Last year the Bulldogs were upset in the quarterfinals of the Division III hockey playoffs, but it’s a loss that’s served them well. This year, with last year’s early tournament exit still fresh in their minds, it was Bulldogs turn to do the upsetting.

The No. 4 Belmont-Gilford boys’ hockey team took a 3-0 lead early in the third period and held off a late Mountaineers (14-3-2) comeback as the Bulldogs defeated top-seeded Berlin-Gorham, 3-2, in the D-III semifinals at Plymouth State University’s Hanaway Rink on Wednesday night.

Belmont-Gilford (14-4-2) will play No. 2 Kingswood (15-3-1) at SNHU Arena in Manchester on Saturday for the D-III title.

“We’ve got 10 seniors. This is their third finals that they’re going to in four years,” Bulldogs head coach Jason Parent said. “I think last year’s early exit taught them that every game is a must-win situation and you can’t get anything for granted. We have to credit that loss, it’s what you learn the most from sometimes.”

That loss Parent is referring to is last season’s quarterfinal defeat when his Belmont-Gilford team, then the No. 3 seed, lost to No. 6 Kearsarge-Plymouth, 4-3.

After a scoreless first period and a nearly-scoreless second, Belmont-Gilford sophomore Max Ryder found the back of the net with 1:51 remaining in the frame to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Senior Evan Guerin assisted on the goal.

The Bulldogs wasted little time in the third period, with Ryder netting his second goal less than four minutes into the third period and sophomore Jaxson Lien scoring 49 seconds later to make it 3-0.

Belmont-Gilford did a good job possessing the puck and not letting the Mountaineers get near the Bulldog goal, alleviating any threats on net.

“I thought we played a solid game and we executed our game plan, which was really just to get pucks deep as much as we could and capitalize on opportunities when they came to us,” Parent said.

But that all changed in the final three minutes of the game.

A tripping penalty was called on Belmont-Gilford’s Aiden Stafford with 3:13 left in the game, the only penalty of the entire period, and Berlin-Gorham opted to pull junior goalie Grant Williams (14 saves) for an extra skater, setting up a 6-on-4 advantage for the Mountaineers.

A minute later, Berlin-Gorham junior Hudson Goulet scored to make it 3-1 (assisted by juniors Boyd Poulin and Jordan Bledsoe) with 2:11 left.

Bulldog senior goalie Carson McGreevy made most of his third-period saves in a flurry over the next minute, with Bledsoe finally getting the puck by him with 1:29 left to make it 3-2 (Goulet and sophomore Cooper Ladd assisted).

Belmont-Gilford didn’t just learn lessons from last season’s tournament exit. The Bulldogs had prepared for this moment in practice and Parent reminded them of that during a timeout in the final minute of play.

“We had practiced about 30 minutes of our last practice of 6-on-5 (in the scenario that we’re) up a goal,” Parent said. “We’re very good on the dot. We felt our best opportunity to win the game was to get control off the faceoff that gave us the opportunity to seal the win.”

That’s exactly what the Bulldogs were able to accomplish, winning the faceoff and eventually clearing the puck, forcing Berlin-Gorham’s final shot in the closing seconds to come from near its own blueline. 

Belmont-Gilford failed to beat the Mountaineers twice during the regular season, losing 2-1 on Jan. 2 and tying them 2-2 on Feb. 22.

The Bulldogs are in a similar situation with the No. 2 Knights, having lost to them, both times, by a score of 5-4 on Jan. 4 and March 1. 

Belmont-Gilford took a gamble in its second meeting with Kingswood, pulling the goalie late in overtime in hopes of winning a game that would’ve given the Bulldogs a higher seed. It didn’t pay off in that instance, but the fact remains that they were both close contests.

“It’s anyone’s game,” Parent said.