Blackstone Valley Hockey Wins RI State Title After Shooting

In Providence, Rhode Island, the Blackstone Valley Coop high school hockey team captured the Division 2 state championship on Wednesday night, defeating Lincoln High School 3-2 in a grueling four-overtime battle at Amica Mutual Pavilion. The victory, marked by a late game-tying goal from team captain Colin Dorgan, came just over a month after a tragic shooting at one of their games that claimed the lives of three of Dorgan's family members, shaking the local hockey community to its core.

The championship game unfolded with high drama. Trailing 2-0 late in the third period, Blackstone Valley rallied with a goal five minutes from the end of regulation. With only 30 seconds remaining, Dorgan deflected a shot past the Lincoln goaltender to force overtime, sending the partisan crowd into a frenzy. The score stayed knotted at 2-2 through three overtime periods before forward Jaxon Boyes scored the winner in the fourth, securing the title for the No. 5-seeded team. Dorgan, a senior defenseman not known for prolific scoring, had also netted the game-winning goal in double overtime during the semifinals against Portsmouth High School the previous week, propelling his squad to the final.