Boston College High School’s 2-1 victory in quadruple overtime that gave the school back-to-back MIAA Super 8 titles was one of the most entertaining games most players, coaches, fans and media will ever compete in or watch from the stands.
With BC High trailing Pope Francis, 1-0, late in the game, senior Thomas Kramer took the game over and carried his team on his back. His end-to-end rush drew a penalty that gave his team a power play with the chance to force overtime. With the man advantage, he eventually slid the puck over from the right-wing circle to his brother Joseph at the left-wing circle for a one-timer goal.
“Thomas just willed that power play. He picked the puck up at our goal line, got a head of steam, and went ahead of all five of their guys to draw the power play. That pass right across the middle for the one-timer was a thing of beauty,” BC High coach John Flaherty said.
The Eagles had a few near-misses with shots hitting the post or crossbar in the first three overtimes. One of those chances came off the stick of freshman defenseman Declan Loughnane. He almost ended the game twice, but the third time was a charm.
(New England Hockey Journal TV went behind the scenes with the BC High coaches and players earlier this season.)
Loughnane dashed into the zone, cutting from left to right through the slot, before unleashing a blast that found its way between the post and the goaltender’s blocker. The puck hitting the twine set off a wild celebration, despite many players struggling to even climb over the boards after playing nearly two games in one.
“The message was that there was no bad shot. We kept saying we had to believe we were going to walk out of here as state champions,” Flaherty exclaimed.
This year’s final played out similarly to the year before when the Eagles also needed a late goal to force overtime against the Cardinals. That familiar predicament came in handy due to players and coaches knowing they could again pull out some magic.
“The whole team just stayed positive. No one complained about ‘what ifs.’ We’ve done this before and we can do it again,” Flaherty explained.
Repeating as champions isn’t an easy task in any sport, but it can be especially tough being a marked team. However, Flaherty believes that bull’s-eye on his team’s back is part of the reason his players were able to stay committed to the mission.
“It was a challenge, but with our schedule — we play a pretty tough schedule — so it’s a grind pretty much every game. We know we have to stay focused each game,” said Flaherty, a former player at the school.
Despite the similarities of the two championship games, the roster was quite different. Having lost 11 players from last year’s championship team, this year’s team had plenty of new faces, including the game-winning goal scorer.
“The biggest credit goes to our players. We graduated nine players and lost two others. These guys came back together and worked hard. They won this themselves. No one felt sorry for losing all the guys we did,” said Flaherty.
“They set a goal at the beginning of the year to be their own team and win their own title. They didn’t want to live off what we did last year. They stuck with it,” Flaherty continued.
The three Kramer brothers, left wing Joseph, center Thomas and right wing Peter, gained much of the press clippings. Playing together, they were by far the most dominant line in all of high school hockey this winter. Flaherty said he can remember a couple of brother duos before, but can’t recall three together at the same time.
In addition to scoring the deciding goal, Loughnane logged a ton of minutes all season. He was terrific with the puck on his stick and became more of a physical presence as the season moved along. Another young freshman, Chris Romaine, didn’t get as many minutes but has a very bright future.
All five of those players are the ones college recruiters are honing in on, but there were plenty of other team members who deserved credit for helping make BC High the last team standing. One of those was senior goaltender Chase Congdon, who made a couple of highlight-reel saves in the overtime periods.
“Chase Congdon was the unsung hero. There were a few times where I thought that was it. He stood on his head. He made a blocker save and stuck out his pad when that guy opened up on the door,” praised Flaherty.
He also credited sophomore defenseman John Logan, whose play steadily improved as the year progressed. He might have saved his best game for last when the team needed another defenseman to log big minutes while playing four-on-four in the overtimes.
“Another guy who had a huge game was Johnny Logan. He really emerged as we were going down the stretch. He got more confident. That game could be a platform to take his game to the next level. He made some nice rushes in overtime,” said Flaherty.
While the game-tying goal and game-winning goal came from a sophomore and a freshman, there were still plenty of key seniors, in addition to the eldest Kramer, who played key roles for the Eagles.
“Our senior class of P.J. Donahue, C.J. Martin and Matty Lakus, those guys all logged huge minutes in that game. They stepped up and delivered,” said Flaherty.
Flaherty, who couldn’t be a better representative for his alma mater, said the championship meant so much to so many people, not just the players and coaches.
“It’s huge for the school and the community. I had 187 text messages, mostly from alums and former players. We had an amazing amount of students, faculty and staff who attended that game. It was impressive,” he said.
“It’s another way to promote our student-athletes. The alumni network we have is huge, and it’s one of our biggest attributes,” he continued.
While some key faces might be gone, with Flaherty at the helm, BC High likely will contend for another state championship next March.
