In additional time, with the primary state championship in program historical past on the road, Norwell captain Timmy Ward grabbed the puck within the defensive zone. Seconds after it left his stick, the Clippers have been Division 4 champions.
The 75-point senior ahead went coast to coast and utilized his edges to fly previous the Sandwich defenders and fired the puck into the again of the online on a backhand deke to offer Norwell the 4–3 additional time victory on the TD Garden.
“You may call Timmy the best kid who has ever played in this program,” Norwell coach Jim Casagrande mentioned. “When I saw Timmy go, I thought, ‘this is it, this is it.’ ”
The Clippers got here out of the gate flying, outshooting the Blue Knights 13–5 within the opening body. Sandwich goaltender Mitchell Norkevicius made it troublesome on the top-seeded Clippers (25-1), however they did break by means of after Quinn Simmons scored a back-door objective to offer them a 1–0 lead.
“It felt amazing,” Simmons mentioned. “I was dreaming about putting in a goal last night.”
Early within the second interval, Nolan Petrocelli sniped a second Norwell objective, and it regarded just like the Clippers would run away with it. Instead, back-to-back objectives from Colin McIver and Jack Connolly equalized the rating for No. 2 Sandwich (19-5-1).
“We certainly weren’t going to quit,” Sandwich coach Jordan Mohre mentioned. “We generally wear teams down, so we get into our rhythm and try to get other teams out of their rhythm.”
With the rating tied, the Clippers have been decided to not enter the locker room and not using a lead, and that’s when Austin Shea dangled to the online and buried a objective within the ultimate minute of the interval.
After some backwards and forwards play for the primary jiffy of the ultimate body, Avery Richardson fired the puck into the again of the online and tied the rating at three. This would maintain till the additional time, the place Ward was in a position to work his magic.
“I think every kid in the world who plays hockey dreams about this,” Ward mentioned. “I can’t think of a better way to go out.”
The ultimate was a rematch of the 2022 state semifinal, which Sandwich received 3–2 in additional time. Norwell defeated Sandwich earlier within the season, and now finish their season with 25 wins, essentially the most of any group in MIAA hockey this season.
“I’ve been coaching 22 years in high school, and this is the first time I have made it here,” Casagrande mentioned. “These seniors and captains willed this to happen. They just weren’t going to let us lose and I am so proud of this group.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com