The Londonderry High School Ice Hockey team ran into some good fortune last week, winning both of their final regular season games and having the Concord Crimson Tide drop out of the top two with a pair of losses.
By virtue of that good fortune, the Lancers grabbed the number two seed in the Division I playoffs, allowing them a first round bye to await the winner of the game between Pinkerton Academy and Manchester Central-West-Memorial.
The quarter-final game for the Lancers will be on their home ice, at the Tri-Town Arena in Hooksett on Saturday, March 2, starting at 4 p.m.
Londonderry has defeated both of the team’s they are scheduled to face in their first game of the playoffs, beating PA twice, 8-2 and 5-4, and just coming off a 3-1 win over the Manchester squad on Saturday.
In the victory over the combined three-school Manchester team, Londonderry scored three to help secure their spot in the playoffs.
Senior forwards, Jayden Hamilton and Owen Carey, along with junior forward, Brett McKinnon, all had goals in the victory at JFK Stadium in Manchester.
Three night earlier, the team had a 9-1 slamming of the Nashua South-Pelham squad, who have only managed to get three wins this season. It was also the team’s senior night game, giving the fans a chance to honor the team’s eight seniors.
Carey, Hamilton, Jack Nadeau, James Kircaldie, Mike Maloney, Brandon Morin, Matthew Boyon, and Alec St. Hilaire will all be lost to graduation at the end of the playoffs.
The Lancers finished the season in second place in the division standings with a very impressive 15-3 record, just behind the top team, Windham High School, that also finished at 15-3.
The only meeting Londonderry had with the Jaguars was a 4-1 defeat, in part, due to some very strong Windham goaltenders, Ben Breen and Roberto Robles, who have had six shutout victories and six games where they have allowed just one goal.