CONCORD — Facing 15 minutes to the season’s end and a three-goal deficit to overcome, Berlin-Gorham boys hockey coach Mike Poulin issued a simple challenge to his Mountaineers: Get one back every five minutes.
They did better than that.
Riding a 40-14 shots edge on the night, Berlin-Gorham scored five third-period goals to rally past Lebanon-Stevens-Mount Royal, 5-3, in an NHIAA Division III semifinal at Everett Arena on Wednesday night. Raider penalties abetted the comeback, and although Berlin (13-2-1) never fully capitalized on them, they were the fuel that fed the Mounties’ engine.
“The bottom line is we kind of got away from what we were doing early,” Lebanon coach Jim Damren said. “They took it to us. We weren’t able to get pucks deep. We weren’t able to get on our forecheck. And when momentum shifts, sometimes it’s hard to get it back.”
Sophomore defenseman Brody Duquette scored the tying and winning goals for Berlin-Gorham, the latter on a centering pass from the deep right corner past Raider goalie Toby Cromwell with 2:11 to play. Tyler Rousseau added an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left.
“We kept chipping away,” Poulin said. “We were fortunate to get a couple of quick ones early in the third, get them on their heels. But they still battled. It wasn’t easy at all.”
Griffin Auch’s breakaway goal with 2:12 left in the middle stanza gave LSM (9-4-1) a 3-0 lead against the run of play. Berlin piled 17 shots on Cromwell (35 saves) in the second period — six on one futile power play — and it only presaged more rubber in his direction.
Berlin got on board at 4:32 of the third when Griffin Melanson followed the rebound of a Rousseau shot, scoring from the low left circle. Rousseau cut the gap to 3-2 just 21 seconds later with a deft redirection of a left-point Dominick Paradis slap shot up and under the crossbar.
Rousseau (two goals, two assists) fed Duquette for the tying marker at 9:28, finding the defenseman mid-slot from behind Cromwell’s cage. Damren called a timeout to settle his troops; Duquette wouldn’t be quieted, however, as he chased down a Ben Estrella outlet and scored from a sharp angle at 12:49.
“He’s been a little snakebitten all year, but he’s been our playoff guy,” Poulin said of Duquette. “He scored against Kearsarge-Plymouth (in the quarterfinals), and he scored two tonight.”
The Raiders came flying out of the gate with two early goals.
Berlin’s Michael Cote presented Lebanon an early power play when he tripped the Raiders’ Andrew Duany just 2:10 into the contest. Lebanon needed just 13 seconds to convert, Aidan Yates whipping Jake Kriplin’s cross-ice pass to the left dot past sliding Berlin goaltender Kolin Melanson (11 saves).
Kriplin delivered the second goal in unexpected fashion at 6:05. Hunter Christian dropped the puck back to Kriplin at the right point, and his lofted snap shot sailed over Melanson’s right shoulder before he had time to react.
Berlin picked up the pace over the second half of the opening period, without success. Yates rushed back to break up Estrella on a two-on-one with five minutes left in the stanza. The Raiders also killed a late penalty, with Cromwell making two solid stops.
“A shout out to their goalie,” Poulin said of Cromwell. “He’s a phenomenal, big kid.”
The Mounties only grew stronger — and only more behind — as the second period progressed.
After allowing the first three shots of the stanza, Berlin reeled off the next 12 — and a whopping 17 for the period — with the help of two more power plays. Lebanon shut down the former but the Mounties rifled six shots on the latter, on a Will McGee holding minor, and Cromwell denied all of them. Berlin blueliner Carter Poulin had the Lebanon netminder dead to rights on a scramble, but Cromwell stuck out a leg to deny the shot as well as Cam Pake’s jam follow try.
That made Auch’s goal at 12:48 potentially more painful for Berlin. An innocent Duany clearance at center ice found Auch rushing down the left wing. One Berlin blueliner whiffed on the rolling puck, a second slashed him from behind, and Auch still had the poise to roof a backhander over Melanson for a three-goal lead.
It’s normally a strong position to hold. Not this night.
Said Damren: “Late, we got steamrolled.”
Ice chips: With the COVID-19 pandemic encouraging regional scheduling, the Raiders and Mounties engaged in five contests this season. They played to a dead-even 2-2-1 draw. … Carter Poulin took a hard shot from Lebanon’s Liam Ouellette flush in the facemask in the first period. He shook it off and didn’t miss a shift. … The Raiders drew five minors for 10 minutes and killed off all five penalties. Berlin took two, including a late delay-of-game minor to stifle Lebanon’s scrambling attempt at a tying goal. … Lebanon last made a state final in 2000, when it beat Kingswood, 1-0. That ended a five-year run that included a championship defeat of Dover in 1996 and a finals loss to Kingswood in ’99. … Berlin, either in solo or co-op form, is the most decorated hockey program in the Granite State. The Mountaineers have now made 33 title games, winning 11 times, including a pandemic-influenced shared crown with Kennett last year. … Berlin was a state runner-up in its first 15 finals trips, losing 14 of those to its now-defunct Catholic city rival, Notre Dame. … The Mounties will play either Kennett or Hollis Brookline-Derryfield in Saturday’s championship game at Dover Arena. … The Raiders graduate five: Duany, Yates, Kriplin, Joe Roberts and Hunter Robb.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.