On Sunday at Providence College’s Schneider Arena the Patriots defeated this season’s new co-op team, Blackstone Valley Schools (BVS), to win the Division 2 state championship.  In doing so, the team also accomplished a feat last attained 39 years ago.  It was 1985, the last time an RIIL hockey team in any division finished the regular season lower than fourth place then went on to win the championship.  Portsmouth, which finished the season in fifth place, came on strong as the playoffs loomed.  The team, peaking at the right time, then vanquished three higher seeds to claim the championship.

Portsmouth controlled the game from the opening faceoff.  By the time the first period was halfway done, the team had built a three-goal lead on just four shots on goal.  Chase Pascoe struck first followed by Dan Biello and Hadrian Doughtry all within the span of just four minutes.  It was enough that the BVS coach took the unusual step of calling a time out to settle his team.  It worked well enough, helped by the fact that the Patriots spent over half of the remaining period successfully killing three penalties. 

The Patriots added to their lead early in the second period when Shane Temple scored on a power play.  That was followed shortly after by BVS getting on the scoreboard for the first time.  Two minutes later BVS was back in the penalty box and Connor Rogers buried the puck in the opponent’s net to put Portsmouth back on top 5-1.  At that point having allowed five goals on just 11 PHS shots, the BVS coach decided it was time to change goalies.

The new BVS goalie kept the Patriots from adding to their lead but was, as in the first period, helped once again by PHS playing shorthanded twice in the latter half of the period.  With Portsmouth owning a commanding four-goal lead, the teams headed to the dressing rooms when the horn sounded to end the second period.

Portsmouth continued to be vexed by penalties in the third period.  The Patriots are among the best in the division at killing penalties, but no team is perfect when shorthanded.  And so it was, on the sixth BVS power play of the game they managed to get the puck past Johnny Cabral in goal for Portsmouth.  The tally brought BVS back to within three goals of the lead once again with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation time.

With less than five minutes left in the third period, PHS was penalized for the seventh time.  At the point of desperation, BVS pulled its goalie to skate six-on-four as their power play began.  The PHS penalty killers once again held off their opponent and allowed only one shot on goal the entire two minutes. 

The BVS goalie remained out of the net when Portsmouth returned to full strength.  With just under a minute and a half left, Dan Biello scored into the empty net to seal the win.

The final score was 6-2 in favor of Portsmouth.  BVS outshot PHS 21-20 in the game.  Cabral made 19 saves to earn his fourth consecutive playoff win and deliver the championship.

Game Notes:

• Dan Biello (2 goals/1 Assist) and Connor Rogers (1 goal / 2 assists) each finished the game with 3 points.
• Shane Temple had one assist to go with his goal, and Luke Brule also had one assist.
• The championship was PHS’ second as a Division 2 team.  The Patriots’ previous won the D2 championship in 2010.  During 15 seasons the team made five trips to the finals, winning twice, and finishing as runner up three times.
• During the post-game awards presentation, Shane Temple was honored by the referees as the playoffs’ Most Valuable Player.
• Shane Temple’s second period goal marked his 100th point as a PHS player (see separate news item)
• Post game, Coach Cunningham awarded Patriots netminder, Johnny Cabral, the game puck, and he was selected as the Star of the Game by his teammates.
• Word of the championship spread quickly.  On the return trip, as the team bus crossed back into Rhode Island on Route 24, it was met by a Portsmouth Police cruiser which provided an escort all the way back to the Abbey.