Elite Eight ready: Hingham hockey topples Braintree to avenge last year's 'disappointment'
CANTON – Tony Messina's pre-game message to the Hingham High boys hockey team was succinct, but it lit a fire.
“Play urgent. Play desperate. Have no regrets when the game’s over," the head coach of 16 years said.
No stranger to the Division 1 Sweet 16, the Harbormen's appearance last year didn't go so well. A 4-0 upset loss to No. 14 Reading Memorial was a traumatic end of the road for the No. 3 seed. As Messina described, "Last year was a little bit of a disappointment."
"We had beaten Reading earlier in the year and then we came in and, I wasn’t taking them lightly, but maybe some of the players may have been. (Reading) played great and took it away from us. I said, ‘Don't let that happen this year.”
A chance to avenge Sweet 16 nightmares of yesteryear, No. 8 Hingham poured a three-goal avalanche on No. 24 Braintree in the second period at Canton Ice House on Monday to salvage a 3-0 victory and advance to the Division 1 Elite Eight. Next, the Harbormen face top-seeded St. John's Prep (19-3) at Stoneham Arena on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Rumor has it Monday's game against Braintree sold out days in advance. A capacity crowd arrived eager to see if Braintree (9-12-1), which entered play fresh off a 3-2 overtime upset win over No. 9 Westford Academy, would play spoiler again.
The answer was clear within Hingham (15-7-2) circles. Not another heartbreaker.
“That was probably the most excited I’ve been to play a game in my career,” said senior Paul Dzavik, who registered one goal and one assist in the win. “We were all sitting in our seats, shaking, waiting to go on. Our energy is through the roof right now.”
Sophomore winger Conal Mulkerrin (7 goals, 11 assists) struck first inside the 11-minute mark of the second period to spark the rally. Four minutes later, sophomore Cam McKenna (14 goals, 6 assists) tallied another.
“We’ve had trouble getting that first one the whole season," Dzavik said. "We’ve really tried to get shots in the soft spots of the offensive zone. I think Conal getting that first one really gave us that extra boost of confidence and energy that we were able to get two more.”
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Only three minutes passed as a determined Dzavik (18 goals, 10 assists) piled the third after firing a series of saved shots at Braintree goaltender Amir Cullinane. Hingham, unofficially, held a 30-6 differential in shots.
“I think I should’ve had a hat trick today, but I won’t get those (opportunities) back," he said. "Good team win. It’s all good. I am happy I got that one (goal), though.”
"I know he’s going to keep shooting," Messina, smiling, said of Dzavik.
“Somehow it takes us a little longer than most teams to score a goal but I’m just happy we got the first goal, got a little momentum and, obviously, got the second and third," the coach added.
Monday marked Hingham's season sweep of Braintree, as the Harbormen went 2-0-1 and outscored the Wamps, 9-4, in three meetings. The teams tied, 2-2, at Zapustas Ice Arena in Randolph on Dec. 27 and Hingham won, 4-2, at Canton Ice House on Feb. 11.
Hingham's focus now tilts to St. John's Prep. The Harbormen won the only regular-season first meeting, 3-2, on the road at Essex Sports Center in the second game of the campaign on Dec. 16. SJP rattled off 12 straight victories after that one to earn the top spot in the state-wide bracket for a third straight year.
“It’s going to be a tough one. They’re a fast team," Messina said of the matchup. We beat them in our second game of the season this year, but that just means they’re going to be coming at us much harder than they normally would. We’ll be ready.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hingham boys hockey defeats Braintree, avenges tournament nightmare
