Five goal 3rd lifts Bulldogs

DOVER, NH --This one was circled on their calendars. The Berwick boys had December's 5-2 loss to NYA (despite a 39-20 shots advantage) fresh on their minds. And for two periods, the game looked awfully similar.

Berwick and NYA traded punches early on. Ryan Baker put NYA on the board first. Jackson Sidford (Newburyport, MA) got Berwick going with a powerplay goal on feeds from Derek Muse (Kennebunk, ME) and Jack Williams (Biddeford, ME).

In the second, Berwick held an 18-8 shots advantage, but they were still playing from behind. Brent Rickett scored for NYA, followed by Muse's seeing-eye-single that found its way through traffic off a Ryan Gaulin (Kingston, NH) face-off win.

In the third, Berwick got thirteen more shots to the NYA net, and this time they cashed in. Five minutes into the period, winger Cole Hernon (Hampton, NH) found center Eric DeGregorio (Dover, NH) on the breakout. DeGregorio streaked down the left side looking to shoot, only to slide the puck deftly over to Tyler Gaulin (Kingston, NH) who collected and tucked the puck near-side under the bar for the game winner. Thirty seconds later, Rich Rosato (Concord, NH) drew a penalty, and Berwick was back to work on the powerplay (33% in the last 7 games). Muse found his favorite spot on top of the right circle, collected a Tanner Derby feed, and rifled one far side to put Berwick up 4-2. Eight minutes later, Rosato dug one out for Sidford who calmly snuck home his second of the game. NYA played until the final minute, pulling their goalie and surrendering another. Sidford put his stamp of approval on this one with with a powerful wrister into the upper corner to finish off the hat trick. Rafe Gaughan (Somersworth, NH) made 21 saves for the Bulldogs who look to get one game closer to .500 on the road tomorrow.