Blackstone Valley had prepared for this. Lincoln tended to overcommit, so when Declan St. Vincent won a face-off back to Caden Rudek in the offensive zone, Jaxon Boyes made himself an outlet.
There, Boyes stood wide open in the slot. The puck found his stick, and with the weight of a community on his shoulders, he delivered.
Blackstone Valley 3, Lincoln 2.
The Blackstone Valley boys’ hockey team rallied from down two goals in the third period of the Rhode Island Division II state championship to win in quadruple overtime.
“When it went in, I couldn’t believe it. It was so relieving,” Boyes said in an interview with New England Hockey Journal. “It was just so unbelievable.”
This wasn’t just any state championship victory for Blackstone Valley, either. Just a month ago, on Feb. 17, tragedy struck the team on senior night. Rhonda Dorgan, Aidan Dorgan, and Gerald Dorgan, the mother, brother, and grandfather of senior Colin Dorgan, were killed in a shooting at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, R.I. Police said that Colin’s father, Robert Dorgan, also known as Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgan, was the shooter.
Boyes’ mother was good friends with Rhonda since the boys grew up playing hockey together.
“I could just hear Colin’s mom in my head saying, ‘That’s my Jax,’ because that’s what she would say every time I scored,” he said. “She would always be the first one rooting for me.”
Blackstone Valley had its final two regular-season games cancelled after the incident, and the team jumped right into the state quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed.
Following the tragic killings of Colin Dorgan's family members during a shooting at a Rhode Island ice rink in February, the high school hockey player scored the winning goal in double overtime, sending Blackstone Valley to the state final.https://t.co/Q1wiXKGb54 pic.twitter.com/a61JpuJaRA
— ABC News (@ABC) March 12, 2026
They rattled off four straight victories, including a double overtime win over top-seeded Portsmouth in which Dorgan scored the winning goal. Dorgan also scored the tying goal late in the third period of the championship game against Lincoln.
“Nothing can be said, other than the angels were with Colin and with us,” coach Chris Librizzi said to New England Hockey Journal.
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It’s been an emotional month for Librizzi and the rest of the affected community, but the joy he felt after winning the state title is surpassed only by the births of his children and his wedding day.
“That was the greatest sports moment that I’ve ever been involved in,” he said. “In my personal opinion, I think that was the greatest high school hockey sports moment in the history of time, with everything that we’ve gone through over the last 31 days.”
The story of Blackstone Valley has received national attention and attracted the likes of Cam Neely, the president of the Boston Bruins. Neely originally called Librizzi after the incident to express his condolences. He invited the team to Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins’ practice facility, to watch Boston skate and to meet the players.
It took a while for Boyes to finally grasp what had occurred on March 18 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence. He remembers walking into the locker room and everyone cheering. But he was still in complete shock.
A few days later, Boyes was in complete shock. But the weight of the moment was starting to hit him.
“I don’t think the story is that much about the win, but it’s everything leading up to it,” Boyes said. “That win encapsulates our perseverance and our resilience, because it shows that we continued to fight and we continued to stay together as a family.
Blackstone Valley Co-op won the Rhode Island Division II championship Tuesday night.
Colin Dorgan, whose family members were killed in a shooting at the teams Senior Day last month, scored the game-tying goal with less than a minute left in regulation. Blackstone Valley went on… pic.twitter.com/P0PRwDYLnw
— ESPN (@espn) March 19, 2026
“After the event, we really came together, and we just started working hard because we wanted to carry on the legacies of Rhonda, Aidan, and Gerald.”
Librizzi said everyone impacted by the tragedy is still struggling, but the way Dorgan led Blackstone Valley has inspired those around him. He believes that leadership made the difference in his team’s run to the state championship.
“I’m realizing how powerful this whole story is,” Boyes said. “And I’m just glad that we were able to complete it.”
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The time the group spends together will dwindle because life moves on. Spring sports are up next for many on the team. Boyes is one of them. He had to hustle to lacrosse practice after speaking with New England Hockey Journal. But the bond the group has formed will always keep them together, closer than they may have ever imagined.
Just ask Colin Dorgan.
“These people right here, they’re really not just my teammates — they’re more brothers to me,” he said. “We’ve really come together as one family.”
