FRAMINGHAM – The Winchester boys hockey workforce retains producing heroes, and Luke Sardone didn’t shrink back from his flip to put on the cape.
With 1:52 left in time beyond regulation of a Div. 1 state semifinal Saturday night time at Loring Arena, the sophomore punched the No. 11 Red and Black’s ticket to TD Garden by scoring the golden purpose of a 3-2 win over No. 18 Arlington Catholic.
The Cougars had marched again from a 2-0 first-period deficit to ultimately drive time beyond regulation. But Sardone – who assisted Danny Collins and David Strong on their golden objectives in Winchester’s two different time beyond regulation wins this event – paired with goalie Aiden Emerick (23 saves) to be sure that blown lead wouldn’t derail their season.
Winchester reaches the state last for the primary time since 2019 and can play the winner of Sunday night time’s No. 1 St. John’s Prep-No. 4 Xaverian semifinal on March 17 at TD Garden.
“This time being the one who scored, it’s the same feeling as assisting on the goal because you made the play, but it’s just so much better to get that feeling of the goal,” Sardone mentioned. “Actually winning in the Final Four and going to the Garden, not a lot of public schools have done that in the past five or so years. It’s an awesome feeling.”
Red and Black head coach Gino Khachadourian joked on March 2 he didn’t wish to should see who would take the following flip this postseason to ship the time beyond regulation game-winner. Sardone had his again.
Winchester staved off a number of scary moments, however Winchester solely allowed one shot on Emerick within the further time and Collins used his signature pace on the opposite finish to arrange a 2-on-1. His centering cross dropped Sardone to at least one knee to get his fingers behind it and ship an already raucous crowd right into a frenzy.
“He’s a guy who – overtime, we’ve been working on that – and he’s done a fine job at it, that’s for sure,” Khachadourian mentioned. “You can’t write it up. It’s like a story. I told them before this whole postseason thing started that we’re writing our own story here. Like a Netflix series that we’re going to keep winning and keep going. … It’s surreal. I knew that we had something special.”
Much of the gang’s power was amplified by a quick begin, because the Red and Black scored twice in lower than one minute for a 2-0 first-period lead. Collins adopted a blocked shot with the sport’s opening tally lower than seven minutes in, and Caiden Brady scored on a rebound shortly after.
Cougars goalie Patrick Clair (34 saves) stood on his head to maintain Winchester off the board by way of the tip of regulation, creating a possibility for a rally. Tyler Heldenbergh scored with two minutes left within the second to chop the deficit in half, and a pair of penalties on the finish of the body arrange a 5-on-3 energy play to begin the third. Winchester killed the primary, however Nico Tashjian wanted lower than a minute to tie issues up.
Back and forth the groups traded rushes, however neither workforce wavered within the clutch till the tip of time beyond regulation.
“They believed in themselves,” Khachadourian mentioned. “It’s huge for the town, for the community, for the public schools. It’s crazy.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com