.
Last season’s top eight teams? None of them lost more than one game in running time. So what’s a coach to do? In Sheehan’s case, he benched his top line for the third period and gave his most inexperienced players the most ice.
“You make it a learning opportunity against the weaker teams,” he said. “We worked on things we need to improve on. It’s tough to play games like that, but you have to play what’s on the ice in front of you.”
The teams competed with determination, but any suspense involving the outcome disappeared after Lebanon began the game with three goals in fewer than three minutes. It was 6-0 after a period and would have been more if several Raiders’ shots hadn’t sailed past open portions of the Bulldogs’ net.
The hosts led, 10-0, after two periods, but the scoreboard was left at 6-0, no music was played after goals and the Raiders were careful not to celebrate either of their third-period tallies. The sportsmanship was inspiring. The matchup was not.
Marissa Pickman scored three times and had two assists for the Raiders. Ella Lindsay had two goals and an assist. Elena Robb produced a goal and two assists, Lily Barber had two goals and Lena Nowell had a goal and an assist.
Also scoring were Makayla Maccioli, Emma Leute and Maya Barnett. Celia Barnett had two assists and Lily Gogan and Mackayla O’Meara had one each. Paige Hoegler played the first two periods in goal for Lebanon, and Kayleigh Trietsch took over for the final stanza.
“The effort’s there, and they want to learn and get better,” said Sheehan, who’s clearly enjoyed taking over a 17-player team that previously struggled for the depth to be able to go all-out from start to finish. “Their tank might be on empty at times, but they’re asking the right questions and everybody’s starting to come together.”
That’s good, because Lebanon’s upcoming schedule is stiff. Next on the docket is last season’s state runner-up, Oyster River-Portsmouth, followed by Keene holiday tournament play against Concord, Exeter and St. Thomas-Winnacunnet. Those are all relatively strong teams, the latter having beaten Bedford, 9-0, in it season opener.
“We have to learn to play our game and not play down to the level of our opponent,” Sheehan said. “They know there are expectations and, so far, they’ve been willing to meet them. Some nights are better than others.”
That could be said for NHIAA girls hockey as a whole. Stay tuned for Sunday, when Bedford hosts 10-time defending champion Hanover.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.