FRAMINGHAM – For much of the scoreless first period of a Div. 1 state quarterfinal Wednesday night, the Xaverian boys hockey team looked every bit of the program that’s made each of the last three state semifinals.
But No. 1 Pope Francis knows a thing or two about making adjustments against the Hawks.
Behind a 28-save gem from senior Nick Ritchie, a go-ahead goal from Quinn Woytowicz in the second period, and two more goals from junior Matt Regan, the Cardinals (21-4) edged No. 8 Xaverian at Loring Arena in a game much closer than the 4-1 final score, winning the rematch of the 2023 Div. 1 state final.
The Hawks (15-7-1) cut a two-goal deficit in half in the final two minutes, but Ritchie was unbeatable otherwise, and Mike McGrath and Regan each scored on empty-netters to seal it.
Pope Francis returns to the Final Four after a second-round exit last year and is set to next play the winner of Thursday’s No. 4 Catholic Memorial versus No. 12 Archbishop Williams game.
“We’re hyped,” Regan said. “It means the world to me to be able to help these guys get there, and we’re going to have a blast. We’re having a blast right now.”
“It’s amazing, especially being able to represent your school and the whole Western Mass. like that, back in 2023,” Ritchie added. “To have a chance to do that again is pretty special.”
Head coach Brian Foley felt Pope Francis didn’t play well in the first period, but Ritchie’s 11 saves ensured the game remained scoreless heading into the break.
It’s there that Foley asked his players how many of them were with the team when the Cardinals beat Xaverian at TD Garden in 2023, to which only Ritchie, McGrath and Matteo Cuccovia responded.
“When we played them in the Garden two years ago, we had a bad first period,” Foley said. “It just reminded me of that game, and we came back to win. So, I was just trying to give them a little story of, ‘We’ve been here before.’ ”
“We’ve been in that situation before against Xaverian,” Ritchie added. “It really doesn’t matter how we start, we’ve just got to finish strong.”
Pope Francis answered the call with a dominant second period, out-shooting Xaverian 13-6 in the only period it out-shot the Hawks. Xaverian goalie Michael Bulkin (25 saves) played stellar in net, but Mason Thayer’s shot off Bulkin’s pads was followed with a rebound goal from Woytowicz with 3:02 left in the frame for a 1-0 lead.
“We just upped our intensity and just played a little harder,” Regan said. “We just calmed down, calmed the nerves and just went on.”
It wasn’t too long after, early in the third, that Regan found space on a 2-on-1, which he kept himself. His snipe made it 2-0 with 12:27 left.
“That second goal in the third by Regan was huge,” Foley said.
Xaverian was limited in its dangerous scoring opportunities, largely due to strong defensive play in front of Ritchie. But only 13 seconds after head coach Dave Spinale pulled Bulkin, the Hawks cut the deficit in half on a wrap-around goal from Devin Gosciak with 1:47 left.
“I was (counting down the seconds) a little bit,” Ritchie said. “But I knew the guys in front of me weren’t going to let up until that buzzer went off. So, I was confident.”
McGrath shot from beyond the red line for an empty-netter with 51.1 seconds left. Nine seconds later, Regan tallied one to ice the win.