BOSTON — Pope Francis sophomore forward Whitaker Zinger picked up a loose puck around the net and dished it back to sophomore defenseman Luke Latulippe.
All Latulippe had was time and space. And he took it.
The Feeding Hills, Mass., native wound up and sniped one over the glove of St. John's Shrewsbury junior goalie Colin McCarthy (Worcester, Mass.) in 3-on-3 double overtime, giving No. 7 Pope Francis a 2-1 win and the MIAA Division 1 boys title.
The goal came off a wild sequence in which Pope Francis senior Matt Regan's shot squirted through McCarthy, hit the post and sat behind him. No. 8 SJS senior forward Tyler Bergman cleared it, but not enough to get past Zinger.
Both goals in regulation came within two minutes of each other in the second period.
Pope Francis struck first when senior forward Wolfgang Zinger (Granby, Conn.) knocked in a rebound off a crazy sequence for the Cardinals in which they got multiple chances on McCarthy.
Less than two minutes later, St. John's Shrewsbury senior defenseman Sahvy Andino (Charlton, Mass.) scored on a snipe from the red line that got past Pope Francis junior goalie George Ramsey (Agawam, Mass.).
Luke Latulippe wins it for Pope Francis over St. John’s Shrewsbury in 2OT of the MIAA D1 boys final: pic.twitter.com/GcT95Fe1sq
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) March 15, 2026
The win is Pope Francis' first since 2023 when the Cardinals took down Xaverian. For St. John's Shrewsbury, that's two straight years with losses at TD Garden.
READ MORE: Check out the full MIAA D1 boys hockey bracket
Quick takeaways...
- This was a classic, stingy, defensive matchup between two Division 1 powerhouses. Both teams played mistake-free hockey, clogging passing lanes and getting above pucks. Pope Francis head coach Brian Foley and St. John's Shrewsbury head coach Michael Mead both deployed comprehensive, detailed game plans that their squads executed. There weren't even that many chances in the first overtime, which was 4v4. But...
- The reason Pope Francis had the advantage all game and was mostly the better team was because of its structure. SJS had its moments beating Pope in the neutral zone. Still, the Cardinals were so stingy, usually sending one forward to forecheck and dropping the two other forwards back at the red line and their two defensemen right behind them. In the defensive zone, Pope Francis took away shooting lanes and didn't give SJS much room to operate. And in the offensive zone, the Cardinals cycled pucks well. It was all structure.
- McCarthy was the best player in the game. The SJS goalie made countless big saves. He's so technically sound that he was rarely out of position. He was fantastic on low shots through traffic, using his mobility to kick out pucks with his legs. Understandably, he went right down on his stomach after the winner, but there's nothing to hang his head over. He was magnificent on Sunday.
- When Pope Francis lost to St. Mary's, 7-3, on Jan. 10, it didn't look like it was the Cardinals' year. Foley's team responded by going 14-1-1 en route to a title. That early-season adversity often comes in handy, and it certainly did for Pope Francis this season.
BOYS MIAA BRACKETS:Â Division 1Â |Â Division 2Â |Â Division 3Â |Â Division 4
