Nauset Enters State Championship With A Different Mindset

BOURNE – A year ago, the Nauset boys hockey team celebrated the end of a 20-year drought since the program last reached a state championship in 2004. 

Although making it to TD Garden to play for the Division 3 state final felt like the mark of a successful season, Nauset’s players and coaches ultimately left Boston feeling unfulfilled after suffering a 1-0 loss to Marblehead. 

This year is different. 

The top-seeded Warriors (23-0-1) will have a different outlook when they drop the puck against No. 2 Medfield (22-1-1) for this year’ state title at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. 

“The very first delivery I gave to the parents and the players at the beginning of the season was to say our mindset wasn’t right last year,” Nauset coach Connor Brickley said. “Our mindset was to get to the Garden, and that wasn’t it. 

“Our mindset this year is to win the state championship.”

The experience of playing at the home of the Boston Bruins is packed with “holy crap” moments. The excitement begins with an initial awe when the players get off the bus at the arena, and the gravity of the opportunity continues to set in once players settle into the locker room. 

By the time the team makes its way through the Bruins’ tunnel and onto the ice, reality kicks in. It becomes difficult to look around the 19,580-person arena and think anything but, “Man, how cool is this?”

“It’s every kid’s dream to skate on their home team’s ice, so overall it’s a very surreal feeling,” said senior defenseman Jack Martin, a Yarmouth resident. “The biggest thing is skating past the spoked B on the ice.”

“One thing that surprised me was seeing myself up on the jumbotron,” said senior goaltender Zach Coelho, a Truro resident. “I thought that was pretty cool.”

Nauset is hopeful last year’s state championship experience will help fuel a different outcome in this year’s final. The players will be accustomed to their surroundings, familiar with the routine of playing in a state championship, and acquainted with the heart-breaking feeling of leaving TD Garden on the losing end. 

They’ll also be knowledgeable about this year’s opponent, after earning a 3-0 victory over Medfield when the teams met Feb. 17 at Franklin Pirelli Arena. 

“They are big, they are fast, and they can shoot the puck,” Coelho said of Medfield. “They are probably one of the best shooting teams I saw this season.”

After falling behind 1-0 in its 5-1 quarterfinals victory over eighth-seeded Marblehead, Nauset showcased how overwhelming its high-powered attack can be in an 8-0 semifinal rout of fourth-seeded Scituate on Sunday. 

Brickley said getting off to a fast start will be crucial in the final against Medfield, which prides itself on honing a versatile game rooted in speed, toughness and skill.

“We want to get off to a fast start,” Brickley said. “We want to get that goose egg off the scoreboard as fast as possible — that’s a game within the game. We need to get by that little mental block and start on time.”

While the Warriors will undoubtedly experience plenty of “How cool is this?” moments throughout their return to the Garden, they’ll be met with feelings of different expectations about the golden opportunity in front of them.

“Walking out through the Bruins tunnel and under the bright lights is pretty cool, but I think it’s different this year,” said senior Logan Poulin, a Truro resident. “It’s more about winning a state championship than wanting to get to the Garden like we did last year.”

Tickets for Sunday’s state championship cost $20 and must be purchased online through Ticketmaster at tinyurl.com/ycxrxnut. Tickets are good for each of the six state championship games being played Sunday, though fans cannot leave TD Garden and return without another ticket.