Waltham Skates Away from Marshfield for Boys' D1 State Championship

By Jake Levin (@JakeLevin09)

BOSTON -Half of the members of the Waltham Hawks weren’t even alive the last time the school won a state championship in hockey in 2002, but that didn’t stop head coach John Maguire from breaking out every possible reminder of the past along the way for the current group.

Relishing the past created the perfect present for Waltham, which skated away from the Marshfield Rams for a 4-1 win in the Division 1 State Championship game on Sunday night at TD Garden.

The Hawks (18-5-2) never trailed against the Rams (15-7-5), leaving the rest up to goaltender Kyle Penton. The senior netminder ended his career with a bang, turning aside 33 of the 34 Marshfield shots flung in his direction.

BC High Tops Pope Francis in OT for Super 8 Title

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

BOSTON - The MIAA Division 1A tournament, better known as the Super 8, can be both exhilarating or devastating, depending on which side of the fence you happen to be on.

Both of those feelings came to light during the latter stages of Sunday night's Super 8  final held at TD Garden.

Looking to be the first team outside the I-95 corridor to walk away with the 1A title, Pope Francis had it within reach, but failed to secure it.

Leading by a goal with under a minute remaining, the Cardinals watched BC High storm back. Joe Dragon netted the tying goal with 50 seconds remaining in regulation, before Maverick Woods ended it with an overtime tally just two minutes in, giving the second-seeded Eagles a 2-1 victory.

Plymouth South Boys' Hockey defeats Stoneham in OT Thriller for D2 Crown

Photo by Brendan Hall

By Michael Abelson (@ABELS0N)

BOSTON - The town of Plymouth had never seen a high school hockey team make a sectional final. Or win a sectional final. Or play at the TD Garden. Or raise a state champion’s trophy in the air.

All that changed yesterday.

The Plymouth South boys went shot for shot with Stoneham in a thriller that needed 2:26 of extra hockey, before junior Alex Hayward feathered home a shot while parallel to the goal line to earn South a 4-3 overtime win, and send its black-and-teal clad fans into a frenzy.

“The school started hockey in 1971,” Plymouth South coach Mike McCosh said. “No team’s ever done what we just did. The United States in 1980 had their miracle, but Plymouth, Massachusetts just had ours.”

Shrewsbury Hockey Edges Hanover to Repeat as D3 State Champs

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

BOSTON - The Shrewsbury Colonials upset Hanover, handing the Indians their only loss this season and capturing a second consecutive Division 3 state title in the process.

Shrewsbury relied on their top line of twins Anthony and Liam Quinlivan, and Tyler Borys, along with goaltender Pat Shaugnessy to earn a gritty 2-1 victory at the TD Garden.

Woburn Girls' Hockey Repeats as D1 State Champs

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

BOSTON - With all of the scoring being mustered by these two teams throughout the postseason, did you honestly expect it to continue in the game which mattered most?

As bountiful as the offenses for Woburn and Methuen/Tewksbury have been in previous playoff affairs, Sunday's Division 1 final at TD Garden proved to be a defensive, tightly-fisted showcase with little room for error on either side.

After 45 minutes of up and down play, only one shot found its way into the back of the net. That belonging to Kaitlyn Delaney. Left alone in the high slot, the senior took a behind the net feed from Marissa Gregory and promptly sent a shot past Red Ranger goaltender Kaia Hollingsworth at 6:31 of the second period.

The goal would hold up, giving the Tanners a 1-0 victory, and their second state title in as many years.

Pope Francis Blows out Hingham to Advance to Super 8 Final

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

Lowell, Mass. - The ghosts of the past have finally been exorcised.

Since 2009, the Pope Francis hockey team (Cathedral High School in Springfield) has been a yearly fixture in the Super 8 tournament, either as a play-in team or a bonafide seed. Yet, throughout that time frame, this team has never quite been able to get over the hump, continuously coming up short in its quest to reach the championship game.

All of that now can be laid to rest.

With its convincing 6-0 victory over Hingham in Wednesday night's semifinal contest, the Cardinals have finally gained entry into the title tilt. No. 7 Pope Francis (21-4-3) will face No. 2 BC High (18-4-1) on Sunday for all the marbles at TD Garden at a time still to be determined. The Eagles are 2-0-1 versus the Cardinals this season, including a 6-1 whitewashing in the tournament's opening round.

Shrewsbury Hockey Headed back to D3 Final after Topping Westfield

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

Springfield, Mass. - The Colonials of Shrewsbury (16-2-2) defeated the Bombers of Westfield (14-5-2), 2-1 at the Mass Mutual Center on Wednesday night, advancing to championship Sunday at the TD Garden in Boston for the second consecutive year.

The Colonials were led offensively by twin brothers Anthony and Liam Quinlivan. Each had beautiful snipes in the slot, tallying their 22nd and 28th goals this season, respectively. The Quinlivan brothers have also totaled 50 and 48 points respectively this season, carrying the load with fellow line mate Tyler Borys, who has 31.

Hanover Hockey will Play for a D3 State Championship after Route of Swampscott

By Jake Levin (@JakeLevin09)

Stoneham, Mass. - Continuing to raise the bar after an unbeaten regular season is no easy task, but the Hanover Indians keep finding a way.

Hanover (24-0-1) is headed back to the TD Garden for the third time in the last five seasons after pulling away from the Swampscott Big Blue on Wednesday night at Stoneham Arena for a 5-0 win in the Division 3 Eastern Mass final.

The victory sets the stage for a clash of the titans with the Shrewsbury Colonials on Sunday in the Division 3 State Championship, after the Colonials edged the Westfield Bombers, 2-1, in the Central/West final.

The Big Blue (13-6-6) held the Indians off the scoreboard for the entire first period thanks to 16 saves from netminder Dan Johnson. Swampscott continued to hold the highest-scoring team in the entire state at bay well into the second period, until Connor Morris finally broke the dam on the power play at 10:44 of the middle frame.

BC High Outlasts Hingham, Pushes Harbormen to Brink of Elimination

By Jake Levin (@JakeLevin09)

Lowell, Mass. - Thomas Kramer’s dormant status could only mean an explosion was brewing.

One of the top forward’s in the state, Kramer missed the net entirely on a penalty shot with just 3.2 seconds to go in the first period, and fanned on a one-timer opportunity in the middle of the second period. On each occasion, the No. 2 BC High Eagles were trailing the No. 4 Hingham Harbormen by a goal.

Kramer’s eruption in the third period came at a perfect time, knotting the game at two-apiece. It set the stage for two more Eagle goals in the final frame to dispatch the Harbormen, and advance BC High to the TD Garden for the first time since 2012 with a 4-2 win on Monday night at the Tsongas Center.

Pope Francis Lives to Fight Another Day, Eliminates St. John's Prep from Super 8

By John McGuirk (@Patsfan1313)

Lowell, Mass. - The premise to withstand the pressure-cooker environment of the Super 8 tournament is that you want to be playing your best hockey during the postseason.

Certainly, Pope Francis is doing that.

As they continue to scratch and claw their way from avoiding elimination, the seventh-seeded Cardinals will live to fight another day following their 5-1 dismantling of No. 3 St. John’s Prep Monday night at Tsongas Center.

The Eagles end their season at 15-5-4.

Shrewsbury Hockey tops Rival Algonquin to Defend D3 Central Crown

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

Fitchburg, Mass. - The Shrewsbury Colonials (16-2-2) defeated the Algonquin Tomahawks (11-4-5) 4-1 at Fitchburg State University on Sunday night to capture their second straight Division 3 Central title.

Coming into today’s matchup, all eyes were on Shrewsbury, to see how the reigning Division 3 state champions would bounce back from a late season loss to rival Algonquin. How would the Colonials play when it mattered most?

They have faced their struggles against the Tomahawks in the last few years, losing in a shootout two years ago and dropping a tough regular season matchup this season.

But the star power from the Colonials' top line of Tyler Borys, and brothers Anthony and Liam Quinlivan provided the spark they have all season and propelled Shrewsbury to the victory.

Plymouth South Hockey tops Medfield to Make First Ever State Championship Game

By Jake Levin (@JakeLevin09)

Buzzards Bay, Mass. - When a trip to any championship is on the line, play makers tend to make plays.

So it should be of little surprise that Sean Colbert, captain of the third-seededed Plymouth South Panthers, scored with just 2:02 left in regulation to give his team some breathing room over the No. 8 Medfield Warriors.

The goal for the senior, who’s racked up well north of 150 points in his career, amounted to the game-winner, as the Panthers punched their ticket to the TD Garden for the first time in program history with a 6-3 win in the Division 2 South final on Sunday.

Pope Francis Eliminates Top-Seeded Central Catholic from Super 8

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

North Chelmsford, Mass. - The game plan carried out by Pope Francis was set on stopping Central Catholic in its tracks. Twice during the regular season the Cardinals lacked strong defensive play, resulting in a pair of losses against the Raiders.

With an opportunity to redeem itself, Pope Francis did just that on a much bigger stage. Placing strong attention to detail inside the defensive and neutral zones, the Cardinals, playing on a smaller ice surface, were able to limit the top-seeded Raiders' scoring opportunities throughout the evening.

That, in turn, allowed Pope Francis to generate enough offense to take a 4-1 victory in a Super 8 elimination contest played Saturday night inside Chelmsford Forum.

In a true case of turnabout is fair play, this time it was the Cardinals sending Central Catholic home for the season after suffering a similar fate last year against the Raiders in this tournament.

Rockland Defeats Hopkinton to Earn Sectional Final Date with Hanover

By: Jake Levin (@JakeLevin09)

Buzzards Bay, Mass.—A border war between the Hanover Indians and Rockland Bulldogs is no longer brewing: it’s a reality.

After watching Hanover cruise to a 6-0 win over the Ashland Clockers in the first Division 3 South semifinal game at Gallo Arena on Friday, Rockland held up its part of the bargain by erasing deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 against the Hopkinton Hillers to survive and advance to the South final on Sunday with a 4-3 win.

“That was one heck of a hockey game,” Bulldogs head coach Mike Flaherty said after the game. 

PHOTO GALLERY: Hingham vs Central Catholic and BC High vs St. John's Prep in the Super 8

Photos by Eamon Convey (@ConveyWEEI)

It was a night of upsets in Lowell Monday, as a pair of Super 8 underdogs came away with big wins. First, Hingham stunned Central Catholic 1-0, then in the night cap, BC High nipped rival St. John's Prep, also by a 1-0 score.

Both the Harbormen and the Eagles advances to the semifinals of the two-loss elimination tournament, while CC and SJP now head to the loser's bracket, where the margin for error is zero.

Now, continue below for photos of both of last night's games, courtesy of our Eamon Convey. Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

BC High Nips St. John's Prep in Super 8

Photo by Eamon Convey

By Michael Abelson (@ABELS0N)

Lowell, Mass. - Come state tournament time, pretty doesn’t matter.

BC High took another step closer to getting to the Garden with a grinding, ugly, 1-0 win over St. John’s Prep at Tsongas Center in the second round of the Super 8 tournament.

BC High senior Joe Dragon scored the lone goal of the game 2:45 into the first, and from there it was all about missed opportunities by both sides, and some timely defense late by the victors.

Hingham Stuns Central Catholic in Super 8 Winner's Bracket

Photo by Eamon Convey

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

Lowell, Mass. - For a team that has had a difficult time putting pucks into the back of the net, Hingham has relied heavily on a systematic defensive approach in which it limits opponents from finding easy paths into the offensive zone. It is that style which has gotten the Harbormen a chance to win their second Super 8 title. With their forwards continuously skating back to assist the defensemen, Hingham, which won a Super 8 crown in 2010, has seen that formula work quite effectively all throughout this season.

Monday was no different.

Staking claim to an early lead, the Harbormen spent the rest of the evening frustrating Central Catholic with a solid mix of forechecking and backchecking. Refusing to allow the Raiders to gain any steam, Hingham made its one goal lead stand up and went on to blank Central Catholic, 1-0, inside the Tsongas Center in a winner's bracket showdown.

PHOTO GALLERY: Pope Francis vs Burlington in the Super 8

Photos by Eamon Convey (@ConveyWEEI)

North Billerica, Mass. -We've already got a full recap of Pope Francis' 3-2 Super 8 win over Burlington up, and you can read that here.

Now, scroll below for some images from the elimination game, courtesy of our Eamon Convey. Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

PHOTO GALLERY: Central Catholic vs St. John's (Shrewsbury) in Super 8 Action

Photos by Eamon Convey (@ConveyWEEI)

Our Mike Abelson already has a full recap of Central Catholic's big win over St. John's Thursday night, and you can check that out here.

But now, continue below for photos from the big game, snapped by our Eamon Convey. Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

Central Catholic blanks St. John's (Shrewsbury) in Super 8

Photo by Eamon Convey

By Mike Abelson (@ABELS0N)

Lowell, Mass. - A year after watching a state title disappear in overtime of the championship game, the Central Catholic Raiders stepped back into the Super 8 tournament and put the rest of the bracket on notice.

Central went wire-to-wire against an overmatched Saint John’s (Shrewsbury) team, and rolled to a 5-0 win at Tsongas Center.