Island Hockey Wins, Advancing to State Championship Play

By JOSHUA SABATINI

The Martha's Vineyard Regional High School varsity boys'
hockey team defeated the defending state champions Sunday, earning a
trip this weekend to Boston's Fleet Center to play for the state
championship title.

Through the regular season, first-year head coach Matt Mincone and
his players knew they had what it took to contend against the toughest
teams in their Division II South league.

But some key losses during the season left spectators questioning
the Vineyard's ability to go the distance.

At the Chelmsford Ice Arena Sunday afternoon, the Vineyard team,
seeded fourth in the south sectional finals, fought off the number-two
seeded Duxbury to come away with a stunning 3-0 victory. "Our
playing was nothing short of excellent," said Mr. Mincone.

It was a week after the team's magical 5-2 win against the
top-seeded Sandwich in the semifinals. During the regular season, the
Island beat Sandwich 6-3 only to lose 4-2 when they met again.

Defying the odds, the boys proved they have what it takes to become
champions. The Duxbury High Dragons were 43-1-2 against Division II
opponents since 1998, and this season the team averaged better than five
goals a game. The Vineyarders moved from Division III to Division II for
the 2002 season and have refused to cower before the new challenges.

The drive to Chelmsford, bordering New Hampshire, took the Vineyard
team and its fans more than two hours, by far the longest trip made this
season for a game. The Island skaters had to catch the 9:30 a.m. boat to
prepare for the 2:50 p.m. game, but they did not succumb to fatigue.

The Vineyard side of the arena was packed Sunday afternoon with more
than a 150 dedicated fans whose spirit gave the Island team the sense of
playing on home ice.

"V-I-N-E-Y-A-R-D - Vineyard!" boomed the crowd
just before the puck hit the ice for the opening face-off. Duxbury came
out skating fast and overwhelmed the Vineyard, keeping the puck in the
Island zone and firing a storm of shots on goalie Jeff Smadbeck. But it
was the junior goalie who made one athletic save after another for all
45 minutes, shutting down Duxbury's ferocious offense despite an
array of quality shots on net.

There were slap shots from the blue line, breakaways, one-touch
shots, sudden wrist snaps, but all came to naught as Smadbeck made glove
saves, stick saves, pad saves and covered saves, 35 in all, that left
Duxbury scratching their heads.

One Duxbury fan called out from the stands, "Shoot the puck,
he can't save them all!" But save them all he did.

"[Smadbeck] had a miraculous game," said Mr. Mincone.
"He had 10 phenomenal saves."

Duxbury's onslaught slackened when the first penalty of the
game - for slashing - was called against them with 9:27
remaining in the first period. The Vineyard pressed hard, keeping the
puck in Duxbury's zone. Fifty-one seconds into the penalty, Derek
Avakian, positioned midway between the blue line and goal, received a
crisp pass from teammate Kraig Mundt and fired a slapshot into the top
right corner of the Duxbury net.

The Vineyard fans erupted with applause.

Duxbury, back to five men, returned with intensity. But the
Island's solid defense, led by senior captain Tim Bettencourt,
controlled the opponents' fire.

With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Duxbury
made a mistake that left two Islanders, Kraig Mundt and John Gibson,
with the puck, breaking from the neutral zone and facing just one
defenseman.

Gibson took the puck toward the goal, luring the defenseman toward
him. At the last second, Gibson passed the puck to Mundt who backhanded
it across the front of the goalie into the right side of the net for a
score.

Coach Mincone, donned in a blue cap, patted his players on the
shoulders and spoke words of encouragement as they headed into the
locker room up 2-0.

"Going to the game, I knew how good Duxbury was. I told the
team, ‘They're just high school kids, too. Do not
underestimate yourselves,'" Mr. Mincone said.

In the locker room, Mr. Mincone told his 22 players they'd won
the first of three 15-minute games and must win the next two. He had
watched Duxbury, in its semifinals game, score two goals with just 19
seconds left on the game clock. "We were not safe until the horn
blew," said Mr. Mincone.

In the second period, the Dragons appeared stunned by
Vineyard's lead and lackluster compared to their energy out of the
starting gates. Throughout the second period, both Duxbury's
sophomore goalie Mike Zarella and the Vineyard's Smadbeck
displayed stellar goaltending, leaving fans on both sides of the arena
in awe.

With 5:08 in the second period, two penalties called on the Vineyard
left the Island team two men short for more than a minute of play. The
Vineyard's Max Sherman, Ben Gunn and Brandyn Sylvia kept their
composure and fended off Duxbury's attack until the penalty time
expired. During the penalty time, Island fans watched in suspense as a
series of shots flew at Smadbeck, who even defended the net for some 20
seconds without his stick.

In the third period, Duxbury, feeling their season's end upon
them, showed its discipline and skill, running tight and patient
offensive plays, continuing to threaten the Island's lead.

But the minutes remaining turned into seconds. Duxbury pulled their
goalie. With 22 seconds on the clock, Gunn stole the puck from a frantic
Duxbury offense, skated up the ice with Draggons in pursuit and sealed
the Vineyard's win by shooting the puck into the open net.

Back in mid-January, Coach Mincone and his team traveled to
Cambridge to take on Boston Latin. He asked the bus driver to make sure
he passed by the Fleet Center. When they did, the coach turned to his
players and said, "We went this way for a reason. It's time
to bring the trophy back to the Island."

The Vineyard team travels Sunday to the Boston Fleet Center to take
on St. Mary's, another school which moved from Division III to
Division II this year as well. The 9:30 a.m. boat will connect Islanders
with fan buses going to the Fleet Center Sunday morningg. The price for
travel is $10; Fleet Center admission is separate. To reserve a seat,
call Gail Avakian at 508-627-4919.