Alvirne-Milford's Dylan MacLeod celebrates his key goal in the Admirals' win over the MHBDS WarHawks Wednesday night at Skate 3 in Tyngsborough, Mass. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. – Alvirne-Milford hockey coach Kathy Griswold had one request for her team Wednesday night at Skate 3 Arena.

“I asked for them to put three full periods together,” she said.

And she got them.

Now, half of those may have been spent in the penalty box, but the Admirals got two quick goals to start the third period, snapping a 1-1 tie with the Merrimack-Hollis Brookline-Derryfield Warhawks. They went on to win a penalty-filled 4-2 contest, improving to 5-2 on the season.

The two teams combined for 18 penalties and 52 penalty minutes, including a 10 minute misconduct each — after all, it was a base of Merrimack vs.Alvirne, right? – and the go-ahead goal by Brandon Callahan (Brandon Ganas assist) came on the power play 11 seconds into the third. But the next one was just over a minute later in a rare 5 on 5, that by Dylan MacLeod (Brandon Hiltz assist) for a 3-1 lead. The Admirals, after winning the Conway Arena Backyard Brawl late last month, are now 4-0 in January and becoming a team to watch in Division II.

“They were hungry today,” Griswold said of her team. “They were looking to capitalize on any opportunity with the puck.I’m really proud of how they moved the puck in the offensive zone, our power plays are definitely coming together. They’re working together as a team.”

On the flip side, MHBDS had its chances, but fell to 3-4-1. The Admirals took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the goal by Ryan Sutton just 2:23 in, assisted by Luke Green. But the WarHawks evened it up with a Tyler Allen power play goal, assists to Felix Rattunde and Alex May midway through the second for the period’s only score. But then they had the slow start to the third.

“We executed our plan, but then when we came out to start that period it wasn’t as tight as we wanted,” WarHawks coach Dan Belliveau said. “We were shorthanded. Just a little more effort there to make sure we were containing the puck and playing more defensively. I think we were pretty excited coming out, and that’s what happened, we got over-excited.”

That’s the way it usually is in this rivalry, the team that can focus through the mayhem perseveres. The WarHawks cut it to 3-2 when May found a small opening and poked it past an otherwise solid Admirals netminder Kian Corcoran (38 saves) at 9:06 to cut the lead to 3-2. But A-M’s Mason Tomkins scored unassisted with 1:36 left for the clincher. MHBDS goalie Liam Gagne had 30 saves.

MHBDS goalie Liam Gagne makes a save while Alvirne-Milford’s Luke Green and the WarHawks’ Tyler Allen joust in front during Wednesday night’s Division II area clash at Skate 3 in Tynsborough, Mass. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

“I felt like we could have been the team to score the next two goals ourselves,” Belliveau said, his team playing next vs. Nashua North-South at Conway Arena Saturday, a Military Appreciation Day game. “It could’ve been anybody’s game. I think we’re headed in that direction all season long, one or two goal games.From our perspective, we just need to figure out a way to tighten up defensively so we can come out on top of some of these one, two-goal games.”

The Admirals host Somersworth-Coe Brown on Saturday then have a 10-day break.

“The work never stops,” Griswold said. “But we definitely have seen a lot of growth.”