BOURNE — Boston Latin sophomore Oliver Murphy racked up 30 saves en route to a whole sport shutout, whereas senior captain Robert Banks registered the clinching objectives as No. 11 Boston Latin continued its Div. 2 Cinderella run with a 2-0 win over No. 10 Duxbury within the boys hockey Final Four.
“(Murphy) was clearly the difference in the game,” mentioned Boston Latin coach Frank Woods. “I thought (Duxbury) really carried the game, particularly in the first period. We had a hard time coming out of our zone, managing the puck. We were able to withstand that… I thought we played a pretty solid third, but he was excellent tonight.”
The Wolfpack (16-8-0) had been taking part in with grit all season, however have been met with adversity within the sport’s early levels as Duxbury (13-9-4) got here storming out of the gate. The Dragons peppered the online all through the opening interval, trying to clear up Murphy’s puzzle, a development that may carry properly into the second.
Yet, regardless of surrendering point-blank possibilities, Boston Latin was nonetheless locked in a scoreless impasse because the third interval acquired underway.
After attempting to create offensive possession all through the competition, the Wolfpack have been lastly capable of break the tie with 4:31 left in regulation, as Banks uncorked a shot from simply contained in the blue line. The puck skipped by a crowd, discovering its goal as Boston Latin took a 1-0 benefit.
“I was just staying focused all game,” mentioned Murphy. “I knew we had to have a really good game to beat that team, a really good Duxbury team. They stayed on me the whole game, and I knew that we had to get a dirty goal, and we got that dirty goal in the third period. I stayed focused, and I played my game.”
After Duxbury pulled goaltender Anthony Rabeni for the additional skater, Banks acquired tousled with a ahead and determined to thrust the puck up ice with 1:09 to play. It slid previous a sequence of diving skaters, and gently into the vacant internet on the other finish to clinch the win.
“In those end game moments, it’s kind of a flurry,” chuckled Banks. “You just try to throw everything down ice that you can. I’ll say I aimed it, but there might have been a little luck in there.”
The Div. 2 championship look is the primary for Boston Latin since 2005, when the varsity captured its final state title. Oddly sufficient, that was Woods’ first season teaching with the Wolfpack.
“I don’t think too many people expected us to get there,” Woods mentioned. “But we play a really challenging schedule. The way we think about it is that we play everyone during the regular season. We played Duxbury, we played Tewksbury twice, we played Concord-Carlisle twice. We go out and play a competitive nonleague schedule so that when you get an opportunity to get in the tournament, you have a chance to win those games. We just happened to win four in a row. We feel like we can compete.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com