BOSTON — The Nauset Regional High School boys hockey team completed a year-long quest for its first-ever state title by scoring four unanswered goals in the final period to defeat Medfield 4-1 in the Division 3 championship on Sunday at TD Garden. The victory came almost a year to the day after a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Marblehead in the 2024 finals.
Senior captain Logan Poulin of Truro told the Independent after last year’s loss, “I have no doubt we’ll be here next year with a different outcome.” Coach Connor Brickley and his team embraced that goal throughout the season and were not shy about saying so. But Nauset walked the talk — it was the only one of 12 high school hockey teams (boys and girls) who made the trip to the Garden in 2024 to return in 2025.
The top-seeded Warriors entered the finals as the only undefeated team in Massachusetts at 23-0-1. But Medfield, the number 2 seed, was a worthy opponent. If not for a 3-0 loss to Nauset in February, it would have been Medfield claiming the honor as the state’s lone undefeated team.
“We knew they were a hardworking team,” said Colin Ward, one of Nauset’s alternate captains, after the game, “but we knew we had what it takes to win.”
The first period was scoreless as the teams felt each other out. Senior goalie Zach Coelho made several solid stops in the first five minutes but nothing that required his usual acrobatics. If Medfield was testing him, it would have to do better. Almost 10 minutes in, Medfield’s John Shaughnessy did, firing a shot that eluded Coelho but glanced off the crossbar and went harmlessly into the corner. Junior Zach Weiner had Nauset’s best opportunity to score in the period as he charged down the right side with less than a minute remaining and made a nifty move to get by his defender, but his wrister was deflected by Charlie Duggan, Medfield’s senior goaltender.
Medfield had a slight edge in the first period, with Coelho standing firm and the defense making key plays. If this had been boxing, the round would have gone to Medfield on points.
The Warriors picked up the pace to open the second stanza. Poulin ripped a shot from the left slot five minutes in, but it found part of Duggan’s glove and rolled harmlessly through the goalmouth just wide of the net. Then Medfield senior captain Joe Nee jumped on a loose puck just inside the circle and fired it past a helpless Coelho at the 7:26 mark. For only the second time in its playoff run, Nauset found itself down by a goal. The Warriors put on the pressure for the remainder of the period but couldn’t break through, as Duggan remained stalwart in the Medfield net.
Then came the third period. All season, Nauset’s offense, which averaged over five goals a game, was as certain as erosion and equally as devastating. An eroding beach bluff slowly and imperceptibly gives way until suddenly the whole house falls into the ocean. Medfield’s house crumbled after just 49 seconds, when Poulin appeared to tie the contest on a deflection after a scramble out front. The referees waved the goal off, however, calling goalie interference and silencing a Nauset celebration.
Poulin, who entered the game with 51 goals, was upset. But Nauset continued to control play, forcing Medfield to ice the puck several times in desperation. Finally, with 11:17 left, Nauset got the equalizer as Poulin slammed in a rebound in a crowd.
“I was lucky to elevate the puck,” said Poulin after the game, clutching the championship trophy as if he would never let go.
Poulin’s goal was Nauset’s first ever in the state finals, having been held scoreless in their two previous appearances. It would not be their last.
With 6:48 remaining, Brewster’s Jake Eldredge fired a shot from the right circle that rose higher and faster than the price of eggs, handcuffing Duggan, hitting off his glove, and dropping into the goal. Nauset had its first lead, but Medfield would not go quietly.
Less than a minute later, Medfield got the only power play opportunity of the evening. The black-and-gold-clad Nauset fans were on their feet as the Warriors’ man-down unit took over and made a thrilling stand. The pivotal play was a point-blank save by Coelho 90 seconds in, which had the crowd roaring.
Coelho was not done. He stopped a breakaway attempt by Medfield’s freshman forward Luke Dickson with 2:17 left and the teams at full strength to prevent a game-tying tally. Just 10 seconds later, Ward, whose tireless puck-hawking is more old school than Harvard, put the game out of reach with an empty-netter. With that, Suspense left the building and took Drama with it. Jubilation stayed for the party.
At the final buzzer, after a second empty-net score by Poulin, the bench emptied and mobbed Coelho. Several minutes later, Coach Brickley stood on the ice, arms extended to the rafters in celebration.
Poulin, Coelho, Eldredge, and Ward spoke of the Nauset fans at the post-game meeting with the press. “We have a great community behind us,” said Eldredge as his smiling teammates nodded. “We have the greatest fans.”
It must be noted as the 2024-2025 season enters the history books that the Warriors’ defensive unit (Oscar Escher, Andrew Bohannon, Logan Miller, Max Lanzetta, Jack Martin, Braxton Bassett, Coelho, and backup goalie Matt Swanson) was as stingy as Nauset’s offense was prolific. They allowed a hard-to-fathom 17 goals in 20 regular season games and then got really serious, giving up only two goals in five playoff games. Medfield averaged just under five goals a game this season against any team not named Nauset. They managed one goal over two games against the Warriors.
A play midway through the third was emblematic of Nauset’s defensive tenacity. With the game still tied at one and Medfield attacking, Martin stopped a hard slap shot with his body and collapsed on the ice in obvious pain while the rest of his teammates scrambled to stop Medfield as the game continued. Eventually, Coelho gloved a shot to stop play and allow Martin to stagger to the bench. He returned to the ice minutes later to help his team seal the victory.
His effort did not go unnoticed by his goaltender. As Coelho was being lauded for his performance, he insisted, “It is not just me. It’s the entire team in front of me,” citing Eldredge and Martin by name.
Coelho’s emphasis on the team over the individual was echoed by his teammates and surely was a key factor in enabling the Warriors to achieve their goal of leaving TD Garden exactly as Poulin predicted they would a year earlier.
