FRAMINGHAM – Duxbury boys hockey coach Mike Flaherty has been a part of some special games coaching in the CT/MA Cross-Border All-Star Challenge. He admits that probably none will ever top the opportunity he received when he coached his son twice in years past.
The most exciting game is a whole different story, though, and an epic comeback in the CT/MA Senior All-Star Game Sunday afternoon at Loring Arena takes the cake by far.
After forcing a shootout with a late, three-goal rally in the first year the decade-old challenge took place in Mass., the home team finished off a 10-9 win when Charlie DiMartino (Braintree) and Aidan Brazel (Hingham) each tallied shootout scores as Wellesley goalie Reagan O’Neill stymied both Connecticut attempts in extra time. Brazel (two goals, two assists) proved exceptionally clutch by assisting on Frank DeTraglia’s (Lincoln-Sudbury) game-tying goal before scoring to give MA a brief 9-8 lead with 2:18 to go, eventually earning the team’s MVP honors with his heroics.
“You never forget (coaching your son), but as far as pure excitement level and fan excitement, this is probably the best one,” Flaherty said. “This was a good one. This was fun. … A lot of these guys are done playing competitively, and for them to go out on a moment like this is pretty cool.”
“Playing with all the South Shore guys, we grew up all together, it’s been a fun game,” Brazel added. “We’re down three at the end there, it was really good to rally together and comeback to win this one.”
Historically, MA has dominated this senior matchup. But amid a back-and-forth first couple periods that put it ahead 6-5 entering the final frame, CT had different plans this time around.
Fairfield Co-op’s connection between Ryan Tymon (two goals, two assists) and Ryan Flynn (two goals, assist) made sure every MA goal was met with a CT response as the game progressed. Even after Zach McHugh’s (Newburyport) goal late in the second cut MA’s deficit to one, Flynn’s score midway through the third paired with Austin Ashby’s (Trumbull) tally with just under six minutes left to pin MA down 8-5 with little time remaining.
Yet, Liam Capplis (Xaverian) got one back just 15 seconds later to cut the deficit back to two goals. Kyle Hutchinson (Braintree) took a feed from DiMartino with 4:58 to cut it even further for MA’s first set of consecutive scores. DeTraglia’s tip just a minute later to tie it seemed like a perfect cap to a highly-improbable rally, only for Brazel to boost MA further for a 9-8 lead that few would’ve predicted just three minutes prior.
“We went into the locker room after the second period and said to the guys, ‘What do we want to do here? Do we want to sort of tighten it up a little bit and try to win, or just want to play it out,’” Flaherty said. “Every guy in that room said, ‘No coach, let’s do something here, let’s figure out how to win.’ That tells you a little bit about them and their make-up. There’s always a lot of pride in these games. You’re playing for Massachusetts, you’re playing for your school. … You always want to win this one, you always want the bragging rights.”
Ashby and CT weren’t quite done, as his goal with 1:29 to play answered the rally and forced the shootout. It wasn’t enough to flip momentum back in its favor, though, as MA finished off the first two bids in extra time for yet another win.
“Happy to hit (the shootout goal),” Brazel said. “I think that’s a great team over there, props to them. … This means the world for Massachusetts. Playing against them is always a fun game, so we want to keep (the winning tradition) going along.”