Manchester Central generated little on offense, falling 3-0 on the road to Salem High School in Division I boys ice hockey on Saturday, Jan. 5.

Salem scored little more than two minutes into the contest when forward Derek Tomes put in a rebound past Central goalie Jared Cox.

Central trailed by three when, with 9:20 remaining in the game, the team produced its best chance to score.

After an initial shot was stopped by Salem goalie Robbie Liberatore, nearly every Central player put a stick on the puck during the ensuing scrum, but Liberatore stopped all five putback chances, and the Blue Devils cruised from there.

Salem head coach Mark McGinn said discipline helped his crew beat the Little Green. “I think for the most part until the end we stayed out of the (penalty) box. We played good team defense and eliminated a lot of shots from their offense,” he said. “We brought a little more energy and had a bit better spirit.”

The game was physical, with multiple roughing penalties throughout. The two teams committed 23 penalties, including a 10-minute major on Greg Tebbetts.

“If you look at the first period, there were only a few penalties. As we got the lead on them, they started taking a few more, and ours were kind of reacting,” said McGinn. “If it were a tighter game, I don’t think you would see those penalties.”

Entering the contest, Central had been averaging four goals per game, having scored seven, six and five goals in wins over Memorial, Berlin and Trinity, respectively. The Little Green also boasted a 3-2 win against perennial power Bishop Guertin on Jan. 2.

Although it was the only regular-season match between the two teams, Salem’s coach said his group was familiar with Central.

“A lot of it is preparation. We’ve watched them a few times,” said McGinn. “We neutralized their top line, and when you get a couple (of goals) on them, they take some more chances. We put them in that position because our offense gave us a lead.”