MANCHESTER, N.H. — As the puck bounced around in front of the Salisbury net midway through overtime, goalie Matt Alberti made stop after stop.
Then the puck popped out to the point and there was Taft defenseman Alexander Kenerson who was there to snag the biscuit and sift a shot through the mayhem in front, giving Taft the 3-2 win and the 2023 Martin/Earl Large School Tournament championship.
The scoring started just over three minutes into the contest when Salisbury fumbled a breakout and Taft junior forward Shane Mettler capitalized, stealing the puck and finding teammate Archer Brown entering the zone.
Brown got the puck and ripped a shot over Salisbury goalie Matt Alberti to make it 1-0.
With just 22.1 seconds left, Taft tried to clear the puck out of its own end but was intercepted. That led to Salisbury forward Michael Strapp scoring on a snipe of his own to tie the score, 1-1.
The second period was scoreless, but with 10:50 to play in the third, Taft's leading-scorer Jackson Holl (Avon, Conn.) had the puck in the Salisbury corner. In an attempt to get a puck toward the net in a tight, defensive game, he turned and chucked it in the direction of Salisbury goalie Matt Alberti.
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The puck was going wide, but it ricocheted off Salisbury defender Anthony Biakabutuka and in.
Salisbury responded quickly. With 7:03 to play in the third period, Salisbury defenseman Sam Hall ripped a shot from the point that deflected off Salisbury forward Jared Rothman and in to tie the game, 2-2.
Taft and Salisbury played twice throughout the regular season. Both were 3-2, overtime decisions with each team snagging one win.
When the two teams met for the first time on Nov. 30, Kenerson scored the overtime winner to give Taft a 3-2 win.
Not a bad way to start and end a season.
Here are five takeaways from the game:
1.) Taft goalie Rudy Guimond put on another great performance Sunday. He made some key stops, including one with under a minute to play that was right around the net. He was always in a good position to make stops, which made it look like the pucks were finding his pads.
2.) Alberti matched him well at the other end. The Salisbury netminder made four saves in Taft's final push before Kenerson won the game. Alberti did all he could.
3.) Salisbury controlled puck possession for most of the game. Aside from Taft's goal, Salisbury's breakouts were clean and helped them get out of its zone and into Taft's.
4.) Salisbury's top line of Liam Kilfoil, Trey Deere and Henry Metz had consistent, good offensive zone shifts. Their cycle game caused problems for Taft.
5.) Biakabutuka had a great game. He moved the puck well on breakouts and showed no hesitation in joining the rush. He also shut opponents down well in his own end. The puck that went off him and into the net wasn't his fault.
