Hingham boys shut out Braintree
Set up showdown vs. No. 1 SJP
Heading into its Div. 1 state tournament second-round matchup Monday night, members of the Hingham boys hockey team remembered quite well what happened in an upset loss at the same stage last season.
It took nearly 20 minutes to finally pot one, but the eighth-seeded Harbormen (15-7-1) made sure that heartbreak wouldn’t happen again with a 3-0 win over No. 24 Braintree at Canton Ice House.
All three goals came within an eight-minute span in the second period, capped off by one from senior Paul Dzavik (goal, assist) after Wamps goalie Amir Cullinane (29 saves) had put on a clinic of robberies against him. Conal Mulkerrin’s goal opened the floodgates, but his was all the Hingham defense would need as it limited Braintree (9-12-1) to just nine shots on goal all game.
The Harbormen move on to play No. 1 St. John’s Prep in the Div. 1 state quarterfinals Thursday at Stoneham Arena (7:30 p.m.).
“Last year was a little bit of a disappointment,” said Hingham head coach Tony Messina. “This year, we really had no goals, but we’ve been building all year long. … It’s just win and move on. In the tournament, there’s no style points. You just somehow get it done.”
“It’s been a thing that we’ve been talking about before games, just how we all felt,” Dzavik added. “(Scoring three quick goals) is unreal, we had a lot of people here today. That was probably the most I’ve been excited to play a game in my career. It was absolutely awesome today.”
Braintree held off a surge out of the gates from the Harbormen to keep the game scoreless through the first period. Dzavik had a few Grade-A bids on Cullinane as Hingham generated plenty of chances, but Cullinane played stellar in the frame (13 saves) and the Wamps traded opportunities with six shots of their own.
Braintree’s two shots on Mike Karo (nine-save shutout) in the first minute of the second was all they’d get in the next period, though, and Hingham finally broke through when Mulkerrin finished off a frenzy 4:30 into the frame off a Dzavik assist.
“We’ve had trouble getting that first one for the whole season, so we’ve really tried to get to get shots in the soft spots of the offensive zone,” Dzavik said. “I think Conal getting that first one really just gave us that extra boost of confidence and energy, that we were just able to go out there and get two more.”
New energy pumped onto the ice, with Hingham hemming Braintree into its zone en route to a 17-shot second. Cam McKenna scored on a power play about four minutes after Mulkerrin’s goal, and Dzavik needed just three minutes to light the lamp on seemingly his sixth or seventh shot on goal.
“I think I should’ve had like a hat trick today,” he joked. “Good team win, it’s all good. I am happy I got that one, though.”
Defense only tightened up from there for Hingham, allowing only one shot on goal in the third to stymie any comeback bid. The Harbormen only produced two shots of their own in the frame, but it wouldn’t need another goal in order to advance.
“You play with a little more confidence when (you score three quick goals),” Messina said. “We were going to stay with the same thing in the third period, we talked about that. Just need to be aggressive but be smart on the back-check. All night long we had a guy coming back on the backcheck, it makes our defense better — we can stand up and keep them from even penetrating the zone. So, it was good.”