NASHUA, N.H. — "I thought that Lyskawa played the best game he's ever played," said Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly of Bishop Guertin starter and Londonderry resident Brent Lyskawa.
"I've never played this good of a game before in my life," Lyskawa said.
While Pinkerton's philosophy was to simply shoot the lights out, it was Lyskawa who left the Astros feeling KO'ed.
The junior goalie made 20 saves as Bishop Guertin downed Pinkerton 14-11 in the New Hampshire Division 1 championship game.
But the fact that he was playing at all is incredible. On May 26, Lyskawa's little brother Alex died in West Virginia from injuries sustained in a motorcycle race. The 13-year-old seventh grade honors student had been racing since he was four years old.
"It's been really tough," Lyskawa said with a sigh, "but I've just been trying my best to block that out and focus strictly on the team. It was hard but it paid off."
All night he stymied the potent Pinkerton attack (the Astros had averaged 15.9 goals a game in NHIAA play), and earned high praise from all involved.
"I give all the credit to that kid," said O'Reilly. "He's gone through a tough time the last week or so, and for him to respond like that, you have to be proud of that. He's the reason we weren't able to pull this off today."
In the first quarter, he came out "smoking," said O'Reilly.
He made seven saves and didn't allow a single goal.
"They're good shooters," said Lyskawa. "I'm surprised (I made that many saves). Most of the time they can place it in a good corner and get it to the offside. That's one of the hardest saves for a goalie to make compared to where they are on the field.
"I don't know, I just tried to focus as hard as I could on the ball and just watch it as it went into my stick. Some of the shots I didn't even see and my hands were already there. It was the weirdest thing."
During the awards presentation, the crowd of about 1,000 politely applauded for every name announced. But when Lyskawa was called forward to accept his medal, Stellos Stadium went ballistic.
"They (the crowd) were great," he said. "It was great to have that support on my side."
Lyskawa was effusive in his praise of Pinkerton, calling them "one of, if not the best team in the state."
It's just that Lyskawa played the best game of his life.
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