EPHS HOCKEY STATE CHAMPS!

“We needed a state championship and you gave us one. Thank you.” Those were the words of EPHS Principal, Janet Sheehan as she addressed the high school students and staff on the Monday morning after the hockey team won the Division III state title the day before. Indeed it seemed like all of East Providence was at Providence College’s Schneider Arena on St. Patrick’s Day week-end as the Townies took two out of three games from a good Mt. Hope team for the championship. A packed arena cheered as EP’s freshman Ryan Costa scored on a penalty shot proving to be the Townies winning goal. As Costa raced to gain control of the puck he was ‘hooked’ by a Mt. Hope player and awarded a penalty shot. He skated toward the opposing goalie and with a nifty move scored. With the Townies now leading 2-0, Mt. Hope made Townie fans nervous with a goal shortly thereafter. Townie freshman goalie made 21 saves during Sunday’s game including some terrific stops in the games closing moments as Mt. Hope attempted a ferocious comeback and pulled their goalie from the net to gain an extra skater on offense.

The Townies won game one on Thursday, March 15th 4-3. East Providence, led by first year head coach, Kevin Croke, had a fantastic year and was considered by many to be the tournament favorite. The Townies lost game two 5-2 and seemed tired and a bit flat during the loss to Mt. Hope. The calmest person in the arena, though, was coach Croke. He never lost his cool on the bench as he did not show any open signs of panic. After the game Coach Croke told the Reporter, “our team is young; this is their first trip to the finals in awhile. Mt. Hope has been to the final game for the last 4 consecutive years and is well coached and experienced. They’ve been here before. Our kids will be okay, they need to step back and regroup,” said a confident Croke. “Our kids are very young and wide-eyed. Mt. Hope played aggressive and jumped right on us,” Croke continued. “We’ll be back Sunday, see you then.”

And Croke was so right. The Townies looked fresh and ready during the final game. The freshmen, of which EP has 7 on the team, looked like they have played together for a longer time. Freshman Goalie Marc LaValley was superb in the net. It was Townie senior captain Ryan Barry who led his team mates all day Sunday. Barry was the Townies leading scorer all year and was selected as the game Most Valuable Player for his efforts on both offense and defense on Sunday.

The title game remained scoreless through the end of two periods with EP pulling out the exciting win in an action packed final period. “I am very happy for this group of Townies. They worked hard and deserve all the credit they are getting,” said a happy Kevin Croke. “We are so young, so much ahead of this team.” But in an ironic twist of fate, it may be an off-ice opponent who could derail the Townies chances of playing hockey next year. The state budget commission overseeing all expenditures of East Providence school finances has been entertaining the possibility of cutting high school hockey from the budget. “I’m not against school sports,” said commission chairman Michael O’Keefe at a prior meeting. “You can have sports but you may have to raise the monies privately,” O’Keefe recently told supporters of the slashed middle school athletic program. Hockey, lacrosse and other high school athletics are potentially on the cutting block table. But for now, all is well in Townie Hockey Nation, home of the RI Division III State Champions. The Townies roster: Ryan Barry, James Carlson, Ryan Costa, Troy Derrick, Sarah Duarte, Jared Estrella, Sean Feeney, Ryan Galvao, Kevin Hall, Matthew Hall, Joshua Letendre, Marc LaValee, Paul Lukas, Kyle Marquis, Tyler Maxwell, Keith Marquis and Sean Medeiros. The Townies first year head coach is Kevin Croke assisted by Mike Forrest and Ian Ridlon.