Merrimack goaIie Ben Hardy, Dylan Sadowski (12) , Own Miner (11) and Evan Roy (7) lament the team's tough 5-3 Division II semis loss to Somersworth-Coe-Brown Wednesday at Dover Ice Arena. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

DOVER — It’s a roadblock the Merrimack High School hockey team hasn’t found a way around.

Yes, the Division II semifinal stop sign appeared again on Wednesday. The Tomahawks have reached them three years in a row, and all three times have been denied a pass to the title game, including yesterday’s 5-3 defeat at the hands of Somersworth-Coe-Brown at Dover Ice Arena.

“We’ve got some things to work on,” a frustrated Merrimack coach Dan Belliveau said. “You’ve got to show up to play. You’ve got to play it all three periods. I feel we had a few areas throughout where we kind of let up a little, and they took advantage.”

Things certainly didn’t start out looking that way, when the ‘Hawks’ Brayden Guagliumi got the fans in blue garb (even blue hair) cheering when the scored at 5:05 of the first for a 1-0 Merrimack lead.

“We got off to a fast start with the goal,” Belliveau said. “But we didn’t get off to a fast start with our legs.”

And the Bearcats, who got 27 stops from their goalie, sophomore Rylye Coe, proved that point as they constantly were swooping in on Merrimack goalie Ben Hardy (24 saves). Finally with 1:05 left in the first, Bearcat Jake Pelletier found the back of the net, and things were knotted at 1 after one.

“They put the pucks in behind our defensemen, and went after the puck – hard,” Belliveau said. “And they took a shot from anywhere on the ice.”

“They’re relentless,” Bearcats coach Shane Maurice said. “Our boys have so much heart. Skill aside, obviously we’ve got some skill. Heart is just something they’ve really started stringing together. … 1-0, there wasn’t one head sulked down. They knew what we could do.”

The Bearcats basically got their production from one main line, as Pelletier, his brother Jonny, and Aaron Bono dominated the offense. Bono scored twice in the second period to make it a 3-1 game.

The ‘Hawks, however, closed to within 3-2 on Evan Roy’s power play goal with 1:33 left in the period.

Onto the third, in a tight 3-2 game, but the ‘Cats made it 4-2 on Jake Pelletier’s second goal, assisted by his brother at 5:05. Merrimack’s Dom Carozza made things interesting with a shorthanded goal with 1:28 left, but the Bearcats clinched things with a Jonny Pelletier empty netter.

“Domenic’s a good kid, a good hockey player, one of our leaders on the team for sure, and he showed it today,” Belliveau said. “I’m going to miss him a lot. … I’m proud of the kids.”

“They are coached very, very well,” Maurice said of Merrimack. “Their goalie, Hardy, is one of the best in the state. We were lucky to hold on. The game could have gone either way.”

But the ‘Hawks ended up going the same way for the third straight time, and again Belliveau bids adieu to another talented core.

“My seniors especially, but kudos to all these kids,” Belliveau said. “They stepped it up, they gave it their all out there today.”

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