Merrimack goalie Matt Licata deflects a shot by St. Thomas Aquinas' Brandon McCaughey during Wednesday's Division II boys hockey semifinal at Everett Arena in Concord. (Photo by Matt Parker/Seacoast Media Group)

CONCORD — It’s been a while, but the Merrimack High School boys hockey team will finally get to play another game at Manchester’s SNHU Arena.

The Tomahawks were last in the Division II title game a decade ago, but will return this Saturday thanks to their 4-3 overtime win over No. 1 St. Thomas of Dover in the semifinals Wednesday at Everett Arena.

Merrimack senior defenseman Kyle Dunn deflected a shot by Eliot Medlock and the puck found the back of the net for a power-play goal with 8:15 left in overtime as the fourth-seeded Tomahawks (13-6-1) will now take on No. 2 Dover, which got by Oyster River in the other semi.

This one ended as Merrimack’s Will Farrell got control of a loose puck near center ice and was skating in alone on STA goalie Nate Lavoie when he was tripped from behind with 8:49 left in overtime. The Tomahawks went on the power play and the game was over in 34 seconds.

Lavoie came up with a glove save off the initial faceoff from the penalty, prompting a second one. Merrimack’s Conor Dunn won the face off, Medlock got the puck and fired the puck at Lavoie where Kyle Dunn poked home the game-winner.

“We just wanted to make sure we had traffic in front of the net,” a jubilant Merrimack head coach Dan Belliveau said. “(Kyle) was in front with a nice screen and just deflected it in.”

“That penalty killed us, killed us,” St. Thomas coach Dan Strabone said, his team finishing at 13-5-1. “A face-off hiccup at the end cost us.”

Colin Chrisom gave the Saints their first lead of the game, 2-1, with 11:36 left in the second period. Chrisom came down from the left side of Merrimack goalie Matt Licata and beat him to top shelve in the far right corner. Calvin Doran and Connor Gray were credited with the assists.

Medlock intercepted a pass just shy of the blue line as the Saints were trying to clear the zone. Medlock quickly fired a shot to Lavoie’s left; the puck hit the far post and trickled in, tying the game at 2-2 with 11:31.

Owen Miner’s goal with 10:23 left gave Merrimack a 3-2 lead. The advantage stood that way until STA junior George Dannecker blasted a shot through traffic to the right of Licata, tying the game with 8:51 left.

Teams trade goals in first

Merrimack took the 1-0 lead when Cam Bellemore buried a rebound past Lavoie with 5:47 left in the opening period. The lead didn’t last long as Brendan Chrisom tied the game at 1-1 with 4:12 left.

Merrimack lost to Bedford in 2013 and, ironically, Dover in 2011 in its only title game appearances. The ‘Hawks had been knocking on the door with three straight semifinal appearances before falling in last year’s quarters.

“This is big, but we’re keeping our eye on the prize,” Belliveau said. “We got one more, we got one more to go. These kids want to keep playing, and they’re playing their hearts out. These seniors don’t want this to end.”

DIVISION III SEMFINALS

NO.2 BERLIN-GORHAM 4, NO. 3 PEMBROKE-CAMPBELL 2

It will be a rematch of last year’s final between Belmont-Gilford and Berlin-Gorham, thanks to the latter’s 4-2 elimination of Pembroke-Campbell in the semis up at Plymouth State.

PAC had a 2-0 lead going into the final period, but the Berlin co-op scored four times in the third period for the win. PAC ends up at 15-5, one of its best seasons in the last few years.

(Material from Jay Pinsonnault/Seacoast Media Group was used in this report)