High School Sports

January 21. 2013 11:14PM

NHIAA roundup: Schirch backstops Londonderry hockey win

Reserve goalie Mitchell Schirch stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced and Londonderry skated past Concord, 3-1, in Division I boys' hockey at the Everett Arena in Concord Monday.

"Mitchell was definitely sharp," lauded Londonderry coach Peter Bedford. "We have been playing Joe McGrath in goal much of the year, but Mitchell is a good man to have on the team. He's a junior and has been looking good in practice, and he's earned my confidence. He faced a lot of shots and played a good, solid game."

Many of the Concord shots were perimeter shots with traffic in front of the net, but Schirch was equal to the task. He faced eight Concord power plays and did not surrender a goal.

Londonderry's Eric Coburn and Concord's Harrison Murphy traded first-period goals before Mike Donlan and Ryan Griffin struck for middle-period goals to cement the Lancers' victory. Londonderry is 7-2-1.

"Our offense has been pretty steady and Griffin and Coburn are our two mainstays," added Bedford. "However, we've been getting good contributions from our secondary scoring. Our goals-against is two goals for and one goal against."

Crimson Tide goalie Ben Nelson made 29 saves as the Capital City squad slipped to 3-4-2.

Londonderry faces off against St. Thomas in a late afternoon game on Saturday at the Dover Arena.

Manchester Central 5, St. Thomas 1: In Manchester at the JFK Coliseum, Austin Sprague continue his torrid scoring spree with three goals, giving him five in the last two games. The senior standout has 10 for the season in nine games as Central improved to 7-2.

The Saints (5-4-1) scored a power-play goal 5:55 into the first period, but Sprague tallied two goals before the frame ended. In the second period, Sprague and Trevor Malmgren scored 29 seconds apart for a 4-1 Central cushion. Colin Pacheco added an insurance tally in the third stanza for Central.

Little Green goalie Ian Beliveau had 27 saves while Saints netminder Zane Angelopoulos turned back 21 shots.

Central battles city rival Trinity on Saturday night at St. Anselm College's Sullivan Arena.

Nashua North 5, Bishop Brady 0: At Concord, the Titans erupted for a trio of middle-period goals en route to its victory at the Everett Arena. After John Wilson netted a first-period strike, Bill Loranger, Jake Latham and Tim Paige scored second-period goals to put the game out of reach. Paige scored his second of the game in the third to conclude the game's scoring. North goalie Jake Genest finished with 16 saves while Brady's Chandler Peterson stopped 24 shots.

Kennett 9, ConVal 0: James Gallo, Connor Todd, Nick Ansaldi and Anthony LaRusso scored two goals each for the Eagles, who improved to 7-3 in Division III play. Todd, who is second in the division in scoring, has 17 goals and 20 assists. Kennett goalie Bobby Davis made 19 saves in earning the shutout. ConVal goalies Sean Stinehar and Kevin Foley made 15 and four saves, respectively.