Ward’s OT goal lifts Norwell to title
In overtime, with the first state championship in program history on the line, Norwell captain Timmy Ward grabbed the puck in the defensive zone. Seconds after it left his stick, the Clippers were Division 4 champions.
The 75-point senior forward went coast to coast and utilized his edges to fly past the Sandwich defenders and fired the puck into the back of the net on a backhand deke to give Norwell the 4—3 overtime victory at the TD Garden.
“You may call Timmy the best kid who has ever played in this program,” Norwell coach Jim Casagrande said. “When I saw Timmy go, I thought, ‘this is it, this is it.’ “
The Clippers came out of the gate flying, outshooting the Blue Knights 13—5 in the opening frame. Sandwich goaltender Mitchell Norkevicius made it difficult on the top-seeded Clippers (25-1), but they did break through after Quinn Simmons scored a backdoor goal to give them a 1—0 lead.
“It felt amazing,” Simmons said. “I was dreaming about putting in a goal last night.”
Early in the second period, Nolan Petrocelli sniped a second Norwell goal, and it looked like the Clippers would run away with it. Instead, back-toback goals from Colin McIver
and Jack Connolly equalized the score for No. 2 Sandwich (19-5-1).
“We certainly weren’t going to quit,” Sandwich coach Jordan Mohre said. “We generally wear teams down, so we get into our rhythm and try to get other teams out of their rhythm.”
With the score tied, the Clippers were determined to not enter the locker room without a lead, and that is when Austin Shea dangled to the net and buried a goal in the final minute of the period.
After some back and forth play for the first few minutes of the final frame, Avery Richardson fired the puck into the back of the net and tied the score at three. This would hold until the overtime, where Ward was able to work his magic.
“I think every kid in the world who plays hockey dreams about this,” Ward said. “I can’t think of a better way to go out.”
The final was a rematch of the 2022 state semifinal, which Sandwich won 3—2 in overtime. Norwell defeated Sandwich earlier in the season, and now end their season with 25 wins, the most of any team 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 said. “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.”