BOSTON – After falling behind 1-0 in the opening period, Dover-Sherborn/Weston knew it needed to pick it up in order to stand a chance against Hanover in the Div. 4 boys hockey state championship.
The Raiders would respond by scoring five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 victory that secured the co-op program its first state title. Head coach Alex Marlow said that the dominant response describes how much this team wanted to win.
“It’s all them,” Marlow said. “They did everything, they bought into everything we did. They come ready to work and they are fun. We consider all of us as friends.
The Hawks came out hot, peppering Raiders goalie Andrew Goldstein with high quality chances from the jump. This would pay off when senior Cam Scott received a pass from Joe Galvin and fired a blast into the top corner to give Hanover a 1-0 lead.
Goldstein was not happy about this goal, as the dominant senior felt like he could have made the save.
“It was a bit of a soft goal I let in,” Goldstein said. “My brothers had my back today. I’m so proud of them and proud of what they did. We always have each other’s backs.”
The Raiders had a quick response in the middle period, generating some solid chances early. This resulted in a great passing play between Brayden McKenna, Cole McEwan and Max Niit that saw Niit bury a one-time shot into the back of the net, tying the score.
The Raiders kept it moving for the remainder of the period and took a lead for the first time late in the period when Hunter Hourihan benefited from an awkward bounce out front and buried a goal.
“I was just trying to get a shot on net,” Hourihan said. “I just saw it fall off the goalies head and go in.”
Sixteen seconds later, Christos Rogaris picked up a rebound from an Andrew Cahill shot to build a multi-goal lead.
The Raiders picked up right where it left off in the final period, with Niit and Max Patenaude scoring in quick succession to increase the lead to 5-1. This would be the extent of the scoring as the Raiders earned the coveted championship.
“It’s so special,” Raiders captain Sawyer Garzone said. “It’s a four-year process. We did pretty well but nothing like this. Now, to come through To make it all the way here is awesome.”
Goldstein said the victory in his final game for the Raiders fulfilled a childhood dream.
“You dream about this as a little kid,” Goldstein said. “I’ve dreamed about this these last four years. There’s not much else to be said. It’s everything.”