The Portsmouth hockey team ended its regular season campaign with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Cranston West Falcons Friday afternoon at the Cranston Vets rink.

The Patriots got off to a quick start with two goals in the first four minutes of the game.  Luke West opened the scoring for Portsmouth with an assist from Finn O’Connor two minutes ino the first period.  Just over two minutes later Oliver Melanson netted a power play goal to put the team ahead 2-0.  Melanson was assisted on his tally by Connor Rogers and Luke Brule.

Shortly after Portsmouth’s second goal the team’s momentum vanished, and the Falcons roared back with a mid-period goal and another with less than a minute left before the first intermission.  The first period ended with the score tied at two goals apiece.

Cranston scored two more goals in the second period, once again, one mid-period and the other with less than a minute to play before the period ended.  Down 4-2, Luke Brule pulled the team back to within a goal of the lead when he scored with 11 seconds remaining before the buzzer ended the period.  Chase Marston provided the assist on the goal.

Portsmouth kept Cranston off the scoreboard in the third period.  With the clock nearing the end of regulation time, Luke Brule struck for the second time in the game.  His unassisted goal with two and a half minutes remaining in the period tied the score at 4-4 and eventually sent it to overtime.

Skating four players on a side, the sudden death overtime period didn’t last long. Just a minute and a half into the extra session the Falcons got a shot past the Patriot’s goalie, Logan Garcia, to win the game with a final score of 5-4.

Portsmouth outshot Cranston 40-18 in the game.  The team was successful in scoring on the sole power play it had early in the game.  PHS also succeeded in killing its three penalties which left the team shorthanded. 

Game Notes

• PHS finished the regular season having allowed only 26 goals in 16 league games - a new team record.  The previous record for goals allowed was 28 set during the 2007-08 season.
• The loss ended the Patriots’ bid to extend the team’s eight-game winning streak to a ninth game.  The squad’s run of eight regular season league game victories equals the team’s record for consecutive wins which was set last season
• Chase Marston’s assist on Luke Brule’s second period goal was the first of his high school career.

Portsmouth has now completed its 2025-26 schedule of regular season league games.  The team is currently in first place in division 2, but several other teams, including Lincoln and East Greenwich / Toll Gate, the second and third place teams respectively, still have games to play.  Unlike with traditional hockey standings, the RPI system in use by RIIL makes it impossible to foretell the effect the possible outcomes of those other teams’ games could have on the final standings.  Whatever the final ranking turns out to be Portsmouth will have to wait until all the regular season games are complete to find out who its playoff quarterfinal opponent will be.  As soon as that information is available it will be published here on this website.