Concord too much for Manchester in D-I quarters

CONCORD, NH — At this time last year, the Concord High hockey team was seeded third in the Division I tournament and felt it was positioned for a state title run.

That was, until the Crimson Tide was unceremoniously bounced in the quarterfinal round by No. 11 Exeter.

Fast forward 12 months. Concord entered the D-I tournament as the No. 1 seed and sporting an iceberg sized chip on its shoulder.

Saturday night at Everett Arena, the Crimson Tide showed it had no intention of allowing a repeat of its 2024 elimination. Concord got goals from eight different players in an 8-0 rout of Manchester, blowing the game open with five goals in a 5:37 stretch of the second period.

The Crimson Tide (17-2-0) advance to the D-I semifinals, Wednesday, against No. 5 Hanover (12-6-2), at JFK Arena in Manchester.

For No. 8 Manchester (9-9-2), the season ends one step further than last year. The Kings knocked off No. 9 Pinkerton in the opening round, avenging their 2024 elimination by the Astros.

But against Concord, Manchester ran into a deep, talented squad with a relentless offense and airtight defense.

Head Coach Jeremy Baker’s game plan was simple — focus on defense, play dump-and-chase offense and be extremely physical but stay out of the penalty box. For the first half of the game Manchester carried out the plan, nearly flawlessly.

”We needed to try and slow the game down. We just don’t have the firepower to get into a shootout with a team like that. We can’t match up with their talent,” said Baker.

Concord jumped on top, just 21 seconds into the game on a goal by Austin Prouxl. The talented freshman picked up the puck in the neutral zone, deked a defenseman and beat Manchester goalie Cam Roberge with the first shot of the game.

But after that, the Kings defense stiffened, helped by aggressive backchecking and Concord had a difficult time genenerating quality scoring bids. What shots The Crimson Tide did get off were handled by Kings’ goalie Cam Roberge (20 saves).

Still trailing by just a goal, Manchester came out skating hard in the second period and went on the attack. Concord was held without a shot on goal for the first five minutes of the period, while the Kings had a series of excellent scoring chances.

Frank Tessier and Luke Vattes had the two best bids slicing behind the Concord defense and breaking in cleanly on net. But in each case, Concord goalie Carter Heise was up to the task and turned away both chances.

For the game, Manchester was limited to just nine shots on goal, making every scoring chance that much more critical.

”Hindsight is 20/20 but if we can score on one of those chances and tie it up, that might change the complexion of the game,” said Baker.

Manchester’s gameplan broke down when the Kings strayed from the most important element — staying out of the penalty box.

Max Valeanas took Manchester’s first penalty, sent to the box for interference.

Concord got its first shots of the second period while on the power play, then doubled their lead on a power play goal by Chad LeRiviere.

That’s when the wheels came off for Manchester.

Goals 25 seconds apart by freshman Lukas Rondiak and sophomore Jaden Haas gave Concord a 4-0 lead with 6:21 to play in the second period.

Showing their frustration, the Kings took three more penalties in the period. This led to power play goals from seniors Tyler Fennelly and Trevor Craigue.

With the score 6-0, the third period was played under running time. Concord’s Tyler Morin and Tyler Mayo wrapped up the scoring.