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BOSTON -- Wake up the echoes, to borrow the Notre Dame phrase. Catholic Memorial is back on top.
The state's most decorated boys hockey program claimed another state crown Sunday at TD Garden, rallying from a late deficit to deny upset-minded St. John's (Shrewsbury), 4-3, in the Division 1 state final. Braintree's Luke Long knotted the score at 3-3 with 4:15 left, and fellow senior forward Tommy Hurst, who hails from Hyde Park, netted the winner with 21.3 seconds left for the fourth-seeded Knights (19-6-1).
It's CM's 18th state title all-time (Malden Catholic is a distant second with eight crowns), but this was the Knights' first since 2009, when they beat Burlington, 5-1, in the title game. CM hadn't even gotten to a state final since 2010, when the Knights fell, 1-0, to Hingham on a goal by Tim Driscoll.
The wait -- for the big stage and for a celebration befitting it -- is finally over.
"I put my heart and soul into this," said CM coach Larry Rooney, whose roster featured nine South Shore players. "I work at CM. Two of my boys went to CM. We've had our disappointing games where we believed we were one of the top teams in the state (and didn't come home with the trophy). To win a game like this means a lot to me."
More: Mission compete: Hingham girls hockey wins Div. 1 state championship
Rooney's previous gigs included being the boys hockey coach at Thayer Academy (2002-10) and serving as the athletic director at Milton High (2013-15). This is his 10th season behind the CM bench and now he gets to add to the program's rich legacy.
"I work in the admissions (department) at CM and I give tours to families, and one of the main spots (we show them) is the gymnasium. We walk into the gym and turn around and look up at those banners," Rooney said. "They see all the success that we had in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s. Every time I do that with a new perspective family, hockey or non-hockey, they're blown away with the success of this hockey program in the past. I know it's been a long time (since we won), so our boys and our team this year have really got our hockey program back on the map."
More: Biggest shot in school history: Norwell boys basketball captures first-ever title
That's music to the ears of the current Knights, who are too young to remember CM's glory days. The Knights, for example, won six consecutive state crowns from 1990-95, four straight from 1998-2001 and three in a row from 2003-05. Their first three titles also came in a row, from 1986-88.
[IMG alt="CM wins in the last minute of the game over St. John's, 4-3
Catholic Memorial and St. John's face off in the MIAA Division 1 final at TD Garden Sunday, March 16, 2025"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/dc59eb3c83acd83399e6eb94653b32a0[/IMG]
"It's surreal," Long said of winning it all. "I'm still in shock. ... CM's always been the school to go to with their history. It feels great to finally get them back here."
"It's definitely the best feeling in the world," said Hurst. "I don't think anything else has compared to it so far in my life, that's for sure."
Hurst was an unlikely hero in the sense that he's a first-year varsity player who labored away on JV last winter. After failing in previous attempts to crack the varsity roster he figured he'd give it one last shot this season, saying, "I came into tryouts and made the team and put all that other stuff in the past. I'm on the team, so I played my heart out all year."
Said Rooney: "What an amazing experience for him to end his high school career scoring the winning goal in the championship game at the Garden with 21 seconds left. You can't script that."
[IMG alt="CM wins in the last minute of the game over St. John's, 4-3
Catholic Memorial and St. John's face off in the MIAA Division 1 final at TD Garden Sunday, March 16, 2025"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/37f13ceb7498f4b4c6b1f3b09d152d23[/IMG]
CM got another strong game from eighth-grade goalie Jaxson Fleming, who made 18 saves.
"I've said this all season," Rooney noted. "He calmed us every time there was pressure on us. It's amazing what that does to the rest of the team and to the coaches. ... You don't see a lot of dramatics out there in his game. As young as he is, the kids really looked up to him."
More: MIAA high school hockey state championship live coverage: TD Garden takeover
St. John's went 8-12 in the regular season but caught fire with four straight playoff wins and grabbed a 3-2 lead in this one on Caleb Keyes' goal with 8:11 left. The 14th-seeded Pioneers (12-13), who had been 0-2 against CM during the regular season, were dreaming off an all-time underdog story, but CM dug deep down the stretch and tilted the ice in their favor.
Long first tied it on a shot that slipped out of the glove of St. John's sophomore goalie Colin McCarthy.
"We were working them the whole shift there," Long said of CM's sustained pressure. "Tons of shots, good opportunities. I threw it on net and it happened to go in."
[IMG alt="CM wins in the last minute of the game over St. John's, 4-3
Catholic Memorial and St. John's face off in the MIAA Division 1 final at TD Garden Sunday, March 16, 2025"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/a45a3a67ea792e4314cd6cf5a33ef4f3[/IMG]
Hurst's winner -- off a beautiful between-the-legs feed from Milton's Christian Hinckle -- allowed CM to end its season on a 12-0-1 hot streak. The Knights, who also got goals from Hinckle in the first period and Cam Reed in the second, got better and better as the winter wore on.
"You just felt it every time we came to the rink to practice," Rooney said of the momentum CM built up. "You felt it when we were leaving the rink. We felt it coming into games. ... They bought into the process, they bought into the system and the plan."
Now the plan will be to keep adding new state championship banners to the fine collection of older ones. CM's roster features eight sophomores and 7 freshmen, so more good times could be ahead.
One last thing about those banners. Were they ever a little, well, intimidating to the current Knights?
"Maybe a little bit," Long said with a laugh. "At school masses you see them hanging all over the place. But we're (up) there now."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Catholic Memorial boys hockey defeats St. John's in Division 1 final
Continue reading...
The state's most decorated boys hockey program claimed another state crown Sunday at TD Garden, rallying from a late deficit to deny upset-minded St. John's (Shrewsbury), 4-3, in the Division 1 state final. Braintree's Luke Long knotted the score at 3-3 with 4:15 left, and fellow senior forward Tommy Hurst, who hails from Hyde Park, netted the winner with 21.3 seconds left for the fourth-seeded Knights (19-6-1).
It's CM's 18th state title all-time (Malden Catholic is a distant second with eight crowns), but this was the Knights' first since 2009, when they beat Burlington, 5-1, in the title game. CM hadn't even gotten to a state final since 2010, when the Knights fell, 1-0, to Hingham on a goal by Tim Driscoll.
The wait -- for the big stage and for a celebration befitting it -- is finally over.
"I put my heart and soul into this," said CM coach Larry Rooney, whose roster featured nine South Shore players. "I work at CM. Two of my boys went to CM. We've had our disappointing games where we believed we were one of the top teams in the state (and didn't come home with the trophy). To win a game like this means a lot to me."
More: Mission compete: Hingham girls hockey wins Div. 1 state championship
Rooney's previous gigs included being the boys hockey coach at Thayer Academy (2002-10) and serving as the athletic director at Milton High (2013-15). This is his 10th season behind the CM bench and now he gets to add to the program's rich legacy.
"I work in the admissions (department) at CM and I give tours to families, and one of the main spots (we show them) is the gymnasium. We walk into the gym and turn around and look up at those banners," Rooney said. "They see all the success that we had in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s. Every time I do that with a new perspective family, hockey or non-hockey, they're blown away with the success of this hockey program in the past. I know it's been a long time (since we won), so our boys and our team this year have really got our hockey program back on the map."
More: Biggest shot in school history: Norwell boys basketball captures first-ever title
That's music to the ears of the current Knights, who are too young to remember CM's glory days. The Knights, for example, won six consecutive state crowns from 1990-95, four straight from 1998-2001 and three in a row from 2003-05. Their first three titles also came in a row, from 1986-88.
[IMG alt="CM wins in the last minute of the game over St. John's, 4-3
Catholic Memorial and St. John's face off in the MIAA Division 1 final at TD Garden Sunday, March 16, 2025"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/dc59eb3c83acd83399e6eb94653b32a0[/IMG]
"It's surreal," Long said of winning it all. "I'm still in shock. ... CM's always been the school to go to with their history. It feels great to finally get them back here."
"It's definitely the best feeling in the world," said Hurst. "I don't think anything else has compared to it so far in my life, that's for sure."
Hurst was an unlikely hero in the sense that he's a first-year varsity player who labored away on JV last winter. After failing in previous attempts to crack the varsity roster he figured he'd give it one last shot this season, saying, "I came into tryouts and made the team and put all that other stuff in the past. I'm on the team, so I played my heart out all year."
Said Rooney: "What an amazing experience for him to end his high school career scoring the winning goal in the championship game at the Garden with 21 seconds left. You can't script that."
[IMG alt="CM wins in the last minute of the game over St. John's, 4-3
Catholic Memorial and St. John's face off in the MIAA Division 1 final at TD Garden Sunday, March 16, 2025"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/37f13ceb7498f4b4c6b1f3b09d152d23[/IMG]
CM got another strong game from eighth-grade goalie Jaxson Fleming, who made 18 saves.
"I've said this all season," Rooney noted. "He calmed us every time there was pressure on us. It's amazing what that does to the rest of the team and to the coaches. ... You don't see a lot of dramatics out there in his game. As young as he is, the kids really looked up to him."
More: MIAA high school hockey state championship live coverage: TD Garden takeover
St. John's went 8-12 in the regular season but caught fire with four straight playoff wins and grabbed a 3-2 lead in this one on Caleb Keyes' goal with 8:11 left. The 14th-seeded Pioneers (12-13), who had been 0-2 against CM during the regular season, were dreaming off an all-time underdog story, but CM dug deep down the stretch and tilted the ice in their favor.
Long first tied it on a shot that slipped out of the glove of St. John's sophomore goalie Colin McCarthy.
"We were working them the whole shift there," Long said of CM's sustained pressure. "Tons of shots, good opportunities. I threw it on net and it happened to go in."
[IMG alt="CM wins in the last minute of the game over St. John's, 4-3
Catholic Memorial and St. John's face off in the MIAA Division 1 final at TD Garden Sunday, March 16, 2025"]https://media.zenfs.com/en/patriot-ledger/a45a3a67ea792e4314cd6cf5a33ef4f3[/IMG]
Hurst's winner -- off a beautiful between-the-legs feed from Milton's Christian Hinckle -- allowed CM to end its season on a 12-0-1 hot streak. The Knights, who also got goals from Hinckle in the first period and Cam Reed in the second, got better and better as the winter wore on.
"You just felt it every time we came to the rink to practice," Rooney said of the momentum CM built up. "You felt it when we were leaving the rink. We felt it coming into games. ... They bought into the process, they bought into the system and the plan."
Now the plan will be to keep adding new state championship banners to the fine collection of older ones. CM's roster features eight sophomores and 7 freshmen, so more good times could be ahead.
One last thing about those banners. Were they ever a little, well, intimidating to the current Knights?
"Maybe a little bit," Long said with a laugh. "At school masses you see them hanging all over the place. But we're (up) there now."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Catholic Memorial boys hockey defeats St. John's in Division 1 final
Continue reading...
