By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Cheers filled the Divine Rink, home of the Boston Latin Academy Dragons, as the Dover-Sherborn Raiders traveled in the first round of state playoffs. The 18th-seeded Raiders made a second-period comeback that tied the boys over the 15th-seeded Dragons' first-period lead. In a lively third period, the Raiders polished off a win, dominating over the Dragons in overtime with a 2-1 final.
Skating onto the ice, the Dover-Sherborn boys began the competition by matching the energy of the Boston Latin Academy. The Dragons were first to strike against the Raiders, as senior Ryan Shields hurled the puck past the Raiders' defense. This gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead with two minutes left of the first.
It wasn’t until the second period that the Raiders came out charging with speed and adrenaline, out passing the Dragons' attempts for possession. Mimicking the first period, the Raiders launched their own goal to get a point on the scoreboard. Raiders Thomas Sacco flung his shot past the Dragons with two minutes left of the second, knotting the competition.
With a heated third period, the Raiders dominated the Dragons without hesitation. As the puck zoomed back and forth between zones, the Raiders’ defense tightened blocking the Dragons’ attempts at another goal. As the time clock raced, the Raiders earned themselves a powerplay within the last thirty seconds of regulation. Headed into overtime, the teams quickly spoke about their strategies before heading back onto the ice. It wasn’t long until Raiders’ Matt Delgizzi whizzed the winning goal of the night into eh back of the Dragons’ net within the first thirty seconds of overtime.
Head coach Alex Marlow and the team celebrated the huge victory and were filled with excitement to keep their season going. Marlow reflected on the success of the team’s powerplay achievements after securing both goals in the competition from powerplays.
“We have grown tremendously in our powerplay, I think we had one goal from a powerplay in our first twelve games. We have really put it together in full stride for the second half of our season. Scoring six out of our last seven powerplays has become our strong point for us and at the right time. This group is really close, they are all best friends and they’re all helping each other. Tonight, it was really a group effort,” said Marlow.
