BOURNE — Boston Latin sophomore Oliver Murphy racked up 30 saves en route to a complete game shutout, while senior captain Robert Banks registered the clinching goals as No. 11 Boston Latin continued its Div. 2 Cinderella run with a 2-0 win over No. 10 Duxbury in the boys hockey Final Four.
“(Murphy) was clearly the difference in the game,” said Boston Latin coach Frank Woods. “I thought (Duxbury) really carried the game, particularly in the first period. We had a hard time coming out of our zone, managing the puck. We were able to withstand that… I thought we played a pretty solid third, but he was excellent tonight.”
The Wolfpack (16-8-0) had been playing with grit all season, but were met with adversity in the game’s early stages as Duxbury (13-9-4) came storming out of the gate. The Dragons peppered the net throughout the opening period, looking to solve Murphy’s puzzle, a trend that would carry well into the second.
Yet, despite surrendering point-blank chances, Boston Latin was still locked in a scoreless deadlock as the third period got underway.
After trying to create offensive possession throughout the contest, the Wolfpack were finally able to break the tie with 4:31 left in regulation, as Banks uncorked a shot from just inside the blue line. The puck skipped through a crowd, finding its target as Boston Latin took a 1-0 advantage.
“I was just staying focused all game,” said Murphy. “I knew we had to have a really good game to beat that team, a really good Duxbury team. They stayed on me the whole game, and I knew that we had to get a dirty goal, and we got that dirty goal in the third period. I stayed focused, and I played my game.”
After Duxbury pulled goaltender Anthony Rabeni for the extra skater, Banks got tangled up with a forward and decided to thrust the puck up ice with 1:09 to play. It slid past a series of diving skaters, and gently into the vacant net on the opposite end to clinch the win.
“In those end game moments, it’s kind of a flurry,” chuckled Banks. “You just try to throw everything down ice that you can. I’ll say I aimed it, but there might have been a little luck in there.”
The Div. 2 championship appearance is the first for Boston Latin since 2005, when the school captured its last state title. Oddly enough, that was Woods’ first season coaching with the Wolfpack.
“I don’t think too many people expected us to get there,” Woods said. “But we play a really challenging schedule. The way we think about it is that we play everyone during the regular season. We played Duxbury, we played Tewksbury twice, we played Concord-Carlisle twice. We go out and play a competitive nonleague schedule so that when you get an opportunity to get in the tournament, you have a chance to win those games. We just happened to win four in a row. We feel like we can compete.”
