SB rallies around grieving coach
Somerset Berkley hockey coach Kevin Snyder stood on the blue line wearing a navy blue team jacket, an olive scally cap on his head, and his emotions on his sleeve.
Freshman Gabriel Gonsalves was first to give Snyder a hug. Then it was sophomore Cam McKenna. Next was freshman Lucas Machado. Sophomore Gavin Rodriques followed suit. The hugs continued into the hallway from each player.
After Snyder’s father, George, died Thursday morning at age 95, the 12th-seeded Blue Raiders rallied around their grieving coach with a 3-0 victory over No. 20 West Springfield in the Division 3 quarterfinals at Loring Arena in Framingham.
The Raiders (18-2-2) will face No. 1 Nauset on Sunday at a time and place to be determined.
George Snyder was among the inductees in the Somerset Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. A 1948 graduate of Somerset High, and a three-sport athlete, he captained and quarterbacked an undefeated football team, and won a basketball championship, before being drafted by the New York Yankees.
The entire Raiders team sported pins with a black piece of cloth in honor of their coach’s father, a visible symbol on their white and navy blue uniforms.
“They came out and played for my dad today — guaranteed,” said a visibly emotional Snyder. “That’s what family’s all about.”
Senior goaltender Brandon Silva recorded a 39-save shutout, setting the program’s all-time wins record with 55.
Junior Nate Melo netted the game-winner and senior captain Kevin Stafford tallied twice — a snipe with a minute and 24 seconds remaining and the empty-netter to put it away.
“We had to do this for us, for the love of the game, and for Kevin’s dad,” said Stafford.
Nauset 4, Pembroke 1 — Juniors Colin Ward, Andrew Bohannon and Logan Poulin scored goals within the first 3:03 of the game to help the top-seeded Warriors establish a dominant early lead en route to a quarterfinal victory over eighth-seeded Pembroke at Gallo Ice Arena in Bourne.
“The term explosive was what we used for this game,” said Nauset coach Connor Brickley. “We have not shown our true potential with our offensive prowess in the first two games of the playoffs, so it was great that these guys started on time.”
Division 1 State
St. John’s Prep 3, Hingham 0 — Mason Luciano capitalized on some puck luck to score a goal just 2:06 into regulation that stood as the winner for the eighth-seeded Eagles (20-3) in a quarterfinal triumph over the eighth-seeded Harbormen (15-8-2) at Stoneham Arena to advance to their third straight semifinal appearance.
“I couldn’t have done it without my wingers,” Luciano said. “It was a fortunate bounce for me and I just tapped it in.”
St. John’s didn’t score again until late in the third period on Johnny Tighe’s empty-netter with 1:15 remaining and a bonus strike from Jake Vana, which proved to be more than enough for netminder AJ Farese (21 saves).
Xaverian 5, Franklin 1 — Sophomore Ryan Bello triggered a rapid response of three first-period goals when he scored 13 seconds into the Hawks’ quarterfinal victory at Loring Arena in Framingham. Fourthseeded Xaverian (18-4-1) qualified for its third consecutive semifinals appearance and will play its Catholic Conference rival, top-seeded St. John’s Prep, on Sunday at a time and place to be determined.
“We’ve been wanting to have a fast start,” said Xaverian coach Dave Spinale.
Division 2 State
Duxbury 3, Masconomet 1 — Senior captain Brady Walsh scored twice and senior Cormac Weiler provided the winner late in the second for the Dragons. Senior goalie Anthony Rabeni (20 saves) was sharp after allowing an early goal to Masconomet sophomore Miles Mireault with 11:44 left in the first.
The 10th-seeded Dragons (138-4) outlasted the No. 15 Chieftains (15-8) at Stoneham Arena to book their third consecutive trip to the semifinals, against No. 11 Boston Latin Sunday (time, venue TBD).
Boston Latin 6, Concord-Carlisle 2
— In what proved to be a decisive flurry, the 11th-seeded Wolfpack (15-8-0) put up three goals in 71 seconds midway through the opening period in a quarterfinal victory over the third-seeded Patriots (185-0) at O’Brien Rink in Woburn.
Senior captain Matt Carrara opened the scoring, added a power play tally with 10.6 seconds left in the first period, and later completed the hat trick with an empty-netter in the third.
After splitting its two regularseason Merrimack Valley/Dual County Division II matchups vs. Concord-Carlisle, Boston Latin halted all opposing momentum with its strong start.
“We came out fast, it’s a good team,” Carrara said. “We emphasize staying on them, not slowing down. We had to keep playing our game, stick to the game plan, and we did that.”
Division 4 State
Hanover 2, Norwell 1 — Senior Mehki Bryan set up sophomore Henry Phillips for the first goal, then buried a loose puck on the power play to give the sixth-seeded Hawks (149-0) a 2-0 first-period lead in their quarterfinal win at O’Brien Rink in Woburn.
“It was awesome,” Bryan said. “I couldn’t have done it with any other people, these are my boys.”
It was the 199th win for coach Jonathan Abban and assistant Jeff Ray in 13 years together at the helm. The Hawks will play in their sixth semifinal Sunday against No. 10 Stoneham.