MANCHESTER – After seven agonizing periods, Concord senior forward Rowan Arndt watched his winning shot roll past the opposing goalie to give the Crimson Tide a long-awaited championship.

It took the Tide 31 overtime shots to finally find a winner over rival Bishop Guertin. Arndt got his own rebound into the net to dramatically end the longest championship game in NHIAA hockey history with a 2-1 victory. He said it was the biggest goal of his life.

“It feels good to be over and be on the good side of it,” Arndt said after the game. “I just got to give thanks to our coaches who’ve been pushing us all year, getting us nice and prepared for these long games and ready for anything.”

The Crimson Tide struggled to find a clear look at the net all game. That was until the last minute of the third period when Concord pulled its goalie while down one goal and senior forward Trevor Craigue carried the puck up the ice and avoided a trip by a Bishop Guertin defenseman. As soon as he got close to the goal, he passed it off to senior forward Cameron Roy, who was all alone in the low slot. Roy quickly redirected the puck into the back of the net with 33.7 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

“I just can’t believe we tied. I’m still in shock, and then Rowan just comes out of nowhere and buries one,” Roy said. “I kept swinging in the neutral zone and then Trevor just had a burst of speed, and I was wide open back door. It was an awesome play by him.”

The Division I state championship game was a stalemate through two periods, as both top-seeded Concord (19-2) and No. 2 Bishop Guertin (17-4) battled for the puck and matched one another’s offensive energy. Through the end of two periods, the young Concord team had a slight edge over BG and outshot the Cardinals, 15-14.

Concord killed two BG power plays and stayed smart when transitioning into an attack. Freshman goalie Carter Heise had not been challenged much, but he remained alert during BG’s strong forecheck. The Cardinals hit the Tide hard on the boards and generated turnovers in the neutral zone to keep them on their heels.

In the third period, the game changed. Bishop Guertin grew stronger and rained shots on Heise. The Cardinals finally broke through with a long shot by senior forward Noah Cordeiro that surprised Concord’s defense six minutes into the period. After that, Concord went all out and recovered its offensive form.

Bishop Guertin sophomore forward Dom Trepanier tripped Concord senior forward Jaden Haas and gifted the Tide a crucial power play with 3:12 remaining in the game. Head coach Dunc Walsh used a timeout to determine how to tie the game up. However, the Cardinals killed the power play and the door seemed to shut on Concord’s chances.

When Concord pulled Heise from goal, the team went all out searching for an equalizer. In a nail-biting moment, BG nearly got a shot on the open net, but the Tide’s defenders crashed into the slot and quickly went on the offensive. Senior forward Cam Chandonnet passed it to Craigue on the breakaway before Roy tied the game 1-1, giving Concord a second wind going into overtime.

The last time these two teams faced off, the Cardinals skated off with an overtime win at Everett Arena. Yet the lessons Concord took from that game carried over into the championship.

“I've never been part of that. Thirty five years as a coach, we’ve had some overtime games, overtime championship games, but to go four overtimes. Kids had a ton of chances, a ton of chances. I thought as the overtime went on we got better,” Walsh said.

Overtime favored Concord in many ways as the Tide seemed to have the better chances. Freshman forward Nolan Walsh fired a few shots and even hit the left post once, but like the first two periods, neither team found a way to score. 

Concord, despite looking better in overtime, also faced some scary moments. Senior defenseman Tyler Fennelly was penalized for an elbow that laid out a BG forward. At the end of the power play, Heise dove on a puck, and to everyone’s amazement, the goal light came on, signaling what would have been the end of the game. After some discussion, the referees decided that no goal had been scored and the Tide’s fans signed in relief.

Heise came up big time and time again, with 45 total saves in the game. In double overtime, Concord poured the shots in and managed to outshoot the Cardinals, 19-4, yet, BG’s senior goalie Conor Hayes was impenetrable and was strong in goal, not allowing many pucks to escape his glove.

“We were going into the next periods, thinking we were better than this team. We were like ‘we need to win this,’” said Heise. “In between periods, we were saying they’re way more tired than us, we were actually playing really well and we kept on going and kept that mindset. I obviously don’t want to let my boys down and I just tried to play my best way.”

All in all, Concord survived two penalties in overtime, and as legs grew heavier and heavier for both teams after another scoreless period, quadruple overtime loomed over the equally tired crowd expectantly waiting for a winner. Each shot drew gasps from the crowd, which erupted in elation at the end of the game.

As soon as Arndt scored, the whole team threw their gloves on the ice, helmets up in the air, and crashed into the boards in front of the ecstatic Concord crowd.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com