VIDEO: Hingham’s Mulkerrin, Dzavik score in win over Braintree
Hingham’s Conal Mulkerrin and Paul Dzavik found the back of the net in a Division 1 Sweet Sixteen game vs. Braintree.
CANTON – Tony Messina’s pre-game message to the Hingham High boys hockey team was succinct, but it lit a fire.
“Play urgent. Play desperate. Have no regrets when the game’s over,” the head coach of 16 years said.
No stranger to the Division 1 Sweet 16, the Harbormen’s appearance last year didn’t go so well. A 4-0 upset loss to No. 14 Reading Memorial was a traumatic end of the road for the No. 3 seed. As Messina described, “Last year was a little bit of a disappointment.”
“We had beaten Reading earlier in the year and then we came in and, I wasn’t taking them lightly, but maybe some of the players may have been. (Reading) played great and took it away from us. I said, ‘Don’t let that happen this year.”
A chance to avenge Sweet 16 nightmares of yesteryear, No. 8 Hingham poured a three-goal avalanche on No. 24 Braintree in the second period at Canton Ice House on Monday to salvage a 3-0 victory and advance to the Division 1 Elite Eight. Next, the Harbormen face top-seeded St. John’s Prep (19-3) at Stoneham Arena on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Rumor has it Monday’s game against Braintree sold out days in advance. A capacity crowd arrived eager to see if Braintree (9-12-1), which entered play fresh off a 3-2 overtime upset win over No. 9 Westford Academy, would play spoiler again.
The answer was clear within Hingham (15-7-2) circles. Not another heartbreaker.
“That was probably the most excited I’ve been to play a game in my career,” said senior Paul Dzavik, who registered one goal and one assist in the win. “We were all sitting in our seats, shaking, waiting to go on. Our energy is through the roof right now.”
Sophomore winger Conal Mulkerrin (7 goals, 11 assists) struck first inside the 11-minute mark of the second period to spark the rally. Four minutes later, sophomore Cam McKenna (14 goals, 6 assists) tallied another.
“We’ve had trouble getting that first one the whole season,” Dzavik said. “We’ve really tried to get shots in the soft spots of the offensive zone. I think Conal getting that first one really gave us that extra boost of confidence and energy that we were able to get two more.”
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Only three minutes passed as a determined Dzavik (18 goals, 10 assists) piled the…
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