Hendricken boys hockey skates to state championship three-peat with perfect third period
PROVIDENCE — Colin Murray was forced to watch from afar last winter.
His Hendricken boys hockey team captured its second straight championship as the goalie was sidelined with an illness. But he returned this winter, and, in the playoffs, the junior was lights out.
Paced by its netminder, No. 2 Hendricken (17-1) earned its third straight state title and 10th overall, with a 6-2 decision over fourth-seeded Burrillville on Sunday night at Schneider Arena.
Hendricken, leading just 3-2 after the second period, scored three goals in the final frame, highlighted by Griffin Crain’s wrister from the right circle, to down Burrillville. The Broncos reached the state title game for the first time since 1975-76.
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“It felt amazing,” said Murray, who allowed just six goals in the playoffs and is a Burrillville transfer. “It's a stressful game when it's that close coming down to the end and then the boys just find a way to keep putting them in the back of the net. I’m proud of them. They really brought it together for us at the end.”
Crain, who put Hendricken ahead, 2-1, with 2.4 seconds left in the first period with a power-play goal from the point, was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player. The senior finished with a pair of goals and assists, including the helper on Jack LaRose’s opening goal.
“We killed some time at the end there and I knew it,” Crain said. “We were on the bench after going up by four, and it was a pretty great feeling. And then getting on the ice to finish it off was awesome.”
After Crain put Hendricken up, 4-2, on the wrister with 9:06 left, Colton Simas collected a Burrillville (14-7) turnover and buried a shot for a three-goal lead. Kolby Kanelos then capped the scoring in the frame and the championship with a breakaway goal with 2:50 left.
“We're starting to work under pressure — we love it,” Murray said of finishing the three-peat. “We practice pressure situations all practice; we just can't get away from it. You’ve got to come up and you have to shine in the opportunity.”
Hendricken suffered its only in-state loss this season to Prout in mid-January before finishing off the schedule with four shutout wins. That defense shined as the Hawks limited Burrillville to just five shots in the second and third periods.
“It seems like every year we lose [a regular-season game], and our motto is, ‘It's not where you start, it's where you finish,’” Hendricken coach Michael Soscia said. “And you learn a lot from that. You can't just come into the game and expect to win, you have to earn it.”
Murray said of the mid-season loss: “Last year was Warwick; this year was Prout and that just gave us a kick on our butts just to keep going.”
Burrillville killed a 5-on-3 in the first period, and, still down a skater in the sequence, scored a short-handed goal by Steve Rodrigues. Patrick Poisson pressured the attack on the rush and drilled a shot on net. Rodrigues pounced on the rebound with 4:27 left.
Hendricken, still on the power play, scored as LaRose answered from the left side less than a minute later. The Broncos got within a one-goal deficit as Patrick Murphy backhanded in a shot from the low slot with 12:34 left in the second period.
Before Murphy score, Hendricken’s Aiden Craft gave the Hawks a two-goal advantage on a 2-on-0 break with James Carrera.
“You can't give them any sort of life because they're just a team that is relentless,” Soscia said of Burrillville. “They just kept on coming so we just kept to our game plan and tried to keep them working down low until the puck fell our way.”
The triumph is the first state championship three-peat for Hendricken. The Hawks won back-to-back twice previously (2005-07 and 2015-17).
“They've been working hard and they deserve every bit of success that they've had,” Soscia said.
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Hendricken hockey skates to state championship three-peat
