McKinnon leads Londonderry into championship game vs. Windham
Mar. 7—MANCHESTER — Brett McKinnon is a big-game type of player, Londonderry High School boys hockey coach Mike Bears said.
In the Lancers' biggest game of the season on Wednesday night, McKinnon brought his A game.
The junior wing had a hat trick before the game was 18 minutes old in Londonderry's 6-1 NHIAA Division I semifinal win over Exeter at JFK Coliseum.
The second-seeded Lancers (17-3) will play top-seeded Windham (17-2-1) in the Division I final on Saturday at 5 p.m. at SNHU Arena. Windham defeated fifth-seeded Hanover, 5-1, in Wednesday's early semifinal.
Eleventh-seeded Exeter finished with a 10-11 record.
"He steps up in big moments for us," Bears said of McKinnon. "He's a hard-working kid and he always has a knack to find the net. I'm glad he did (Wednesday)."
McKinnon scored twice over the opening 2:43 of the second period to give Londonderry a 4-0 lead after his two-point first period. His first tally in the middle period came 18 seconds after the opening faceoff.
McKinnon also opened the game's scoring 4:17 in with his goal from the doorstep and assisted on Michael Maloney's goal at the 7:39 mark of the first period.
"It was tough," Exeter coach Paul DiMarino said. "They (the Lancers) jumped us in the beginning. We fended them off for a little bit but then they jumped us again in the second and it's hard to bounce back from that."
McKinnon finished with four points. His linemates, Maloney, a senior center, and Owen Carey, a senior wing, also logged multi-point nights.
Carey scored with 6:11 left in the second period to build a 6-1 Londonderry lead. He also had two assists.
Alongside his goal, Maloney also assisted on McKinnon's third tally.
McKinnon said his line's selflessness makes it difficult for teams to defend.
"No one cares about points, goals," McKinnon said. "We all just move the puck and whoever's open is open and gets the goal."
Exeter briefly trimmed the Lancers' advantage to 4-1 at the 7:47 mark of the middle frame with a power-play goal from junior defenseman Brady Smith.
Londonderry answered 29 seconds later with a goal from freshman forward Gavin Karoul.
Bears credited the Lancers' four-goal second period to making good decisions with the puck in the defensive zone, which, he said, led to opportunities for their gifted forwards.
Exeter goaltenders Trent Fujitani and Logan Dixon combined for 11 saves. Fujitani made five saves before Dixon relieved him with 5:16 left in the second period.
Senior James Kircaldie made 24 saves for the Lancers.
The Lancers now get another chance at Windham, the team Bears said handed them their toughest regular-season loss.
The Jaguars beat Londonderry, 4-0, on Jan. 20 — the only time the Lancers have been shut out all season.
"I think Saturday should be a really good game," DiMarino said. "It's one versus two. That's how it goes sometimes."
