Moriarty's opening-minute goal leads Oyster River boys hockey past Spaulding in title game
MANCHESTER – It was the game’s first shift and Braiden Moriarty had to do some quick thinking.
He could either head for the bench and a line change or stay out there and see what developed. The sophomore forward chose the latter and it couldn’t have worked out better.
Moriarty took a short centering feed from Cam Beaupre and flipped a backhander into the net on the first shot just 47 seconds into the Division II championship game Saturday afternoon at Southern New Hampshire University Arena.
“I was supposed to change,” Moriarty said. “I was supposed to get off, but I decided to jump in the rush. I saw an opening in a gap. I just figured, you know what, I’ll try to make something happen out of this for the team. Cam usually on those types of plays will hit me right away and I can usually bury them.”
As it turned out that’s all the Oyster River High School boys hockey team needed in an eventual 3-0 victory over Spaulding as the Bobcats captured the program’s first state title in their seventh attempt.
“That was huge,” Oyster River head coach Peter Harwood. “All the players, and I’d say myself too, you don’t know what to expect in the first period. Everybody’s playing with nerves. They hear everybody say we haven’t won yet when we’re here. To see somebody come out and score in the first (47) seconds … we needed that.”
Defense shines again for Bobcats in title run
Oyster River once again employed a revamped defense that yielded few Grade A scoring opportunities.
“Coming here and executing what we planned to do, it couldn’t have been better,” said senior defenseman and co-captain Cayden Giordani. “One of the reasons we made it so far is that we’re able to get up quick and hold that lead with our strong defense.”
The second-seeded Bobcats (16-3-2) ended the season on an 11-game win streak in which they allowed only 11 goals and never more than two in any game along with four shutouts.
Oyster River gave up only two goals in three playoff games including back-to-back shutouts in the semifinal and final, outscoring Alvirne-Milford and Spaulding by a combined 7-0.
Goal in opening minute 'wakes up' Spaulding
“Them getting that first goal I think wasn’t actually the worst thing,” said Spaulding coach Jamie Ferullo. “I don’t think it was too deflating for us. It wasn’t ideal but I think it woke us up a little bit.”
The No. 8 Red Raiders, who entered the postseason with a losing record, also had an impressive run with wins over No. 1 seed Merrimack on the road in the quarterfinals and defending champion Dover in the semis.
Spaulding (9-10-2), which was making its first final appearance since 2015, also had to win a first-round game against Somersworth/Coe-Brown just to make the final eight. Oyster River had been 0-6 in six previous final appearances, the last coming in 2010.
Oyster River takes lead into first intermission
The Bobcats led 1-0 on Moriarty’s goal after the first period with OR outshooting the Red Raiders, 10-8.
“That was a huge thing,” said OR co-captain Cam Miner. “We knew they had a hot goaltender coming in. The main thing for us in every game is to get the first goal. It’s a big momentum shift. You couldn’t draw up a better start to the game.”
Spaulding goalie Collin McIntyre (20 saves vs. OR) was coming off a 42-save effort in the semifinals against Dover.
“It felt amazing,” Moriarty said of his goal that stood up as the game-winner. “The way that it set up the rest of the game, we carried the energy, carried the momentum for the foreseeable future, I think. They couldn’t get anything because we were playing such lockdown defense on them.”
Miner, Levesque add to lead
Miner and junior alternate captain Sawyer Levesque also scored for the Bobcats. Miner, who began the season playing up front but developed into one of Division II’s top defensemen, made it 2-0 at 9:42 of the second period with a nice individual rush down the right wing in which he turned the defense for a nice finish.
“I’ve still got that in me,” Miner said. “I do like to take off when I see an opening. The coaches showed us on film that you can burn this defense wide so that’s exactly what we did.”
The Red Raiders pulled McIntyre for an extra skater with 2:16 remaining to no avail as Levesque added an empty netter with 1:02 left to seal the verdict.
Oyster River outshoots Spaulding, 23-16
Oyster River was outshooting Spaulding, 18-15, through two periods. and 23-16 for the game. Cole Levesque assisted on Miner's goal and Talon Beyer set up the final goal by Sawyer Levesque. Oyster River goalie Cole Harwood made 16 saves.
“I thought we had a lot of good shifts and a lot of good plays,” Ferullo said. “The puck just didn’t bounce our way. They play a very disciplined game.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Moriarty goal helps Oyster River boys hockey past Spaulding for title
