Purple Knights capture second Division 3A state championship in three years

By David Grant

Turley Publications Sports Correspondent

WORCESTER – Holyoke captured its second Division 3A hockey championship in three years by skating past Central Massachusetts champion Groton-Dunstable Monday night at the DCU Center in Worcester.

The Purple Knights, a cooperative team with Holyoke, South Hadley and Granby, used a tremendous performance by freshman goalie Devin Hoagland in the 3-0 blanking of the Crusaders.

“Devin was phenomenal tonight,” Holyoke head coach John Houle said. “He really stepped up. It was the best game he played all year. He’s a freshman and that’s who we decided to go with early in the year. Tonight he proved why he should be there.”

When the final horn blew, a massive celebration erupted on the ice. One by one, each player piled on top of Hoagland.

“I was kind of nervous at first, but they (my teammates) told me to just play my game and that it’s just another game,” said the diminutive Hoagland, who made all 22 stops to earn the shutout. “It’s amazing.”

Hoagland kept Holyoke in front 2-0 by making arguably the best save on the night and perhaps, the season. G-D (19-3-1) was pressing for something to change the momentum. Hoagland stood tall but suddenly C.J. Kenney came in on a breakaway and tried to go top shelf.

Hoagland used his left arm to push aside the hard rip with just under 10:00 to play.

“I just knew I had to stop it,” Hoagland said.

Holyoke defenseman Kevin Stefanik was impressed.

“Devin deserves most of the credit tonight,” Stefanik said. “He came up big on a breakaway and he made a few 2-on-1 saves.”

The Crusaders surge was stopped when junior Doug Sattler fired home a wrist shot with 5:08 remaining that virtually sealed the win.

“Getting that goal and helping the team out is special,” Sattler said. “It’s a phenomenal feeling. I’m proud of everyone. I feel a lot of credit has to go to our goalie. He played a great game. He showed a lot of drive out there. He played the best game he could. It’s real impressive. He didn’t let anything go and he kept us in the game.”

Holyoke (22-1-1) grabbed the early lead in a well-played first period. Stefanik fired a shot from the left point and sophomore Kyle Martins backhanded the rebound past G-D goalie Dylan Tardiff just 1:53 into the game.

It was only Martins third game back after being sidelined with a knee injury suffered during the soccer season. Martins’ goal proved to be the game winner. Spencer Nawrocki also earned an assist.

“That was monster for Kyle,” Houle said. “He had major knee surgery from soccer and skated two regular season games.”

Holyoke added to its lead before the first intermission. Luke Dilisio controlled the puck and used a burst of speed as he crossed the blue line. Dilisio was on the right side and he fired a shot that might have been a goal but the puck came out fast and Nawrocki made sure of the goal by shooting the rebound into the open net for a 2-0 lead.

“Luke came in took the shot and from my angle it looked like it was in,” Nawrocki said. “But I just ripped it in because it didn’t seem like anyone called it a goal. The ref came up to us and said it hit the crossbar. He asked who buried it after the second shot and I said, ‘me.’ I gave Luke a huge hug.”

Hoagland said having a 2-0 lead was important.

“Once we got the lead I got more comfortable and confident in net,” he said.

G-D, which gave which only allowed one goal in its run to a sectional title, played well in the second and third but Hoagland and the defense had an answer.

“We kind of let up in the second and also in the third and that’s when Devin came up big,” Houle said. “We were fortunate to get two goals early in the game. They came at us. That breakaway save gave us a little shot of life on the bench. Our guys were playing too high at center. We tried to get them down deeper in the zone. That was a very good team. They didn’t give up.”

DiLisio said this state title is different than the one captured two years ago.

“It’s a whole new feeling,” he said. “It’s spectacular really, just to end off my high school career with a state championship. I couldn’t be any happier. This is the ideal way to end your season. It’s just a different squad right now. The seniors we had last year and the year before brought a lot to the table. But to do it with this team this year is certainly something I will never forget the rest of my life.”

Stefanik agreed.

“It’s really emotional,” he said. “The last game, 45 minutes left of your high school career, you have to go all out and get what you want and we did that.”

Houle said it’s been a tremendous ride.

‘It’s been an effort for four years, especially the last three,” he said. “They started it three years ago. Three Western Mass titles and two state titles, it’s incredible. I’m really happy for them. They earned it.”

David Grant is a sports correspondent for Turley Publications. He can be reached at dforbes@turley.com.