Hulten, Chicoine Deliver For Dolphins In OT Victory Over Bishop Stang

SOUTH DENNIS – The Dolphins earned a signature win they can build upon. 

 Despite building an early lead in the opening seconds of Saturday’s nonleague contest against Bishop Stang, the Dennis-Yarmouth/Cape Cod Tech/Cape Cod Academy co-op boys hockey team found itself trailing the Spartans late in the third period. 

 Cape Tech senior defenseman Max Hulten netted the game-tying goal with just under a minute remaining before his Tech classmate Tanner Chicoine put home a rebound with 1:22 left in overtime to lift DY/CCT/CCA to a 3-2 OT win over Bishop Stang at Tony Kent Arena. 

 “This is huge,” said DY/CCT/CCA coach Lew Alberti. “I think the kids have been working really hard the past couple of weeks, especially since the holiday break, so for them to see it pay off is huge. Going down by that goal was a little deflating, but they didn’t give up.”

 Hulten gave the Dolphins (3-3) an early 1-0 lead just 23 seconds into the contest after he buried a wrist shot from the blue line. 

The visiting Spartans (6-0-1) rallied to answer with a pair of goals, including a go-ahead goal by senior Matt Burt that gave Stang a 2-1 lead with 7:19 remaining in the third period. 

With sophomore goaltender Will McAdams sitting on the bench and an extra skater on the ice in the waning minutes, Hulten buried another shot from the blue line to tie the game 2-2 with less than a minute in regulation. 

“It was all or nothing right there,” Hulten said of the game-tying goal. “It was so important to get that — it helped lead us to our win.”

During the 4-on-4 overtime, Alberti opted to utilize four forwards in an effort to ramp up the offensive intensity against the Spartans. The coach’s strategy paid off once Chicoine found himself left uncovered in front of Stang’s net with enough space to deposit a rebound and lift the Dolphins to a win.

“I believe Matt Swartz had the shot (from the blue line) and I just saw it was wide open,” said Chicoine, a Dennis resident. “I got behind the defender, it went off his pad and the backdoor was open. I just threw a backhander into the back of the net.”

Chicoine said the come-from-behind nature of the win is something the Dolphins can build on. 

“It’s massive,” he said. “Coming into the rink, they are an undefeated 6-0 team and everyone sees how low we are in the power rankings and thought they were just going to come here and have an easy game.

“It was a little bit rough at the beginning of the year in our first game against Martha’s Vineyard, but we’re coming together as one and that’s the biggest thing.”

Alberti said it’s “huge” to see the seniors shine in clutch situations to lead the Dolphins to a win.

“We’re young,” the coach said. “We only have four seniors and 22 underclassmen, so we’re relying on those kids. To have a game like this is huge for the younger kids. The rink was jamming and the excitement and entertainment value for the kids is huge.”