Sandwich High boys hockey defeats D-Y in Division 4 quarterfinals, now Nantucket awaits

BOURNE - The Sandwich and Dennis-Yarmouth/Cape Cod Tech/Cape Cod Academy High boys hockey teams faced off for the third time this season on Thursday.

Sandwich defeated the Dolphins twice in a three-day span in January (2-1 and 1-0). None of that mattered when the team two teams faced in Thursday's Division 4 Elite Eight game.

The No. 2 Blue Knights defeated No. 7 D-Y, 4-1, to lock up a second consecutive trip to the state semifinals.

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“I thought the energy level was definitely there right from the beginning,” Sandwich coach Jordan Mohre said. “They have played these guys twice before, so we knew what we were getting into and what we had to do. I thought we played really disciplined in our system and played hard in between the whistles and capitalized on some nice opportunities.”

Close call in the first

The Blue Knights wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with a goal from Chris Cardillo and an assist from Jack Connolly at 5:09 of the first period.

Then, something happened to the Blue Knights that hadn’t happened in the postseason this year. They gave up a first-period goal.

Harley Ellis of Sandwich tried to pass it out behind the net, but it went right to Aidan O’Reilly of D-Y, who shot the puck in net above Sandwich goalie Mitch Norkevicius at 10:59 into the first.

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“We had the momentum at the start and then that goal kind of killed us,” Sandwich senior captain Colin McIver said.

Not only was it the first opening-frame goal Sandwich had given up, it's the first time in this position the Blue Knights had a tie game that wasn't 0-0.

“That shows the resolve of the kids knowing we can’t get too high with our highs and too low with our lows,” Mohre said. “After the goal, there wasn’t any letdown on the bench. It was kind of like, we have to get back to work. We have to compete for 45 minutes and we knew that against D-Y.”

Clutch First Goal

With 1:04 remaining in the first period, Sandwich junior forward Avery Richardson slid a shot that found twine to give Sandwich a 2-1 lead.

“I was really trying to throw it on net, hoping for a rebound which is why I shot it low. It didn’t have a lot of power, but I guessed it just worked,” Richardson said.

Richardson's goal stood up as the winner, and it was his first career playoff goal.

“It feels awesome. I've been pretty snakebitten all year and finally scoring one in a big game like this is a good jumping off point for me, my line, and the team as a whole,” Richardson said.

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McIver said that Richardson’s goal changed the game for them.

“It definitely gave us momentum. We had the momentum at the start and then that goal (from D-Y) kind of killed us. Avery made a good play with a shot on net, and it had a good bounce,” McIver said.

“I think in the first period we kind of felt like we were evenly matched,” D-Y coach Lew Alberti said. “Obviously, their second goal caught us a little off guard and kind of deflated us a little bit. Then, they just capitalized on that and they just buried us in the second period, so that was a little demoralizing.  We came into the game thinking we needed at least four (goals) and we got one. That was the difference.”

Sandwich's scorers

Avery Richardson: Richardson scored his first varsity playoff goal, which ended up being the game winner.

Chris Cardillo: Cardillo started the scoring with first goal of the game and dished out an assist.

Harvey Ellis: Ellis scored the only goal of the second period with an assist from Cardillo and Devin Mahoney.

Colin McIver: McIver scored on an empty netter in the third with 50 seconds remaining, with an assist from Shane Corcoran.

Familiar Foes

For the second consecutive season, the Blue Knights are headed back to the Final Four.

Now 3-0 against D-Y, Sandwich will try to move to 3-0 this season against Saturday's opponent, No. 6 Nantucket. The Whalers are making their first state semifinal appearance. Sandwich and Nantucket will play for a spot at TD Garden on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. at Gallo Ice Arena.

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“We just come to play because we want to win really badly. We give everything we've got every period and every shift,” McIver said. “It's hard to beat a team three times in a season, but we’re confident. We think we’re the best team in the Division (4).”

Sandwich won the first matchup 2-1 (Dec. 19) and two days later beat the Whalers again, 3-1 (Dec. 21).

The Blue Knights (18-4-1) have won 13 of their last 14, while the Whalers (16-6) have won 14 of their last 16.

“Seeing a dance partner that we’ve had before is nice because you're familiar with them, but it’s going to be a new day, new time of year. Obviously the stakes are going to be high and I know both teams are going to come out flying. Both teams are on a streak right now playing good hockey at the right time. Everybody that is on the Cape that loves hockey should absolutely be at that hockey game,” Mohre said.

D-Y's Best Season

Thursday was the D-Y's first trip to a state quarterfinal.

“That group of kids made my life memorable for these last two years to come together, some of them having never met each other, and they created a family to make this season special,” Alberti said. “We are just going to build off of that. All these fans and the young kids that were here watching have kind of restored hope and faith in our program.”

D-Y ended their season 15-9-1. In the tournament they had wins over No. 10 Ashland (4-1) in the Round of 16, and No. 26 Bourne (2-1 OT) in the Round of 32.

“That game (against Bourne) was just memorable. It’s kind of hard going into a game favored, and then you battle and get in a 1-1 game, and take care of business in overtime,” Alberti said.

More:D-Y boys hockey needed a hero to survive Bourne's upset bid. Enter Aidan Powers.

As for the future, D-Y will have to do some rebuilding as they graduate 14 seniors: Daniel Julian (D-Y), John Valerio (CCA), Luke Spinner (CCA), Jacob Vincent (D-Y), Cam Dupee (D-Y), Cam Cavatorta (D-Y), Hunter Boulette (D-Y), Bereket Nelson (CCA), Steven Swanson (CCT), Aidan Powers (D-Y), Kyle Zabaleta (CCT), Russell Hemmings (CCT), O’Reilly (D-Y), and Cole Rounseville (D-Y).

“Hats off to Lew and that entire group. They had a tremendous year and that program has come a long, long way,” Mohre said.

The roster as now, without the seniors, consists of three juniors, three sophomores, one freshman, and one eighth grader.

“We have to assess what’s coming up the ranks in the seventh and eighth grade programs, and getting the older kids to be a part of that,” Alberti said. “We are going to balance the schedule out a little bit more with Division 4 opponents, and we might take our lumps next year, but my hope is in a couple of years, we will be right back here.”

Contact Courtney Jacobs at cjacobs@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CJ_Journalist

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Sandwich High boys hockey defeats D-Y to gain state semifinal spot