Windham pulls away from Manchester 5-1 in NHIAA Division I hockey showdown

SALEM, NH – Windham High scored three unanswered goals in the third period to pull away from Manchester, 5-1, in a NHIAA Division I hockey showdown, Saturday night at the Salem Icenter.

Seamus Ross had two goals an assist to lead the Jaguars (5-2-0).

It was a game of squandered opportunities for Manchester. The Kings were 0-for-6 on the power play, including a two-man advantage for 1:30  in the second period, with the score tied.

“Yeah, we weren’t moving the puck well on the power play,” said Manchester Coach Jeremy Baker, whose club dropped to 3-2-0. “We weren’t making good passes. In some cases we weren’t making good decisions.”

Manchester also wasted an outstanding game from goaltender Cam Velez (26 saves). Windham, riding the emotion of its “Senior Night” ceremony before the game, came out flying and dominated the first 10 minutes, buzzing the Manchester net. Velez made several big saves in the period, none better than back to back stops on Windham captains Casey Kramer and Nate Crowley.

Windham managed to jump out to a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game thanks to a bit of “puck luck.” Liam Sullivan fired a shot from the top of the circle that sailed wide to the right of Velez. But the puck hit the back wall at just the right angle that it bounced out to the left of the net and onto the stick of AJ Martino, who flipped in an easy backhand for the goal.

Manchester finally settled into its game as the first period progressed and got the tying goal with 2:59 to play. Frank Tessier picked up the puck in the neutral zone and broke in on a 2-on-1. Tessier faked the pass, kept the puck and snapped off a shot over the shoulder of Windham goalie Ben Breen and just under the crossbar, tying the game, 1-1.

Manchester rode that momentum into the second period and looked poised to take the lead. The Kings caught a huge break when Windham’s Hunter Marcin and Sullivan picked up minor penalties on the same play.

The Kings enjoyed 30 seconds of a 4-on-3 power play and then 1:30 of a 5-on-3. They clanged the post with one scoring bid but couldn’t generate consistent offense chances.

Manchester’s best scoring chance of the period came with 8:00 to play when Breen (22 saves) made a terrific save on a bid by Ryan Marden and an even better stop on the rebound attempt by Jake Lessard.

It looked like the game might head into the third period still tied, 1-1, but Windham was able to take advantage of another weird bounce to retake the lead. With just under two minutes to play in the period, the Jaguars’ Seamus Ross lofted the puck high in the air to clear it from his own zone. Manchester defenseman Connor Cunningham looked to knock the puck to the ice with his glove hand at center ice.

But the knuckling puck bounced off and past Cunningham and toward the blue line. Windham’s Aiden Quaglietta swooped in from the left, grabbed the puck and broke in alone, beating Velez to make it 2-1.

“I thought we played much better in the second period,” said Baker. “We were skating better, competing better. But when that goal was scored near the end of the period, I think it deflated us a little.”

Rocco Mancini gave Windham some breathing room at 4:08 of the third period, making it 3-1.

Baker took a risk by pulling Velez with 4:38 to play and Manchester on another power play. The extra skater gave the Kings a 6-on-4. Unfortunately, the gamble did not pay off, as Ross blocked a shot from the point by Marden, then chased the puck into the neutral zone and skated in alone for the shorthanded empty-net goal.

Seconds later, Ross scored again on a backhand to account for the 5-1 final.

Manchester has little time to dwell on the loss. They are back in action Monday, on the road against Pinkerton at 1:40 p.m.