UPDATE: This article has been updated with comments from Marlborough Head Coach Mike O’Brien.
BOSTON – The Marlborough High School boys hockey team’s storybook 2021-2022 season came to end on Sunday, with the team coming up just short in their state finals game against Hanover.
Taking the ice under the bright lights at the TD Garden in Boston, the Panthers lost by a score of 5-3.
“It’s disappointing, for sure, but it’s also something we can learn from,” Head Coach Mike O’Brien told reporters after the game.
Hanover takes early lead
Hanover opened the scoring with two quick goals in the first period against Marlborough.
The Panthers answered with Luc Masse first halving the Hawks’ lead.
Marcus Chrisafideis subsequently tied the game while on the power play, knotting things at 2-2.
The teams traded goals in the second period, with Hanover jumping out to a 3-2 lead only to see Marlborough’s Mark Evangelous snag a game-tying goal.
Marlborough went on an extended penalty kill from there, though, falling behind, once again heading into the third period.
Down 4-3, the Panthers pushed to tie things.
But Hanover held on, adding an empty net goal with just over 40 seconds left in the game.
“They battled back twice from behind,” O’Brien said of his team, adding “I’m disappointed in the outcome, but I couldn’t be prouder of those guys in the room.”
Marlborough thanks hockey community
The loss capped a high-flying season for the Panthers that saw them rack up early season tournament wins in the Boroughs Cup and Daily News Cup brackets, beating area rivals Algonquin in both cases.
They snagged dominant victories outside of that, including a 9-0 rout of Lexington on Feb. 2.
They also eked out narrow wins, including a 4-3 overtime triumph in their district quarterfinals game against Danvers on March 11.
All this galvanized the local hockey community behind what was a top ranked Marlborough squad under state power rankings.
“It’s unbelievable,” O’Brien told reporters after Marlborough’s semifinals win over Lynnfield last week.
He noted the presence of past generations of Marlborough High School hockey players who, he said, had been attending games and showing their support in large numbers this year.
That crowd included Bobby Butler, who, before embarking on a more than 10-year professional career, helped lead the Panthers to a state championship in 2005.
Butler praised this year’s Marlborough boys hockey team in comments to the Community Advocate back in January.
“Watching them and what Coach O’Brien has done with this group is pretty cool,” he said.
O’Brien, in turn, noted the role of people like Butler as inspiration for his players, particularly this year.
“They look up to Bob, and they should, because it’s nice to see that a former Marlborough High player can go play hockey at the highest level,” he said on Sunday
‘There’s a lot of excitement around the team’
Fans gathered early in Boston this weekend as they had in Marlborough all season long, first piling onto a stairway outside the TD Garden on Sunday morning for a group photo as a collective sea of black and orange.
They then filed into the arena.
“The community has been awesome to these guys and we can’t thank them enough,” O’Brien said after the Lynnfield win.
He reiterated that message after this finals loss.
“I’m really happy that there’s a lot of excitement around the team again and that’s 100% the kids,” he said.
Ultimately, O’Brien is looking to the future, seeing promise in a team with a number of younger players set to return to the ice next winter.
Marlborough last won a state championship in 2005. Indeed, O’Brien is confident that his program will one day hoist that trophy again.
“We’re all Panthers for life, and when we do crack through again, every guy that played at Marlborough High will share in that victory,” he said.
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