Top seed Winthrop ends Ashland boys hockey's Cinderella run in Division 4 quarterfinals
STONEHAM - The clock struck midnight on Ashland's Cinderella run in the Division 4 boys hockey tournament 53 seconds into the quarterfinals.
No. 1 Winthrop won the opening faceoff, and senior captain Petey Silverman charged to the front of the net for the opening goal. He finished with a hat trick in two periods, and the Vikings sailed to a 7-0 victory and the teams' first Final Four berth since 1976, when it also won the state title. Winthrop (18-3-2) will face No. 5 Dover-Sherborn (19-4) in the state semifinals on Saturday at a time and place to be determined. The Raiders took out No. 4 Sandwich in the first game of the doubleheader.
Silverman added a second goal with 3:05 left in the first period. He also added three assists. Winthrop's Phil Boncore contributed four assists and two goals, while Michael Holgersen found the net twice. The Vikings poured in five goals in the second period.
"All year we have struggled with consistency, which is common for high school. We forgot how to defend the defensive zone, and every single one of those except for maybe one or two were just defensive zone breakdowns," Ashland coach Paul Cadenhead said. "Winthrop is a really well-coached team. They're a talented group. They played a great neutral zone trop on us. But we forgot to cover guys in the defensive zone. They got loose, and they burned us. That's what good teams do."
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The reality of the situation and the finality of the end of the season set in before the final horn sounded during the third period with the running clock.
"Kids were sad. Hockey careers were coming to an end. It's always a sad time," Cadenhead said. "There was still that resiliency there, even in the third period."
Ashland was the highest remaining seed in any boys hockey tournament. The Clockers upset No. 9 Medway and No. 8 Martha's Vineyard to reach the quarterfinals for just the third time in program history.
"I hope they can hang their head on that, and I hope that they take that going forward that we're going to continue to build and get better," Cadenhead said. "I hope we're back next year."
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There won't be a next year for Ashland's 10 seniors.
"They're the heart and soul of this team. How this team goes is how they go," Cadenhead said. "Their leadership and their grit, I'm going to miss that the most."
It will be up for the returning players to carry on what they started.
"I hope they remember what this feels like so they can hang on to that feeling and use it to motivate hem through the rest of next year. Getting your butt kicked like this stinks," Cadenhead said. "I can't imagne anyone from my bench feels good about what happened. But it happens. It's all about picking yourself back up and getting back to work. I home we can remember that and come back stronger with some revenge."
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Ashland boys hockey's Division 4 state tournament run ends in Elite 8
