Concord High boys’ hockey’s game against Hanover on Wednesday night was its biggest challenge to date this season. Playing at Everett Arena, the Tide needed a win to continue their streak and also sit atop Division I as the only undefeated team.

The Concord girls’ hockey team played the second game at Everett against Berlin-Gorham-Kennett as it continued to find a nice groove in the early part of the season. Coming off their holiday tournament win and a 5-2 victory over Bishop Guertin last Saturday, the girls are rolling and in rhythm with plenty of hockey ahead.

Boys: Concord 4, Hanover 2

Concord (5-0-0) has looked nearly unstoppable this season, but not perfect, yet its defensive grit and determination coupled with sheer offensive firepower earned them a win over the Bears.

After going up 1-0 thanks to a last-minute goal by senior forward and captain Rowan Arndt, things were looking up for the Tide. They had squandered six minutes of power play time in the period but were solid defensively to take a lead into the second.

“We gotta be better on the power play. The special teams gotta be better. Tonight had a golden opportunity in the first period to jump out (2-0, 3-0), and we didn’t take advantage of it. Later into the season and with better teams and/or tournament games, you gotta be good on special teams,” said Concord head coach Dunc Walsh.

The Bears (2-1-1) knew something had to change and came out with force from the break. Their defense stepped up physically to disrupt Concord’s attack, and within a minute senior defenseman and captain Henry Cotter hit a powerful shot from far out that snuck through to equalize.

Ten minutes later, Hanover senior forward Gavin Nartowicz turned the game around on their the Bears’ power play of the night with a cheeky goal to go ahead. Fortunately for Concord, freshman Nolan Walsh – who has been a breakout star on the right wing this season – scored to break Concord out of its lackluster power play performances and draw the Tide even.

The second period was, in fact, a crazy back-and-forth duel with plenty of penalties and goals galore. Both teams headed into the locker room to prepare for the third period tied, and the goal – literally and figuratively – to remain undefeated in mind.

Two minutes out of the break, freshman Austin Proulx was sent to the penalty booth for a high-sticking minor and the Tide was short-handed at the wrong moment. During that Hanover power play, Concord sophomore Jaden Haas repossessed the puck near the neutral zone and found junior center Chad Lariviere breaking forward.

Lariviere showed off incredible puck skills, skating up the ice toward Hanover goalie Jorgen Drent. He stopped abruptly, made the goalie commit to his left and then slotted the puck through his legs as the crowd’s cheering erupted into celebration.

Post-game, Lariviere was humble about his performance and said that winning felt great but that the team has to focus on what’s ahead.

“We were just losing composure and forcing plays and not being patient. We lost some momentum off that; we didn’t even get good chances on five-on-five. I thought we played pretty well, but then third period I thought we played pretty well,” said coach Walsh. “Certainly, the five-on-three the kids stepped on big time, and Chad Lariviere was huge. We cashed in a couple Chad, got the shorthanded goal, and then we got the one late by Tyler.”

The Tide would go on to win with that late goal by junior center Tyler Morin after surviving a perilous five-on-three situation for too many men on the ice. The Concord boys now sit on top of New Hampshire high school hockey as the only undefeated team.

“It feels good. We had trouble with them over the past few years, and it feels good to finally get it done. I mean, we know teams are coming for us, so we just gotta play our best hockey,” said Concord’s Rowan Arndt. “We were just saying we need to stick to our systems and get more shots and just bury goals. You gotta score the win so that was really our game plan.”

Girls: Concord 7Berlin-Gorham-Kennett 3

The Tide, led by coach Kate Billings, is on the positive side of the win-loss column (3-2-0) after defeating Berlin-Gorham-Kennett (2-4-0) on Wednesday night. They dominated the puck for the first two periods and rained the goals in early, and it seemed that the girls’ hockey holiday tournament win gave them a much-needed emotional boost, on top of allowing the team to build chemistry without as much pressure.

“It kind of did, it brought us all together, and we found a lot of chemistry at that tournament and we’ve carried through. We played Bishop Guertin on Saturday, we haven’t beat BG in four years, so it was huge to beat them, and then we’re just continuing to roll through it and take on each opponent as we see them,” Billings said.

Senior forward Claire Brown scored the first two goals after some great movement around the net and two good assists by sophomore Evianna Raimo. She found her spot and knew where to shoot as soon as possible. Brown would go on to complete her hat trick unassisted, scoring Concord’s seventh in the third period after B-G-K had improved and scored two goals of its own.

Concord sophomore forward Brooke Nelson came close to scoring a hat trick of her own, scoring her first goal in the second period, assisting junior Elliana Wing’s goal less than a minute later and then scoring her second goal with a powerful shot from the right wing.

“We definitely had some breakdowns, but things I think we can fix as we go through the season and practices and stuff like that,” said Billings. “But proud of Claire and Brooke, they’re performing, they’re doing everything that we ask of them and putting pucks in the net, which is what we need, so it’s awesome.”

Junior Hailey Pinette scored one more goal for Concord before the end of the second to take a commanding 6-0 lead and seal the game. Despite defensive lapses from the younger lines in the third period, Concord hung on comfortably.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.