BOSTON — While Colin Ward, Jake Eldredge, Logan Poulin, and Zach Coelho discussed their hard-earned victory in the state finals, the Independent spoke with some of the Warriors’ rising stars.
“I couldn’t wish for anything better,” said Wellfleet’s Jaxen Meads, a forward and the team’s only freshman. “That first goal will definitely be remembered,” he said, referring to Poulin’s third-period icebreaker.
Meads has been playing hockey for more than a decade: he joined the Lower Cape Coyotes at Charles Moore Arena when he was only four. He’ll have big shoes to fill next year with so many stars graduating, but he’s excited to rise to the challenge.
Defender Braxton Bassett, a sophomore from Brewster who played on Nauset’s junior varsity last year, said he felt “blessed” to be part of the Warriors’ victory. The JV and varsity didn’t practice together last year; Bassett was happy to play alongside Nauset’s best. “I knew I would become an overall better player,” he said.
“We just kept pushing ourselves,” said forward Seamus Shanahan, another sophomore from Brewster. “Next year we’re going to continue with that winning culture — we want to do it for the fans and for each other.”
Truro’s Colton Jansen, a sophomore forward, said that taking the title was the first thing the team spoke about when he joined it this season. “We decided we were going to have the toughest schedule,” he said — referring to the coaches matching the Warriors against other high-ranking teams — “and it would help us win it all this year.”
Because of that schedule, Jansen said, it was difficult to tell which games were the hardest: “Every game was just another one in the column,” he said. “We had tunnel vision. We didn’t look back.”
Next year, Jansen said, fans can expect more of the same. Only six of Nauset’s 22 players are graduating, which means a majority of the team will have a championship game under their belt — and many will have two.
Jansen also said Nauset will continue to be the best third-period team in the league. When asked why the Warriors often wait until the third period to bring out their best play, Jansen grinned: “The third period is the one that matters the most,” he said.
