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DERRY, N.H. - Losing track of Alex Patrikis might have been the fatal error that sealed Spaulding's fate.

The 6-foot-4 Pinkerton Academy junior shook loose for a career-high 18 points with a dozen rebounds in the Astros 59-45 Class L tourney-opening win over the Red Raiders.

MANCHESTER, NH. — Pinkerton’s run at a second-straight Division I state hockey title crashed during a 4-minute stretch of the second period in last night’s semifinals.

The second-seeded Astros squandered a two-goal lead as third-seeded Exeter rallied for a 3-2 victory before about 500 at the JFK Arena.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The state Final Four is a good time to show off a tough defense. But for Pinkerton, it was just more of the same stellar work it has displayed the final month.

The second-seeded Astros advanced to their third title game in the 41-year history of the tourney, dominating third-seeded Londonderry 60-39 last night at the Southern New Hampshire University Fieldhouse.

HOOKSETT, N.H. — After exploding for four second-period goals, second-seeded Pinkerton almost squandered a three-goal lead in the final two minutes. The Astros rallied from a two-goal deficit then survived a furious St. Thomas Aquinas comeback for a 5-4 victory over the seventh-seeded Saints yesterday before approximately 250 fans at the Ice Den. Pinkerton (16-5-1) will play third-seeded Exeter at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the JFK Rink in Manchester in the Division 1 semifinals. “We just try to make things interesting,” said Pinkerton senior Jake Dion, who contributed on all five scores (2 goals, 3 assists), including a pair of goals in the crucial second period. Pinkerton, which split a pair of one-goal decisions against St. Thomas during the regular season, watched the Saints (11-7-1) grab a 2-0 lead early in the second. But the defending state champion Astros converted on four power-play opportunities in a span of 4:37 to take a commanding 4-2 lead into the final period. “We were getting down on the bench,” Dion said. “But coach told us to keep positive. Negativity brings teams down. It’s all about the attitude.” Dion put the Astros on the board with 8:11 left in the second, scoring on a nice centering pass from Eric Clark. The senior winger got his second goal 77 seconds later, deflecting a slap shot by John Cebula past St. Thomas goalie Adam Houle. Teddy McCarran, who has a team-high 19 goals, gave Pinkerton the lead for good 22 seconds after St. Thomas’ third penalty with a nifty move and tough wrist shot in the slot with 4:04 left in the second. The Saints were penalized again only 30 seconds later, and this time the Astros needed only 12 seconds to increase their advantage to 4-2 on a wrister by Andrew Stefanelli. “We didn’t take advantage of some odd-man rushes in the first period, but we had chances to score,” Pinkerton coach Casey Kesselring said. “We’ve been really good in the second period all year. We told them we had to stay with it and be composed. “It just wasn’t going our way, but then (the Saints) kind of shot themselves in the foot, and it really hurt them. The power play was the big difference in the game.” Pinkerton scored an apparent knock-out goal with 3:31 left in the third after Dion dumped in the puck which goalie Shayne Forsley was unable to cover up, allowing McCarran an easy goal. But two goals 52 seconds apart brought St. Thomas back to within one goal with 1:30 left. A tripping penalty with 35 seconds remaining put Pinkerton down a man, but Astros’ goalie J.J. Solloway survived the six-on-four onslaught to preserve the victory. “Basically it’s life or death,” St. Thomas coach Chris Plummer said. “You have to put everything on the net and crash the net ... We talked in the pregame that against a good team if you make mistakes, they’re going to put the puck in the net, and that’s what happened in that second period.” Pinkerton 5, St. Thomas Aquinas 4 Division 1 Quarterfinals St. Thomas Aquinas (11-7-1 Division 1):    1 1 2 — 4 Pinkerton (16-5-1, 15-4 Division 1):    0 4 1 — 5 Goals: STA — Tommy Williams, Ian Rodden, Dan St. Pierre, Kenny Grade; P — Jake Dion 2, Teddy McCarran 2, Andrew Stefanelli. Assists: STA — Joe Arcieri 2, Eddie Conroy 2, Rodden, Williams; P — Dion 3, John Cebula 2, Eric Clark, McCarran. Saves: STA — Adam Houle 11, Shayne Forsley 10; P — J.J. Solloway 21

DERRY, NH. — Three days after a furious last-minute rally got them to the state quarterfinals, the Pinkerton girls wasted no time earning a trip to the Class L semifinals.

Crisp passing and deadly long-range shooting gave the second-seeded Astros a 27-point halftime lead before finishing off seventh-seeded Manchester Memorial in an easy 63-39 victory last night. Pinkerton (21-2) takes a 14-game winning streak into Tuesday’s 6 p.m. semifinal against third-seeded Londonderry at Southern New Hampshire University. The Astros defeated the Lancers 39-34 on January 15.

Pinkerton senior AJ Guidi’s shot was off the mark for much of the first 30 minutes, 48 seconds of yesterday’s Class L first-round game against Salem.
Her offensive wooes included missing her first five 3-point attempts. Still, Guidi wasn’t timid to toss up another 3-pointer with her team trailing by nine points with 1:12 remaining. Her shot sailed in and Pinkerton had new life. “I was off the whole game and just hitting that shot was kind of a big relief,” she said. “After that happened, everything else just started falling for us and fell in its place.”
Guidi, who shot 29 percent for the game, caught fire in the final 1:12 — as did the rest of her teammates. Guidi scored eight points during that time as she led Pinkerton on a 13-0 run to close out the game. No. 2 Pinkerton won 43-39 over Salem, which went just 0 for 6 from free throw line in the final 1:06. Katherine Harris called the game one the of the most exciting in which she has ever played. “Definitely, that was a crazy comeback,” she said. Guidi scored a game-high 18 points thanks to her nine points in the fourth quarter. “We kept our cool,” she said. “We kept our heads and we played defense at the end. I was getting a little frustrated but I knew that if I couldn’t make the shots, someone else could.” After Guidi’s 3-pointer, Salem missed a pair of free throws and the ball returned to the Astros. Pinkerton moved the ball around nicely, finding Danielle Kimball wide open in the corner. Kimball, a 5-foot-5 junior, had not scored all game but poured in a 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 39-36. “So much was going through my mind,” she said about taking it. “I knew we needed it. I air-balled shortly before that and I was so mad at myself for that. At that point we knew we needed 3s.” More missed free throws by Salem gave Pinkerton the ball back and Allie Ucich drew a foul with :40 left and made her shots to cut the Astros’ deficit to 39-38. “Honestly, I thought fourth quarter we were going to be done,” Ucich said. “I started to see everyone’s heads go down. When we hit those two 3s that was key. We were just like, ‘All right. We can do this.’ And we just dug in and hit our foul shots.” Pinkerton then used some strong defense to take its first lead of the game. Ucich tipped a pass being inbounded by Salem down near the Salem basket. Harris then grabbed the tip. She fired a pass near halfcourt to Laura Pierce who made a strong pass to Guidi who was streaking in toward the basket. Guidi caught the pass and scored her basket while being fouled. She made her free throws to give Pinkerton the 40-39 with 23 seconds left. “I was pumped,” she said. “After that I knew we had the game sealed the way the momentum was going in our favor. So we just kept the momentum up and the intensity up after that.” Salem coach Liz Briggs she said she proud of the way her girls played. “Finally, we could put some offense together,” she said. “Certainly in the first half and third quarter. We’ve trying to be offensive all year long. We had some people step up today.” She did mention the missed free throws as being one of the downfalls. “I could have probably told you about two weeks ago that might be our demise,” she said. “We haven’t been strong in that regard. Everyone had an opportunity to step up. We just kind of threw it away there at the end. At least we know next year we’ll be working real hard on our free throws.”

A trio of Pinkerton players made Senior Night special in a 57-30 pummeling of Alvirne. A.J. Guidi lit up the offense with 17 points including three 3-pointers, Laura Pierce drained a pair of 3's and finished with eight points, and Allie Ucich owned the paint for the 17-1 Astros, who start state tourney play Monday.

Zach Sanford scored a pair of goals, breaking current UNH star Paul Thompson's school record for points in a season as Pinkerton bested Trinity 5-2. Sanford's 20 is now one better than Thompson's mark set in 2003-04, accoring to Astros coach Casey Kesselring.

SALEM, N.H. — New Hampshire could be looking at its third straight three-peat champion.
Pinkerton, led by Olivia Bogaczyk and Courtney Thompson, who went 1-2 in the all-around, rolled to the New Hampshire State Meet gymnastics title yesterday. Bogaczyk is a freshman and Thompson a sophomore, so the Astros will be tough to beat for at least the next two years.
The top-seeded Astros, who went 25-1 in the regular season, dethroned three-time defending champion Salem, which settled for fourth place. Prior to Salem’s run, the Astros had won three straight.
“It was awesome, so awesome,’’ said Pinkerton’s fourth-year coach Gina Kegler, after winning her first title.
The Astros had the highest score in every event: vault 33.525, bars 34.425, beam 35.55 and floor 35.475 to easily outscore runner-up Manchester Central, 138.975-132.1.
Bogaczyk, 14, has a built-in advantage. Her father, Matt, owns Granite State Gymnastics in Bow.
“I almost didn’t do high school gymnastics,’’ she said. “I saw the girls had so much fun and I wanted to be part of it. I didn’t even know they had individual placers.’’
Now the Derry resident knows. She won the all-around (36.05), bars (9.375) and beam (9.15).
Bogaczyk got off to a slow start with a subpar effort in the vault.
“That put more pressure on,’’ admitted Bogaczyk, who rebounded like a champion.
The sport has been a perfect fit for her since her preschool days.
“When I was 5, I broke me leg,’’ said Bogaczyk. “The doctor said it was good for leg strength.’’
Thompson was especially pleased because she had missed much of the season.
“I’m just back from a bad ankle sprain,’’ she noted.
When asked about a potential dynasty, the Chester resident said, “Definitely. Yeah, I’d say so.’’
Thompson may have set the world record for the earliest start in a sport.
“I started when I was 1,’’ she said. “It was Mommy and Me at Spectrum (Gymnastics in Londonderry)’’
Thompson brings a fearless attitude to gymnastics and another passion of hers, horseback riding.
She has two horses: Violet and Joy.
“I’ve won a lot of state (equestrian) things,’’ she said.
Thompson trains at Brestyans in Burlington, Mass., where Olympian Alicia Sacramone trains. But she’s committed to high school gymnastics, too.
“I’ll always be an Astro,’’ she said.
Same with Kegler. She teaches pyschology at the school and graduated from there in 1999. But she didn’t compete on the gymnastics team. That made yesterday’s title even more special.
“We really hit on bars more than we have all season,’’ she said. “That gave us momentum and typically it’s our weakest event.”
Yesterday they were all strong. That might be the case for the next few years as well.
Other local placers were Londonderry’s Leah Jackson, who was tied for fourth on vault; Pinkerton’s Alex Halle and Salem’s Samantha Cloutier, who placed fifth and sixth, respectively, on the beam; and Salem’s Shireen Kirata, who tied for fourth on floor and finished eighth in the all-around.

Pinkerton improved to 15-1 following a 48-28 win over Bishop Guertin and did so with a barrage of 3-point shots. A.J. Guidi nailed down four 3-pointers on her way to a game-best 19 points. Laura Pierce also had four 3-pointers and she finished with 16 points.  For hte game, Pinkerton hit 10 from behind the arc.