Canton arrived at this game a year ago, only to fall short of the grand prize.
This time, the third-seeded Bulldogs got the job done.
Canton (22-4) rallied from an early deficit to beat No. 8 Hopkinton, 4-1, to win the Div. 2 boys hockey state championship. It was the third title in five years for the Hockomock League power.
“These guys put a lot of pressure on themselves,” Canton coach Brian Shulman said. “They come from a town where they’ve been in the stands watching some kids older than them on the ice, raising that trophy. That’s their dream.”
The Bulldogs posted four different goal scorers and were led by senior defenseman James Young with four assists and sophomore goalie Colin Davis with 16 saves. Despite the loss, Hopkinton senior goalie Jack Lang finished with a remarkable 29 saves.
“It feels amazing. Seeing everyone out there, we were not going to let what happened last year happen again,” said senior forward AJ Thomas on the euphoric win. “After they scored the first one, we were down a little but we weren’t going to let it go. We came together in the locker room, came out in the second and put it to them.”
Hopkinton (20-5) nabbed the early lead thanks to the opportunistic Pavit Mehra. The senior forward crashed the net following a Cam MacPherson shot and punched in the score past Davis just three minutes into the contest. The Hillers nearly found their second just minutes later on a Ryan Teitel breakaway but Davis parried his shot wide.
AJ Thomas had Canton’s best two chances of the period, the closest coming off a costly Hillers turnover in their own zone. The senior forward received the puck in front of net but sent his shot wide. Mehra had a chance to double the lead at the end of the period but this time was unable to dig out a rebound in front of net that Davis parried away.
“I was the first person overreacting on the bench when we were missing the net,” Shuman said. “But credit to the players, they stayed calm, cool and collected.”
Canton turned up the pressure in the second and nearly found their equalizer at the start. Colin Blake received the puck on the right wing and fired at shot at Lang who made an incredible glove save to preserve the lead. Hopkinton weathered the Canton storm and found a few chances in transition, first from MacPherson who rang the crossbar on a breakaway and later Mehra who forced a great kick save from Davis.
With the period winding down, Canton finally bested Lang. James Young sent a shot past the net which bounced around to Brendan Tourgee who punched it in for the equalizer. Seconds later, Brian Middleton fired a shot from the left wing through Lang’s legs to make it 2-1 with just 33 seconds left in the frame.
Down a goal, Hopkinton threw players forward in the third hoping to level the contest. Davis made two key stops on Joe Scardino and Mehra to keep the Bulldogs ahead. With three minutes left, Jeffrey Chaput alleviated the pressure with a goal. The senior forward crossed through the Hillers’ zone, received a tidy pass from an advancing AJ Thomas, and slotted a shot past Lang. Minutes later, Thomas finished the scoring with an empty netter as the Canton half of the Garden erupted.
