It was a déjà vu weekend for Holderness.
Head coach Alan Thompson’s team came out on top in the Groton/Lawrence Holiday Tournament for the second straight December, earning a 4-0 shutout win over Thayer on Saturday to claim the title.
Despite carrying a roster that turned over greatly with the departure of their entire top line, Vermont-bound All-New England defenseman Caeden Herrington (Manchester, Vt.) and starting goaltender Ryan Nolan, the Bulls moved to 6-1-1 on the season by winning all three of their weekend games.
“It was amazing to be able to get back to the championship game and win it again,” said senior defenseman Jeremy Poirier, a Salem, N.H., native who earned MVP honors in the 2023 tournament. “We talked as a team about getting off to a hot start early on in the tournament and just the season as a whole. We need to build upon this, knowing we can compete at this level.”
The Bulls overcame their lone loss to Tilton a week before the tournament by continuing to show resilience on the weekend, coming from behind to beat perennial Elite 8 contender Cushing in a shootout in Friday’s semifinal. Poirier and fellow blueliner Henry Prowse each scored as junior Mark Bierwirth (Chelmsford, Mass.) — the MVP this time around — stopped five of Cushing’s six shootout attempts.
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In the following day’s final, Bierwirth continued his stellar play with a 27-save shutout, while Poirier and the “third”-line trio of senior assistant captain Luke Pazzia (Burlington, Mass.), sophomore Henry Colbert and junior Jack Welby (Windham, N.H.) all struck for goals.
“It all started with [Bierwirth] having a great weekend…and certainly earning the (MVP) honor. He was huge in the [Cushing] shootout and stopped a number of breakaways against Thayer as well,” Thompson said. “With any team that’s going to make it anywhere, you’ve got to have a good goalie, so that was big for us.
“The other thing we noticed from the weekend is just how balanced we are,” he added. “When you can get the kind of production we did [from the third line], you’re probably going to be able to compete with anybody. I don’t think we have that dynamic 60-point scorer like we did last year, but we have a lot of really strong players.”
On the offensive side, Colbert and senior assistant captain Eli Chilicki (Berwick, Maine) are tied for the team lead with seven goals apiece thus far, while nine other players have scored at least a pair. All told, seven Bulls have eclipsed the point-per-game plateau, including senior captain Jacob Duval (Andover, Mass.) and a Czech-native newcomer in Viktor Samal.
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With so many new pieces, things have come together perhaps even quicker than the coach would have expected.
“I told the group that this was probably going to be a year where we played around with the lines a bit to start because there were a lot of new guys and we weren’t really sure who would have the best chemistry,” Thompson said. “We haven’t made as many adjustments as I thought…and it’s probably because a lot of these [new] guys have come from a high level and know what to expect with some ups and downs in a season.”
As for Bierwirth, the team’s loss of expected No. 1 goaltender William Prowse to the USHL’s Lincoln Stars — where Herrington currently plays — in September left an opening in the net. It’s safe to say the local native has run with the position, sporting the third-best goals-against average (0.95) and fourth-best save percentage (.957) in New England thus far.
The netminder has shown a strong mental game and produced in big moments early in the season, helping to fuel a strong tournament performance.
“I think we worked well from our own end up,” said Poirier, who played six games for the NAHL’s New Hampshire Mountain Kings during the fall. “Mark played great, all our goalies are great. Then, we defended hard and were able to get some reward up front with all of our lines. It was a great two-way game. … Everyone on the team can go out at any time and produce.”
The Bulls finished with a 25-4-0 record a season ago, losing a tight 2-1 game to Avon Old Farms as a No. 5 seed in the Elite 8.
If that run is any indication, a successful holiday tournament showing can pay dividends down the road as Holderness looks to compete again against some of New England’s best.
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“It gives you confidence knowing that you’ve played in games that mean something, right?” Thompson said. “It gives a little more pressure and you know you’re playing against a strong opposition. … These early-season wins are great, but you really find out what you’re made of when you get into February.”
