MANCHESTER, N.H. — The best things in life don't come easily, but they are usually the most rewarding.
Such was the case for the Timberlane hockey team, which recovered from a late third-period meltdown to claim its first-ever Division 2 state title at the Verizon Wireless Arena yesterday, defeating Oyster River 3-2 in overtime.
The victory set off a wild celebration on the ice by the Owls, led by senior Nick Bundzinski, who made the play that set up linemate Trevor DeVitto with the game-winner with 3:54 left in the first overtime.
"This is overwhelming," said Bundzinski. "I've never felt like that. As soon as it went in, I sprinted to (goalie) Ryan (Rothwell) and tackled him. What a feeling!"
In fact, the entire Timberlane team erupted in jubilation, which was in stark contrast to how the Owls left the ice after regulation, when they let a two-goal lead fade away in the final five minutes. No. 3 Oyster River tied the game with a 6-on-3 advantage goal with only 33 seconds remaining. The Bobcats has a two-man advantage and pulled their goalie.
After Rothwell was forced to make a tough point-blank save with one second left in regulation, the top-seeded Owls headed to the locker room with their heads down. Oyster River, meanwhile, was celebrating as if it had already won.
"I think our guys heard them celebrate and they didn't like that," said Timberlane coach Andrew Merrick, whose club buried the Bobcats, 6-0, on Feb. 21.
In fact, it may have made the Owls more determined.
"We were a little down, because we had them, but we still felt we'd win it," said DeVitto. "We felt they scored after a couple of questionable penalties and we deserved to win."
In overtime, the Owls regained the momentum they showed in the second period, when they scored on goals by David Evans and DeVitto. With the first line of Bundzinski, DeVitto and Zach Fox on the ice almost the entire overtime, Timberlane swarmed around the Oyster River net, firing 10 shots on goalie Chris Butterfield.
"At that point, you've got to go with what works," said Merrick. "And I knew they wanted to be the heroes."
The terrific threesome knew they'd be seeing extra ice time, and they relished it.
"He (Merrick) didn't even have to tell us we'd be out there more," said Bundzinski. "We expected it and we were ready for it."
After first killing off another 40 seconds of a penalty to start the overtime, Timberlane relentlessly went to work on the other end.
Budzinski was like a man possessed in the final minutes. He had individual efforts stopped by Butterfield at the 9:56 mark, at 6:12 and then again at 5:49. Finally, with four minutes to go, he zoomed down the left side and shot on goal from a wide angle.
With Fox trailing, DeVitto was right in front and whacked at the puck with a vengeance until it slipped past Butterfield and the goal light went on.
"I saw Trevor coming down and I didn't see how I could pass it, so I just shot it," said Bundzinski.
Which was fine with DeVitto.
"I thought I'd have a shot at it," he said. "I don't know how may times I hit it. Probably it went in on the third hit."
Which couldn't have come soon enough.
"I was exhausted," said Budzinski. "I don't know if I could have played much longer."
Overall, it was a superb final game by the Owls, who finished their season with a 20-4 record, including 20-1 in Division 2.
Both sides seemed to be testing each other in the scoreless first period. Evans got things going midway through the second period with his eighth goal of the year on a deflection and an assist from Ross Ferullo. Then the Bundzinski-to-DeVitto combination made it 2-0 on a power play with two minutes left in the period.
Oyster River did have some chances late in the first period and early in the third, but Rothwell responded to every challenge on his way to making 32 saves. When Oyster River scored late in regulation on power-play goals, he really had no chance.
"I thought Ryan came back today and played a great game," said Merrick. "He showed that he's the best goalie in the state.
"Going into the season, I felt we had a chance to do this because we had the best goalie and some good forwards. But you still have to perform and I'm so proud of how these kids came through."
Timberlane 3, Oyster River 2, OT
Division 2 championship
at Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester
Goals: T — Trevor DeVitto 2, David Evans; OR — Ben Rollins, David Willson
Assists: T — Ross Ferullo, Nick Bundzinski 2; OR — Sean Leahy 2, Ryan Randall, Jamie Wilkinson
Saves: T — Ryan Rothwell 32; OR — Chris Butterfield 26
Oyster River (15-4-2 Division 2):0âÇ0âÇ2âÇ0 — 2
Timberlane (20-4, 20-1 Division 2):0âÇ2âÇ0âÇ1 — 3
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