MANCHESTER, N.H. — Salem head coach Mark McGinn did his best to reflect on the bright side as Concord celebrated on the opposite side of the glass.
“Hey, it’s always better to play in the big game than watch it from the stands,” said McGinn with a hint of optimism. “At least we were here. But they were the better team today.”
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Boys Ice Hockey, 03/08/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
SALEM — From the moment Matty Pappalardo’s alarm rang, nearly 12 hours before the puck dropped, the Salem star could feel something special was in store.
“From the second I woke up I was so excited to play and had a good feeling,” said the Eagle-Tribune area’s leader in goals. “It was a late one (8:15 p.m. start), so there was a lot of waiting. But once we finally got out on the ice we played our game and just killed it.”
Pappalardo recorded a hat trick, and Mitchell McGinn scored the game-changing go-ahead goal with 6:53 left in regulation as No. 3 Salem downed upset-minded No. 6 Pinkerton in the New Hampshire Division 1 quarterfinals.
“This is an amazing win,” said Mitchell McGinn. “We haven’t gone to the state semis in a long time. We came out and played. We stayed relaxed in the tough points, we kept pressuring and we finished off an amazing win.”
With the victory, Salem earns its first trip to the Division 1 semifinals since the 2005-06 season.
The Blue Devils (14-3-2) will take on No. 2 seed Concord (16-3-0) on Wednesday at the JFK Rink in Manchester (5:30 p.m.) Salem took the regular season matchup 4-3 on Feb. 17.
“We can’t wait,” said Pappalardo. “We are going to go out, give it all we can in the semis and hope to keep winning.”
For a time late in Saturday’s matchup, however, it looked as if Pinkerton could be on the verge of a playoff upset.
With Salem leading 3-1, Edward Welch cut the advantage to one goal with 1:04 left in the second. Then, midway through the third, Nathan Laliberte found a loose puck and buried it to make it 3-3, giving the Astros the momentum.
But McGinn — the area’s leader in points with 44 — turned the tide.
The puck found the sophomore’s stick near the right faceoff circle in the Pinkerton zone and McGinn fired home a slap shot to give his team the lead back with 6:53 left.
“I was hoping someone would put it home,” said Salem head coach Mark McGinn, Mitchell’s father. “That was a big one to get us over the edge when we needed it. Then Matty P took over and we finished it off.”
Just 1:03 after the McGinn goal, Pappalardo buried his second of the day to extend the lead to 5-3.
Then, with the clock running down, Pappalardo finished off his hat trick with a long shot into an empty net. That led a pair of overzealous Blue Devil fans to throw their hats onto the ice.
The three scores gives Pappalado an area-high 24 for the season, and it was his whopping fifth hat trick of the year.
“That Mitch goal really got our wheels turning,” said Pappalardo. “That got our heads up. Then I got the boys going with my goal, and then we were really rolling. Then the hat trick was a pretty sweet feeling, especially in the playoffs.”
Dylan Salvo and Kevin McGuire each added single goals for the Devils, and Alec Svenson had four assists.
Also turning in a huge performance was Salem goalie Paddy Capsalis, who made 33 saves including a few crucial stops in the third including one from his stomach. Pinkerton’s Dakota Robinson made 28 saves against a relentless Blue Devil attack.
Salem will now face Concord with the hopes of advancing to the Division 1 state title game for the first time since the 2004-05 season, the year after they took home the first hockey state title in Eagle-Tribune area history.
“I’m so excited,” said Mitchell McGinn. “If we play like we have been playing we think we can win that game and maybe make it to the final.”
Salem 6, Pinkerton 3
Division 1 quarterfinal
Pinkerton (11-7-1): 1 1 1 — 3
Salem (14-3-2): 2 1 3 — 6
N.H. Division 1 Quarterfinals
Goals: S — Matty Pappalardo 3, Mitchell McGinn, Kevin McGuire, Dylan Salvo; P — Patrick Hare, Edward Welch, Nathan Laliberte
Assists: S — Alec Svenson 4, McGinn, Aidan Breen, McGuire; P — Nick Trask, Colin Leighton, Gennaro Marra, Brendan Banks
Saves: S — Paddy Capsalis 33; P — Dakota Robinson 28
...
Reach sportswriter/videographer David Willis on Twitter at @DWillisET
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Boys Ice Hockey, 03/05/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Salem's hockey team won its eighth straight game, defeating Exeter 5-2 for the second time this year. Matt Pappalardo had a hat trick and added an assist for the Blue Devils (14-4-2) and Mitchell McGinn had a goal and three assists.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/22/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Mitchell McGinn had the hat trick and Paddy Capsalis made a stunning 54 saves as Salem (13-4-3, 11-3-2 in league play) toppled Concord, 4-3. The second-place Tide fell to 14-2 in the league.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/17/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Matt Pappalardo and Alec Svenson had the goals as Salem held off Pinkerton in a matchup of two of Division 1's top teams. Paddy Capsalis (24 saves) got the win in net. Brendon Banks scored for the Astros.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/11/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
After going the first 13 games of the season without a goal, Aidan Breen scored twice to give him five goals in Salem's last three games, helping the Blue Devils down Exeter 5-2. Breen also had two assists and Paddy Capsalis made 29 saves for the win.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/04/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Heading into the game with just one goal for the season, Alec Svenson recorded his first hat trick as Salem rolled over Manchester Central 6-1. Senior Curtis Culcasi added his first goal of the season while Mitchell McGinn chipped in with two goals and three assists.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/01/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Senior Aiden Breen, who had not scored a goal on the season, registered his first career hat trick and Matty Pappalardo added three goals of his own as Salem rolled over Nashua North 8-1.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 01/28/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
