HINGHAM — Around this time last year, a heavily favored Hingham boys hockey team was stunned via upset in the Div. 1 state tournament’s second round.
The veteran-laden Harbormen didn’t forget.
Four seniors combined for all six goals Saturday at Pilgrim Arena, powering No. 6 Hingham to a 6-0 win over No. 11 Weymouth in a second-round matchup.
Cam McKenna and Colman Donohue each scored twice, overcoming a deceptively strong showing in net from Wildcats goalie Billy Lennon (28 saves) to help the Harbormen (16-6-2) advance to the state quarterfinals. The team they’ll face there, No. 14 Arlington Catholic, pulled off the very same upset (over No. 3 St. John’s Prep) that 18 Hingham seniors were intent on preventing this time.
How much was that, and not wasting their last opportunity together, on their minds?
“Oh, the whole time,” McKenna said. “I mean, it’s the first time I think ever that we’ve gotten to have a second round (game) here at Pilgrim. We’re not going to lose in our home barn. It’s never going to happen, especially with how many seniors we have here.”
Much of that confidence and urgency showed up right away with Hingham tilting the ice for an 18-3 shots on goal advantage in the first period. Lennon turned away much of it in a scoreless first eight minutes, but senior Sean Carroll set up McKenna for the go-ahead goal on a power play with 6:50 left in the first period.
Just over two minutes later, Donohue rushed alongside junior Brendan McCarthy (two assists), and wristed in his feed for a 2-0 lead.
“Hingham-Weymouth game, anything can happen,” Hingham head coach Tony Messina said. “I’ve probably been in these games … as a player, probably 10 times playing them. As a coach, probably, 50, 60, 70 times. Not all the time, the team with the best talent wins. It’s who plays the hardest, who plays with emotion. And I thought we had emotion from the beginning. We played physical, we played hard, the way that we have to.”
Setting the tone early is a key focus for every team in tournament time, especially when facing a Weymouth group riding a nine-game win streak. Potting the first goal against their dynamic goalie was a major boost.
“I think it just gave us the momentum and confidence to keep going from there,” McKenna said.
The Wildcats slowed down the shots after the first, but Lennon still faced several dangerous bids. Hingham potted two more goals in the second period, though, off McKenna’s one-timer in the left circle and Donohue’s shot from the left point through traffic.
Senior Nick Smith then netted a 5-0 lead from the top of the right circle during 4-on-4 play early in the third, and his breakout pass to senior Quinn Allen at the red line set him up for a shorthanded goal to cap the scoring.
Senior James Whitmore had seven of his 13 saves in the third period, pairing with an excellent job from the whole team to secure the shutout.
“Leadership’s been great all year,” Messina said. “Not only the captains, not only the guys that have been on the team last year … but new seniors to the team. It’s been great. Even the underclassmen … everyone’s been here before.”
Midway through the year, McKenna suffered a shoulder injury initially feared to be a potential season-ender.
He instead returned six games later. Now, he has five goals through two tournament games. Donohue, who didn’t score a goal all regular season, has three.
“We’re just not taking any team lightly,” McKenna said. “You see upsets all the time, every year. You know that every team is going to give us their best, and we’ve got to just want it more. We’ve got to out-play them, out-battle them.”
