Durfee Hilltoppers - Varsity Hockey: Tournament History
1982 State Tournament (Harwich, Boston Latin, Marian)Durfee, who entered the Eastern Massachusetts Hockey Tournament with a 13-5-2 (W-L-T) record, got shutout goaltending from Jamie Coleman in a 6-0 win over Harwich at Gallo Arena. Harwich entered the game with a 12-1-1 (W-L-T) record. Pete McDonald led the way with two goals while Rick Roderick had one goal and two assists to highlight the win. Harwich goalie Tom Luce faced 48 Hilltopper shots.
The Hilltoppers scored two goals in the final eight minutes of play to defeat Boston Latin (15-6-2) at Gallo Arena by a 4-2 score. Rick Roderick had the game winning goal with four minutes left to play and netminder Jamie Coleman posted 27 saves, 18 of which came in the third period. Durfee's final goal was scored into an empty with 10 seconds left to play as Boston Latin had pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Boston Latin outshot Durfee 29-13 for the game. Kevin Robinson, Ricky Coleman and Jeff Reilly had the other Durfee goals.
A three goal outburst in the final six minutes of the second period led Marian of Framingham to a 6-4 win over Durfee in the quarter-final round of the State Tournament at B.U.'s Walter Brown Arena. Durfee led 1-0 after one period and Marian took a 4-3 lead after two stops. In the third period, Durfee's Ricky Coleman got tripped on a breakaway with 1:15 left to play with Marian leading 5-4. Before the Hilltoppers could recover from what they thought should have been a penalty, Marian tallied its sixth goal with 0:56 left to play. Kevin Robinson, Rick Roderick, Ricky Coleman and Pat McDonald scored goals for Durfee while Peter McDonald had two assists.
1987 State Tournament (Cohasset, Canton)
Durfee defeated Cohasset 4-2 at Gallo Arena as Doug Jarabek led the Hilltoppers' attack with two goals and one assist. Scott Santos chipped in with threee assists. Bobby Coleman posted 20 saves in goal for Durfee.
Durfee fell victim to the powerful (#1 seed) Canton Bulldogs 7-2 at Walter Brown Arena. Durfee was within a 4-2 margin late in the second period, but five power play goals by Canton was the difference.
Canton led 2-0 after one period and increased their lead to 4-0 in the second. One minute after Canton's 4th goal, Durfee's Steve Sullivan appeared to score the Hilltoppers' first goal on a backhander that found the inside of the top corner, but the referee disallowed the goal, overruling the goal judge who had turned on the red light. "No one knows why that goal didn't count," said Durfee coach Jack Carey. "The referee never justified the call."
Durfee went on from that point to score the next two goals to make it 4-2. Scott Santos and Steve Sullivan accounted for the tallies.
1991 State Tournament (Don Bosco)
Trailing 3-1 late in the second period, Durfee saw the Don Bosco Bears (Catholic Conference)tally two goals in final 3 1/2 minutes of that period on way to a 5-1 win over a gutty Durfee team who played the powerful Don Bosco squad even (0-0) in the third period when many teams might have just folded their tents. The game was played at the Watertown Arena. Eric Bradbury had the lone Topper goal who finished the year with an 11-8-2 record. Durfee goalie Shawn Lecomte played outstanding registering 26 saves.
1992 State Tournament (Everett)
In one of the most disappointing defeats in Durfee Hockey history, the 15-2-3 Hilltoppers dropped a hard fought 6-5 overtime decision to the Everett Crimson of the Greater Boston League in a game played at Silvio Conte Forum on the campus of Boston College. Craig Hardy scored the game winner 1:05 into overtime when he dug a puck out of the left corner behind the Durfee goal, swung around to the right and tucked the puck between the left skate of Mark Carrolton and the post. Durfee had trailed 3-1 after one period and Carrolton kept the Hilltoppers in the game recording 22 first period saves. Surviving the first period, Durfee responded with a a physical style play in the second period, hitting just about everything that moved. "They punished us like no other team has all year and we play some pretty tough teams," said Everett coach Don Concannon. "You have to give them a lot of credit. They could have folded and they didn't, they just kept coming at us," said Concannon. Durfee outshot Everett 12-5 in the second period and tied the game 4-4. Everett took a 5-4 lead early in the third period but with 4:13 left to play, Durfee's Eric Bradbury tied the game 5-5. Durfee had a golden chance to win in the fianl minute of play but nobody could get their stick on a bouncing puck in front of the Everett goal. Bradbury almost won it in the first 30 seconds of overtime when he had Everett goalie Jason Ramoska dead to right on the doorstep, but the puck bounced over his stick as it swiped at it and 35 seconds later it was over.
1993 State Tournament (Malden Catholic)
The Durfee Hilltoppers came very close to pulling over a major upset in the first round of the Division One State Tournament against Malden Catholic at the Watertown Arena. Malden Catholic of the powerful Catholic Conference came in as a heavy favorite but squeaked out of Watertown with a narrow 3-2 win. Earlier in the year, Malden Catholic had battled powerful Catholic Memorial (ranked #1 in New England) to a 2-2 tie. Trailing 2-0 midway through the second period, Durfee rallied to tie the game 2-2. Durfee co-captain Kevin Brum started a 3 on 1 rush dishing off to teammate Steve Silva who drew the opposing defenseman toward him then passed off to co-captain Bobby Rapoza who backhanded the puck past the left pad of Malden Catholic goalie Brian Polsonetti. Just over two minutes later, the Hilltoppers got the equalizer as Rapoza took a puck in his own end and raced the length of the ice, lifting a backhander over Polsonetti's right shoulder. Malden Catholic's Dan Smith got the game winner 14 seconds into the third period. Polsonetti came up big stoping Rapoza on a breakaway with 1:50 left to play. Hilltopper goalie Steve Botelho was outstanding in defeat posting 29 saves.
1995 State Tournament (St. Peter of Marian)
Durfee ran into a powerful St. Peter of Marian team and never got anything going as they dropped a 9-0 decision at the Watertown Arena.
1999 State Tournament (North Quincy)
The Durfee Hilltoppers dropped a hard fought 5-4 overtime game to the North Quincy Red Raiders in a Division One South Sectional game played at the campus of U-Mass Boston. The gutty Hilltoppers rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game 4-4. A key factor in the Durfee loss was losing defensemen Craig Feldman and Keith Oliver early in the game due to injuries. The Hilltoppers also played without their leading scorer Kevin Narciso who sustained an injury in the team's final game of the regualar seson. Trailing 4-0 midway through the second period, Durfee got goals from Danny Crowley @6:06 and Jay Crowley @ 10:35 to make it 4-2 after two periods. Two third period goals only 18 seconds apart by Justin Medeiros (9:00) and Jay Crowley (9:18) tied the game 4-4. Durfee goalie John Friar actually drew an assist on the Crowley goal. Both teams had many chances to win in regualtion and in the overtime. At 11:21 of overtime, North Quincy's Mike Sullivan scored on a rebound off of a Matt Holt shot to win it for the Red Raiders. Durfee goalie John Friar was outstanding in defeat recording 44 saves.
2000 State Tournament (Weymouth, Framingham)
Durfee rallied from a 4-1 deficit entering the third period to post a thrilling 5-4 overtime win over Weymouth in a Division One South Sectional tournament game played at Gallo Arena in Bourne. Goals by Kevin Narciso (6:27) and Danny Crowley (11:49) made it 4-3 to set up the final exciting minute of regualtion. Trailing 4-3 with under 30 seconds left to play, Durfee's Jay Crowley started a rush from his own end with the goaltender out for an extra attacker and it ended when Kevin DaSilva converted a Kevin Narciso redirected pass into the Weymouth goal with only 13 seconds left to play to tie the game 4-4. Durfee dominated the third period and the overtime and then at 6:28, the Hilltoppers' Jimmy Connolly converted a pefect pass from Danny Crowley to give Durfee the thrilling come from behind win.
The Durfee Hilltoppers dropped a hard fought 3-2 double overtime decsion to a strong Framingham team at the Bridgewater Ice Arena. Following a scoreless first period in which Durfee outshot Framingham 7-3, Framingham's Jared Gagen scored at 2:47 of the second period to make it 1-0. At 7:42 Durfee's Danny Crowley tied the game 1-1 only to see Framingham regain the lead 2-1 with a goal at 13:05 by Matt Brown. Framingham outshot Durfee 15-6 in the second period. It stayed 2-1 until the final minute when Durfee lifted goalie John Friar for an extra attacker and it paid big dividends as Jay Amaral scored with only 30 seconds left to play. Framingham outshot Durfee 9-7 in the third period. The first overtime was scoreless with Framingham out shooting Durfee 18-4 but the tired Hilltoppers had the best chance to win as Kevin Narciso was denied on a breakawy late in the overtime. The game was suspended after the overtime and the game was resumed two days later in a one period mini-game (15 minutes) in which Framingham got the only goal at 10:05 by Adam Sinewitz and was awarded a 3-2 double overtime decision. Hilltopper goalie John Friar was outstanding in defeat recording 42 saves. Durfee finished their season at 18-2-0 (W-L-T).
2002 State Tournament (Silver Lake, Braintree)
In the opening round of the 2002 MIAA Division One South State Tournament, the Hilltoppers rallied from a 1-0 deficit after two periods and defeated Silver Lake 2-1 in dramatic fashion at the Falmouth Ice Arena. For Durfee, this game was one of their better games of the season as this victory avenged a 4-2 loss to Silver Lake earlier in the season. The game was scorless until Silver Lake scored at 12:26 of the second period on a goal by Anthony Donnelly. It stayed 1-0 until 5:43 of the third period when defenseman Kyle Cusick scored on an assist from Ryan Bielawa. Cusick took a pass from Bielawa and beat Silver Lake goalie Bob Malone, but his shot hit the crossbar but fortunately for Cusick, the puck came right back to him and he put it by Malone to tie the game 1-1. As the minutes started to fade, Durfee continued to pressure Silver Lake and their hard work finally paid off as Kevin DaSilva converted a pass from Eric Araujo with only 1:23 left to play and rifled a low hard shot by Malone for the final margin of victory. Jameson Hart was solid in goal for Durfee and the play of Chris Tansey, Peter Medeiros, Matt Bourassa, Josh Medeiros and Nick Bellany were also keys to the Hilltopper victory.
In the quarterfinal round, Durfee dropped a hard fought 6-2 decision to a fast skating Braintree team. The game was much closer than the final margin of victory as Braintree outshot Durfee by only a margin of 32-28. Braintree took a 1-0 lead @ 5:12 of the first period on a goal by Jim Norton. The scrappy Hilltoppers tied the game 1-1 @ 10:01 as Jeff Gregory blasted a low 30 foot slapshot by Braintree goalie John Liston. Billy Burdick and Josh Medeiros asssited on the play. The first period ended 1-1 with the Hilltoppers out shooting Braintree 10-9. Braintree scored the first two goals of the second period as Ryan Grant tallied @ 3:37 and again @ 7:48 to make it 3-1. Back came the scrappy Hilltoppers only 48 seconds later, as defenseman Kyle Cusick made a nice up ice rush and finished it off by beating Liston @ 8:36. Ryan Bielawa and Chris Tansey assisted on the goal. Braintree scored on a powerplay goal by John Molignano @ 10:17 to make it 4-2 in favor of Braintree after two periods. Each team registered 13 shots on goal in the second period. The third period saw Braintree catching the Hilltoppers off guard and tallied two quick goals (Molinano @ 0:45; Grant @ 1:13) to make it 6-2. The Hilltoppers never did quit but could not manange to get anything by Liston the rest of the way. The loss ended Durfee's season who finishes with an impressive record of 14-5-3 (W-L-T).
2003 State Tournament (Braintree)
Hilltoppers Deserved Better!
TIM GEARY, Herald News Staff Reporter March 02, 2003
BOURNE -- The effort was certainly worthy of a victory, but it didnt result in one as the B.M.C. Durfee High School of Fall Rivers hockey team was eliminated from the Div. 1 South Sectional for the second straight year by Braintree High School.
The Wampanaugs, seeded ninth, defeated the eighth-seeded Hilltoppers, 4-3, Saturday night at Gallo Rink in a game that had a little bit of everything and most of it good.
Durfee played well, particularly senior goaltender Chip Driscoll, but the Wamps were just a little bit better.
Durfee, which won the Big-3 Conference this season and only got into the tournament when it won an appeal with the MIAA last Sunday, finishes with a 10-7-2 record.
Braintree, 10-7-4, gets top-ranked Falmouth here Monday as its prize for winning.
"Im very proud of our players," said coach Jack Carey. "It know its a cliche, but they left nothing out there tonight. They were real warriors. We just didnt have any luck. You always hate to lose, but that was a fun game to coach."
Wamps senior star Kyle Grant lived up to his billing, scoring a pair of goals and assisting on another.
Grant scored both goals in the first period, when the Wamps assumed a 3-1 lead, taking full advantage of its opportunities.
He set up the games first goal, just 33 seconds in, when he fed Bobby Cusack who beat Chip Driscoll to the top right corner.
"Right then I thought we were going to be in for a very long night," said Carey.
It took the Hilltoppers just 15 seconds to answer as Evan Tabicas scored, stuffing the rebound of a Zack Cabral shot under Braintree goalie Pat Sampson.
Grant regained the lead for his team at 5:06 when he beat Driscoll from in tight.
Kevin DaSilva had a chance to tie it again with 7:30 to go when he broke in on Sampson, but his shot just sailed over the bar.
Grant scored a killing goal, short-handed, with 45 seconds to play in the period when he stole the puck while Durfees point men got confused and the Wamp star broke in cleanly on Driscoll, notching his 19th goal of the year.
Durfee came out like gangbusters in the second period and Chris Tansey scored at 2:40, snapping a 30-foot wrist shot into the far corner, set up by DaSilvas perfect pass.
The Toppers put extreme pressure on the Wamps net, but Sampson kept them at bay.
"Thats the period, right there," said Carey. "We could have easily had five or six goals in that period."
Driscoll robbed Grant on a clean breakaway, but seconds after that stop Kevin Oliver scored to give Braintree a two-goal lead again, 4-2.
The Wamps continued to apply pressure, but Driscoll came up big several times and then with just 13 seconds left before intermission DaSilva gave his team a huge lift when he scored from Billy Burdick, making it 4-3.
The third period was scoreless despite some excellent opportunities by both teams.
Durfee came so close to tying it with 2:35 to play when DaSilva got off a backhander from in tight, but Sampson was up to the challenge.
Durfee called time with 1:08 to play but wasnt able to get Driscoll off in favor of a sixth attacker until the final 34 seconds. The Toppers got a faceoff in the Braintree zone with 17 seconds left, but couldnt generate a chance and their season died.
Friday, March 2
2006 State Tournament (Barnstable)
Durfee iced by Raiders
Tim Geary, Herald News Staff Reporter
03/04/2006
BROCKTON -- The Brockton Ice Arena has not been kind through the years to the Durfee hockey program, but it has been positively nightmarish in the last two weeks.
First, the Hilltoppers lost the Big-3 Conference championship to Brockton High on this surface and Friday night Durfees season came to a painful conclusion as the Toppers were ousted from the MIAA Division I South Sectional tournament 6-1 by 12-seeded Barnstable High.
While the Toppers came in as the higher seed (5th), by virtue of a better record (11-5-4), there wasnt much doubt as to which was the better team when this one was over.
The Red Raiders were bigger, stronger, faster and deeper than the Toppers, but Durfee still displayed a great big heart right to the end.
"This was a great group of kids to work with this year," said Jack Carey, who coached his final game.
"They never caused a bit of trouble. It was a pleasure coaching them this year."
Barnstable outshot Durfee by a wide margin, 39-14, and controlled play for much of the game, but there was a seven-minute stretch at the beginning of the second period when the Toppers had their chance.
Trailing 2-0 after the first period, where they were out-shot, 11-3, the Hilltoppers and their fans got a boost when senior Juddy Howarth scored on a rebound at 5:41, after Barnstable goalie Luke Harris had made a big stop on senior Kyle Garrant.
Durfee pressed for the equalizer and almost had it when Dustin Andrade unleashed a blistering slap shot from the left point but Harris made his biggest save of the night, flashing the right skate to make the save.
Moments later Andrew Yingling scored, igniting a three-goal burst over a span of four minutes and that pretty much salted the game away.
"We had them on their heels for seven or eight minutes and we couldnt get that second goal," said Carey. "Then they got an easy one at the end of that effort and then an easy one.
"Our guys never quit but that was decisive."
George DeMello scored the games first goal at 6:06 of the first period and then Kyle Phelan scored at 13:17 to give the Raiders their two-goal advantage after the first period.
Goals by Yingling, Kyle Kelly and Mike Garbarcik made it 5-1 and then dashed Durfees last realistic chances when Garbarcik scored a short-handed goal while his team was two-men down with only 18 seconds to play in the period.
Durfee played hard in the third period but aside from a shot by Howarth that hit the left goalpost, the Toppers really didnt come close to beating Harris again.
"Im very proud of these guys," said Carey. "There were 17 teams that qualified (for the Division 1 south sectional) and every one except one is going to lose. I have no complaints. They gave me everything they had and they were never an ounce of trouble. What else can a coach ask."
©The Herald News 2006