Essex boys hockey reigns, claims 18th overall state title

The Essex High School boys hockey team returned to Gutterson Fieldhouse as champions.

Short nine seniors to graduation, the Hornets overhauled the defense: Play behind Ian Boutin, their all-state goalie.

And Essex left Gutterson Fieldhouse, following Boutin’s play, the kings of boys hockey once again.

“It could have gone either way, on any given day, and we just had to be comfortable playing in uncomfortable situations,” Essex coach Chris Line said. “I think that was a prime example.”

Boutin, who didn’t start in last year’s championship game, denied 15 shots to secure a shutout against No. 1 Rice (13-5-3) as second-seeded Essex (15-4-1) captured the second of back-to-back titles against the Green Knights 2-0 on Wednesday night.

“To go through the adversity he went through last year and then to be able to get back to this point. And for him to shut the door. I can't be more proud of a kid,” Line said. “We had a lot of depth, I didn't know what kind of top-end skill we'd have, but I knew we had Ian in the back of the net.”

With scoring chances limited against two of the state’s premier goalies, Essex gained a power play advantage with 7:37 remaining when Rice was called for a cross-check, just the fourth penalty of the contest.

“Honestly, we're a third period team throughout the year,” Line said. “We've tended to rise to the occasion.”

Gavin Blondin soared to the championship opportunity. As the puck rotated to the forward just inside the blue line, Blondin uncorked a one-timer a few seconds into the power play.

“I got the puck and the top guy was off me on the PK, I saw the lane so I just ripped it and went post in,” Blondin said.

Boutin and the Essex defense, which had 13 blocked shots, were prepared for Rice’s response.

“I was just worried about finishing the game,” Boutin said. “I knew they were going to come out hard after that goal. I knew we had some work that still had to be done, so just ready for the next few minutes.”

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Boutin seized his chance at Gutterson three minutes later when Rice countered with Matthew Senesac’s shot. Boutin saw through the clutter on the crease with a pad save, the rebound spilled to Brendan Patterson and the return went just inches wide of the right post.

“I was worried for a second, but once I realized it was going wide I just had to get ready for the next one,” Boutin said.

This was the third meeting between Essex (four titles in six years) and Rice at Gutterson since 2019. The Hornets, who won their 18th overall title, earned triumphs in each finals matchup vs. the Green Knights.

“They score on that power play and that’s the difference,” Rice coach Jerry Tarrant said. “We've had good battles with Essex the last few years. This was another one. It's just, we can't seem to win the big one when it counts and that’s disappointing, I feel really bad for our seniors and all the guys.

“We had a lot of puck possession time in their zone and just a couple of deflections that went wide opposed to in, but didn't get the puck luck.”

Essex sealed the win on Brendan DuBray’s open-net goal with about a minute remaining. DuBray collected the puck in Rice’s attacking zone, pushed it ahead and beat the Green Knights in space for the score.

Rice goalie Andrew Libby made 20 saves. Essex held a 24-23 advantage in faceoffs. Rice had 13 penalty minutes to Essex's four.

“We were fortunate that DuBray was able to kind of outrace and get that second clincher for us, because it wasn't over,” Line said.

Essex trails BFA-St. Albans (20) for most championships in the state.

“The two best teams in the state, two best goalies in the state, it goes into the third 0-0,” Line said. “It could have gone either way.”

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Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont H.S. hockey: Essex boys hockey reigns, claims 18th title