By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The fifth-seeded Dover-Sherborn Weston boys punched their ticket to the 2024 Division 4 State Championship game on Sunday, March 18. Facing off against the sixth-seeded Hanover High, the Raiders were locked in to secure the Championship title to bring back home. The DS-Weston boys played a hard-fought game and made a comeback from their first-period lull, winning 5-1 and earning their first Division 4 state championship title.
With Andrew Goldstein in the net and Patrick Benson on the face-off, the DS and Weston boys took off on the ice at puck drop.
Hanover pressured DS and Weston boys, ripping shots on Goldstein. With 5:05 left in the period, Hanover’s Cam Scott sniped the puck to the upper right side of the net past Goldstein’s reaching gloved hand. The DS Weston boys flew down to their offensive zone looking for a response. After three rapid shots, the DS boys ended the period 0-1 with Hanover in the lead.
Heading into the second period, junior assistant captain Sam Hinckley set the tone for the period with a rapid shot on net just seconds after the puck drop. The DS-Weston boys controlled the puck in their offensive zone. Hanover still carried on, looking to break Dover-Sherborn and Weston’s possession. However, at 13:01, senior defenseman Cole McEwen drifted the puck to Brayden McKenna, and McKenna took the puck onto his stick and headed toward the net. McKenna swiped the puck to senior forward Max Niit, who blew the puck past Hanover’s goalie, tying the game 1-1.
With 47.7 seconds left to go in the period, junior Hunter Hourlhan plummeted the puck into Hanover’s net, launching the Raiders ahead of Hanover 2-1. With less than a minute left in the period, sophomore Andrew Cahill floated a pass to freshman Christos Rogaris, and Rogaris pocketed another tally on the scoreboard for the Raiders, giving them the lead 3-1 to close the period.
During the third period, the DS-Weston team was able to kill off their two-minute penalty with ease. Just after the penalty kill at 12:46, Max Niit would strike the back of the net again for the Raiders, with assists from Cole McEwen and Brayden McKenna, launching DS-Weston into a 4-1 lead. Just 15 seconds later, at 12:31, sophomore forward Max Patenaude slammed in the puck in a blur, with assists from Hunter Hourlhan and Matthias Sarnblad.
