NEWBURYPORT — There was no way it could end like this.
For the 12 seniors on the Triton hockey roster who’ve mostly been playing together since mites, for the 40 combined wins the program has accumulated over the past three years, for all of the playoff success that has come along with it … you couldn’t end your high school career on the wrong end of a massive upset. But yet, just two minutes into the second period of Wednesday’s Division 3 first round game, the No. 5 Vikings found themselves trailing a scrappy, upset-minded No. 28 Diman Tech squad by two goals.
The red flag wasn’t all of the way up yet, but it was flying at half mast.
“We definitely had to pick up the energy and start playing better in our D-zone,” said forward Luke Sullivan, one of those 12 seniors. “Then we had to clean up the penalties.”
Thankfully for everyone involved with the program, the Vikings did.
When the dust finally settled at the Graf, Triton proved to be too experienced, physical and skilled, and would score five unanswered goals the rest of game to eventually pull away from the Bengals for the 6-3 victory. It’s a win that sends the Vikings to the Division 3 Round of 16 for the third straight year (2022-23: Final Four; 2023-24: Ro16), where they’ll host No. 12 Watertown on Sunday for a 6 p.m. puck drop.
“Survive and advance,” joked Triton coach Ryan Sheehan.
Sure, Wednesday night’s playoff showing wasn’t the best for Triton (14-5-2).
But the fact still remains that when faced with some major adversity, the Vikings didn’t crumble under the pressure. Then, again, for a senior class that has experienced so much success together over the past few years, keeping that state championship dream alive and making it back to the Round of 16 is a feeling that can’t be replicated.
“I think we have a great program,” said Sullivan. “We’ve had the same coaching staff all four years, and I think they’ve done a good job of coaching us and making us into the team we are today. … It’s definitely really meaningful (to win), but it’s definitely a scary time, too. You know, it’s one-and-done now. But we’ve been playing together all our lives, and we’re ready to go all the way this year.”
Now, what do they always say is the first key to an upset?
Belief.
Something that Diman Tech (11-9-1) had in spades to open the game. It was back-and-forth early, but the Bengals would take the lead when Caleb Faria poked home a rebound. And even after Sullivan scored off a pass from Mason Colby to tie the game at 1-1 after the first period, the Bengals would take advantage of a 5-on-3 early in the second with a Kane Aguiar goal, followed by Faria backhanding in his second to make it 3-1 just two minutes in.
At that point, it was fair to say that Triton was out of sorts.
But the senior leadership, not wanting to see their careers come to an end, finally woke up.
It started with Vinny Magee scoring a “sloppy goal,” jamming in a rebound during a scum in front of the net for the third goal during the opening three minutes of the second period. Sullivan would then slide a pass back to Colby for the one-timer to tie things at 3-3 with nine minutes left, and the Vikings would finally take their first lead after Josh Hersey perfectly played a bouncing puck off the back wall, and blasted a shot that buried top shelf.
“I think later in the season we’ve been moving the puck a lot more,” said Sullivan. “We’re finding the open guy and then catching the goalie off guard, so that’s led to us scoring a lot more.”
From a two-goal deficit, Triton clawed back to take a 4-3 lead into the third.
Lucas Tinkham would give the Vikings some cushion after converting a breakaway chance, then with six minutes left, Sullivan delivered the dagger off a perfect feed from Michael Taylor. Senior netminder Gavin Marengi also settled down after a frantic opening few minutes of the second period, shutting the door the rest of the way to squash any late chance of a comeback attempt.
Triton 6, Diman Tech 3
Diman Tech (11-9-1): 1 2 0 — 3
Triton (14-5-2): 1 3 2 — 6
Division 3 First Round
Goals: T — Luke Sullivan 2, Vinny Magee, Mason Colby, Josh Hersey, Lucas Tinkham; D — Caleb Faria 2, Kane Aguiar
Assists: T — Connor Rumph 2, Colby, Sullivan, Cullen Kohan, Magee, Michael Taylor; D — Jesse Costa 2, Landen Freitas, Ryan Sandford, Matt Almeida, Jacoby Brouillard
Saves: T — Gavin Marengi 24; D — Trent Souza 32