DiMartino plays the hero as Braintree boys hockey edges Weymouth in Div. 1 playoff opener
RANDOLPH -- Charlie DiMartino said the ending to Wednesday night's MIAA Division 1 boys hockey battle was "terrible."
He just had a bad vantage point.
The penalty box.
DiMartino, Braintree High's senior forward, spent the final 1:23 squirming in agony as his team tried to kill off his late high-sticking infraction that eventually led to a 6-on-4 when Weymouth pulled goalie Grady Salfity for the extra skater.
If DiMartino was part of the problem over those final 83 seconds, that's OK. In the big picture he was the solution.
More:Back in business: Weymouth girls, boys basketball win in long-awaited return to playoffs
His goal, a back-door redirect with 3:51 left, stood up as the late winner as the 11th-seeded Wamps won yet another down-to-the-wire Bay State Conference battle with No. 22 Weymouth, this time in the Round of 32. The 1-0 victory sends Braintree (13-6-2) on the Sweet 16 against the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 6 Arlington (14-5-2) and No. 27 Westford Academy (9-9-2).
This was the third Braintree-Weymouth game this winter. The Wamps won the first one, 3-2, in overtime on Jan. 11, and the Wildcats rallied late to earn a 2-2 tie in the rematch here a month later. True to form, this one came right down to the end before Braintree finally got the break it needed.
The winning sequence started with some sustained Weymouth pressure in the offensive zone. Braintree eventually got a clear and then caught a break as the Wildcats (12-9-2) turned the puck over at their own blue line. Senior co-captain Nick Fasano pounced on the loose puck at the right point and swept it over to defenseman Jake Joyce at the left point. Joyce walked in to the top of the left-wing circle and spotted DiMartino uncovering at the back post. DiMartino received the pass and swept it past Salfity all in one motion, sparking a wild celebration.
More:Archbishop Williams 'couldn't have drawn it up any better' in D1 playoff win over L-S
"They left the back door wide open," DiMartino said. "I was screaming for it, but they could barely hear me because the place was freaking going nuts."
Yeah, about that ...
"It was like playing a playoff game at TD Garden," Braintree senior goalie Ryan Cochrane said. "It was like being on the Bruins. It was that loud in here."
A crowd of around 1,000 filled the stands to the brim. Fans also squeezed into every available inch of standing room around the boards with some perched on the benches outside the locker rooms to try to get a better view.
"A rivalry game in our own barn," DiMartino said of the charged atmosphere. "There's nothing like it. It's awesome."
"That's what high school sports is all about -- two public schools really battling hard in front of a sold-out crowd here," said Braintree coach Dave Fasano (Nick's dad). "Good stuff."
Backup plan's a winner
While DiMartino was the star in this one, Cochrane also deserves a big salute. A three-year JV player, he started his first varsity season as a reserve but was pressed into service when all-league goalie Jack Fitzgerald was felled by a hamstring problem early in the season. Cochrane has grabbed the job by the proverbial throat, helping Braintree finish the regular season on a 5-0-1 hot streak.
Now he's got an 18-save playoff shutout to his credit.
"He's stepped up," DiMartino said of his classmate. "He put in all the hard work in practice. He put in all the hard work in the offseason, too. He didn't expect this chance, but he was ready for it and came in and did the job."
"Amir (Cullinane), the sophomore, has played three or four games also, so they've done a nice job," Dave Fasano noted. "We've called upon Cochrane the past few games and he's (performed). If we keep it to two goals (against) with him, we have a chance."
More:Ryan Cochrane steps as Braintree High boys hockey plays Hingham to a tie
Cochrane credited his coaches and teammates, including Fitzgerald, for helping him adjust to the big stage.
"I started from basically third string to working my way up to being first string," he said. "It's awesome. I couldn't dream of it any better. Game by game I get a little more confident just getting more games, more saves under my belt."
Did three seasons on JV help prepare him for this moment?
"Nothing prepares you for this," he said with a smile. "Nothing prepares you for getting thrown (into the lineup) in the middle of the season."
Wildcats' momentum finally slowed
Weymouth has been one of the hockey better stories on the South Shore this winter. The Wildcats were 1-6-1 after the OT loss to Braintree, but they staged a dramatic turnaround, going 11-2-1 the rest of the way to earn a No. 22 seed in a field of 33.
"It sounds so silly and cliched, but we just went game to game," coach Pat Kennedy said. "We got to the point where we couldn't look past anybody. They just stayed focused. The captains (Andrew Ferguson, Ryan Kane and Ryan Gaudiano) and the seniors really led them to success. The captains and seniors took over. Whether they're playing half the game or playing one shift or not playing at all, everybody was on (the same wavelength) and going in the same direction. They got all the underclassmen doing the same thing, and everybody started to believe -- shift to shift, period to period, game to game."
The end came suddenly in the playoffs, but it was a much better exit than last year, when Weymouth was trounced, 7-2, by King Philip in a play-in game.
"We came out maybe a little too excited," Kennedy said. "We played a little sloppy early but then we settled in. The back half of the first period was pretty good and then the second period was pretty good. Then (Braintree) came out in the third period and really put it in a different gear. We definitely wanted to make the third time (playing Braintree) a charm, but it didn't work out."
Still, much progress was made.
"We had a major culture change in a positive direction," Kennedy said. "The younger kids saw what leaders look like. Even when we went down a goal there was no negative energy. These captains and senior leaders are leaving the program in a better place than it was when they found it. And that's what we want."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Braintree boys hockey eliminates Weymouth, 1-0, in Div. 1 opener
