Marlboro, MA –

The New Hampshire Monarchs and Jersey Hitmen squared off for the first time in a clash of last season’s Playoff Championship series, and once again the Monarchs came out on top. The score would have mirrored last year’s 3-2 wins if not for a Connor Anthoine empty netter to make it a 4-2 victory for the defending champions.

Maine recruits Brian Morgan and Cam Brown led the way with three-point nights. Morgan scored the first two goals of the game for the Monarchs, erasing a 1-0 Hitmen lead as Steve Swavely scored off a nice play from Jesse Petito and Sean Sanford just 1:30 into the game. Both of Morgan’s goals, the second a beauty, came with assists from Brown and Michael Jamieson.

With just less than four-minutes to play in the first, Brian Morgan made a great 1x1 play at the blue line to gain the zone. After holding the puck and setting up Cam Brown for what looked like a perfect one-timer, Brown sold everyone in the building for a shot and sent the puck to Ryan Ferrill on the back door for a one-time blast that put the Monarchs up 3-1.

The pace would be as good as it gets in the final frame, but both teams would be held off the board until Jack Riley scored with just over five-minutes to play. Jack Barre pushed the puck to Michael Chen who skated down the left side of the ice and slid a back diagonal to Riley who beat his defender up the ice and one-timed a shot that snuck through the pads of Zachary Andrews. The Monarchs would shut it down for the final five minutes and secure the win with Anthoine’s empty netter.