The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys varsity hockey team honored those impacted by cancer this past weekend in the 25th annual Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. tournament.
The tournament marked the culmination of the Island hockey team’s jersey fundraiser, which exceeded its initial $5000 goal to benefit the Martha’s Vineyard Cancer Support Group. Families and supporters wore their custom jerseys to the game on Saturday, showing support for loved ones, and filling the stands in white to match the Vineyard players’ uniforms.
The tournament kicked off on Saturday night with Lynnfield and Essex Tech facing off for their league championship game. Essex claimed the league title and advanced to the tournament championship on Sunday morning. In the next matchup of the night, the Vineyard battled Dover-Sherborn for a spot in the final, but fell short in a 4-2 loss.
Despite the defeat, the highlight of the weekend came before the Vineyard game started, when a ceremonial puck drop brought cancer survivors and M.V. Cancer Support Group founders onto the ice to drop four pucks to four sets of Vineyard and Dover-Sherborn centers, honoring those touched by cancer and officially kicking off the tournament weekend.
“It feels wonderful,” said Annemarie Donahue, a founder of the M.V. Cancer Support Group. “We so appreciate all the young men understanding how important it is to reach out and help.”
The next puck dropped on the night was by the referee to start the game, and both the Vineyard and Dover-Sherborn came out hard. Dover-Sherborn struck first with 6:41 still in the first period. Christos Rogaris, No. 2, entered the Vineyard’s offensive zone fast down the right wing boards before making a hard pass across center ice to Hunter Hourihan, No. 10, who tapped the puck in.
The first period ended 1-0 in favor of Dover-Sherborn, and when the second rolled around, they quickly tacked on another goal only a minute into the period, with another speedy offensive-zone entry. Again, Hourihan found the back of the net from a pass from the wing by Rogaris.
And shortly after, the Vineyard went down 0-3 with another wrap by Dover-Sherborn’s Matthew Schuckel, No. 7.
The Vineyard never gave up, though: Adrian Alberghini, No. 11, scored their breakout goal, top right with 1:30 left in the second period, shortening the lead to the most unfavorable lead in hockey, a two-goal lead, 1-3.
The third period started, and the Vineyard had found new life, scoring an early goal just two minutes into the period off a rebound from defenseman Mason Warburton’s shot from the point. The hard shot produced a juicy rebound that Ryan Heidt, No. 9, was ready to put in the back of the net.
But then, after a back-and-forth battle ensued for the tie, a mental error on the Vineyard’s side left senior Captain Chase Toomey, No. 8, on a two-on-one. Toomey took the passer and Vineyard goalie Henry Wansiewicz, No. 30, took on the shooter one-on-one, but the Dover-Sherborn shooter was able to bury the puck top shelf.
Head Coach Matt Mincone said while he was disappointed about the loss, the night and weekend were about a greater cause.
“We have had a tough time scoring goals, but that [ceremony] was the best goal all year,” he said. “It meant something to everybody, and the players may not realize how important it is now, but down the road they will for sure.
“I thought we played pretty much toe-to-toe. We had some critical mistakes that led to two-on-ones.” He added, “The results are not what we wanted, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
On Sunday, Essex defeated Dover-Sherborn 6-4 to win the tournament championship.
The Martha’s Vineyard boys hockey team has one more league game, against Dennis-Yarmouth on Wednesday at home at 4:30 pm. Then they look to the playoffs.
