The MIAA high school hockey state championships are here.
Four boys games and two girls will play out at TD Garden as six state champions are crowned. Fourth-seeded Catholic Memorial will play No. 14 Saint John’s (Shrewsbury) in the Division 1 boys final at 1 p.m. Stick here for live updates from that game.
Action begins at 9 a.m. with Division 4 boys battle between No. 5 Winthrop and No. 6 Dedham. Milton and Medfield cap the day with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop in the Div. 2 girls game.
Our updates from Catholic Memorial-St. John’s will start approximately two hours before puck drop with some pre-game primer.
The Knights win the Div. 1 state crown.
Tommy Hurst scores with 21.3 seconds left, putting the Knights close to a title.
Senior forward Luke Long (Braintree) knots it up for CM on a shot that trickled out of the glove of St. John’s goaltender Colin McCarthy.
Caleb Keyes has given the Pioneers their first lead of the game.
No more scoring in the second period after that early flurry of three goals. CM outshot the Pioneers 10-4 in the second for a two-period edge of 25-13.
St. John’s ties it up on a power play as Ryder Bisson converts.
CM’s Cam Reed puts the Knights back in front at the 3:13 mark.
St. John’s Tyler Bergman ties it up on a rush at 1:34 of the second. We had CM with a 5-0 edge in shots this period before the goal.
CM sophomore forward Christian Hinckle (Milton) puts the Knights up on a tough-angle shot from the right wing that appeared to bank in off the leg of St. John’s goaltender Colin McCarthy with 1:50 left in the period.
Shots were 15-9 CM for the period.
Not a lot of great scoring chances so far for either team. Shots are 7-6 CM.
The Knights got one shot on an early power play but couldn’t make it count. Shots are 5-2 CM so far.
Hingham just closed out a 5-2 win over Bishop Stang in the girls Div. 1 state final as Caroline Doherty had a hat trick. Catholic Memorial and St. John’s (Shrewsbury) will take the ice next in the boys Div. 1 title game. CM holds MIAA boys hockey records for most appearances in a state final (22), most crowns (17) and most consecutive titles (six in a row from 1990 to 1995). That six-in-a-row run included the first five Super Eight titles; that tournament began in 1991.
Catholic Memorial isn’t in the Ledgerland’s readership area, but the Knights boast an impressive lineup of South Shore talent:
No. 4 soph. D Liam McKinney (Milton)
No. 10 sr. F Luke Long (Braintree)
No. 13 soph. F Jack McCourt (Milton)
No. 15 soph. F Mike Melvin (Marshfield)
No. 16 sr. F Lincoln Hennessy (Quincy)
No. 18 soph. F Christian Hinckle (Milton)
No. 19 soph. F Will Robinson (Milton)
No. 24 fr. D Nick Ware (Weymouth)
No. 34 sr. F Jack Greene (Quincy)
Also, coach Larry Rooney, who’s been in charge since the 2016-17 season, previously served as the Thayer Academy boys hockey coach (2002-10) and the Milton High athletic director (2013-15).
If this game goes to sudden-death OT, you’d have to think that would favor St. John’s (Shrewsbury). The Pioneers beat Winchester (quarterfinals) and Arlington (semis) in OT, both by 4-3 scores on goals by 6-3 senior forward Daniel Menyalkin. CM senior forward Luke Long (Braintree) had back-to-back OT winners vs. Pope Francis and Winchester to conclude the regular season.
Catholic Memorial won both regular-season matchups with St. John’s (Shrewsbury), by scores of 3-1 (Jan. 8) and 4-2 (Jan. 25). Senior forward Luke Long (Braintree) had a pair of goals in the first meeting and one goal in the second one. That second victory kick-started CM’s current 11-0-1 hot streak.
St. John’s (Shrewsbury) hasn’t fared well in previous state finals, going 2-9 — 2-6 in Div. 1 and 0-3 in Div. 2. The Pioneers’ last appearance on the big stage came in 2004, a 4-0 win over Framingham in the Div. 1 title game. The program’s only other crown came in 1999 — a 5-1 win over Springfield Cathedral.
This will be Catholic Memorial’s 22nd all-time appearance in a state final (Div. 1/Super 8) but the program’s first since losing 1-0 to Hingham in 2010. The Knights are 17-4 all-time in state finals, including 12-1 in Super 8 title games. Their last title came in 2009, courtesy of a 5-1 win over Burlington. CM played in nine straight Super 8 finals from 1998-2006, going 7-2. The Knights won five straight Super 8 crowns from 1991-95, four straight from 1998-2001 and three in a row from 2003-05.
No. 4 seed Catholic Memorial (18-6-1) faces No. 14 St. John’s-Shrewsbury (12-12) in the Div. 1 boys hockey final. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 p.m. from TD Garden and you can watch the game at the NFHS Network.
Catholic Memorial is the No. 4 seed in the Division 1 bracket with a record of 18-6-1 and playoff wins over No. 29 Wachusett Regional, No. 13 Arlington Catholic, No. 12 Archbishop Williams and No. 1 Pope Francis to get to today’s championship game.
As a No. 14 seed off an 8-12 regular season, St. John’s (Shrewsbury) has been on quite the playoff run. The Pioneers, who finished the regular season on a 1-9 slide, have knocked off No. 19 Burlington, No. 3 Hingham, No. 11 Winchester and No. 7 Arlington to get to the final.
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