Back To Boston: Nauset Routs Scituate To Advance To State Final Vs. Medfield

BOURNE – The top-seeded Nauset boys hockey team is heading back to Boston on the heels of one of its most dominant performances of the season. 

Nauset cruised to an 8-0 victory over fourth-seeded Scituate in the state semifinals on Sunday at Gallo Ice Arena to earn its second consecutive trip to the Division 3 state championship. 

The Warriors (23-0-1) will meet No. 2 Medfield (22-1-1) at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at TD Garden with the state title on the line. 

“You’re going to see the same thing as when we got to the Marblehead game and the same way Scituate wants to play as well,” Nauset coach Connor Brickley said of the Medfield matchup. “[Medfield] likes to get up and down the ice, they like to play north-south, they like to keep things simple. 

“They are a well-coached team and they have good structure within their team game.”

There wasn’t as much hoopla surrounding this year’s semifinal as when the Warriors earned their trip to last year’s state final, which resulted in a 1-0 loss to Marblehead. 

Nauset trotted out to an early 3-0 lead over Scituate (19-5-2) after sophomore Sam Mayhew, junior Max Lanzetta and senior Colin Ward each tallied goals during the opening period. 

Senior Logan Poulin netted a pair of second-period goals before juniors Jake Eldredge and Oscar Escher and sophomore Colin Sullivan also lit the lamp to fuel the rout. 

“We were going into it thinking it was going to be a close game, whether we played Scituate or not,” said Poulin, a Truro resident. “We came out firing the way we should have. 

“We were moving our feet really well and out-physicaled them — that really set the tempo right away.”

Brickley said the Warriors’ 5-1 victory over eighth-seeded Marblehead in the quarterfinals and Sunday’s semifinal win showed that the squad is “so hyperfocused” at the right time. 

“I’ve seen it time and time again with all these games,” the coach said. “The Final Four game last year, everyone was fired up. The fans were going crazy and the kids were going crazy because that meant we were going to the Garden. 

“When we won on Sunday, the kids recognized we’ve been here and done that.”

This year’s team is entering the Garden contest with a different mindset. They are no longer satisfied with having the opportunity to play at the home of the Boston Bruins — now they want to bring home a title. 

“We were a very, very good hockey team last year,” Brickley said. “I’d say we were the best team in Division 3, but we didn’t win that ultimate award of winning the state championship. 

“That will always be an asterisk. We want to climb the mountain and stay at the top of the mountain and win that championship game to give the ultra checkmark to the season and to really cap it off the right way this time.”