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With two games left on the regular season schedule – Catholic Memorial at Allston’s Warrior Ice Arena on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.; and St. Mary’s of Lynn at Lynn’s Connery Rink on Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. – the Winchester High boys hockey team (11-7-2) will be looking to sharpen up their skates with the Division 1 state tournament right around the corner.
As of Feb. 17, the Red & Black remain seeded 17th in the power rankings for the second straight week. There are 40 teams in this division.
The Winchester boys closed out the month of January with a 5-1 loss to host Arlington, but, despite the score, coach Gino Khachadourian liked what he saw on the ice.
“I thought we played well against Arlington,” said Khachadourian. “The score does not reflect the kind of game that we played. We were trailing 2-1 heading into the third with a lot of momentum. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the back of the net early on in the period, before a couple of breakdowns led to their three remaining goals. It was still a good battle, and I’m proud of the way they competed for a full 45-minutes.”
Goalie Graham Emerick was in the Red & Black net, and ended up making 29 saves to keep his teammates close on the scoreboard throughout most of the game. Axel Osborn netted the lone Winchester goal from Gus Gustafson.
But the Red & Black quickly got back into the win column with a very satisfying 2-0 shutout win over host Walpole, a team that’s traditionally a postseason contender, the very next day. This year, Walpole has an 8-9-1 record after 18 games, and is seeded ninth in Division 2.
“Defensively, we played well enough to keep (Walpole) off the scoreboard,” said Khachadourian. “It was a quick turnaround for the team after a tough loss on Saturday to Arlington, but we competed hard to earn this win over a good Walpole team.”
Emerick was back in goal, and came up with 31 saves to help record the shutout victory. Caiden Brady and Osborn scored the goals, and Greg Winn, Eli Krogmeier and Osborn had the assists.
Winchester then took on rival Woburn in back-to-back games on Feb. 4 and 8, and came away with three out of a possible four points. They needed overtime to decide both games, first tying the Tanners, 3-3, before edging them, 2-1.
“It’s unusual to play the same team twice in one week, but we were able to get a hard-earned tie and then a victory against them,” said Khachadourian. “We have battled back extremely well when trailing late this season, and these two games weren’t any different. The credit goes out to our leadership group for keeping their teammates focused and energized until the final buzzer.”
Macklin O’Flynn was credited with 33 saves in the first game against Woburn. Joey Vaccari, Liam Connelly and Leo Dagostino notched the goals. Brett Daniels, Dagostino, Osborn and Gustafson collected one assist apiece. But Brady was the assist leader in this game with two.
Emerick was back in goal for the second game against Woburn to help secure the close win. Dagostino and Gustafson accounted for the markers. Brady once again led the team in assists with two. Ben Wright and Osborn had one each.
The Red & Black then played another close game on Feb. 11, but this time they were shutdown by Reading in Woburn, 3-0. O’Flynn was between the pipes, and did his part to keep it competitive for a while.
“We played hard, but just didn’t do enough to win,” said Khachadourian. “It was a close game throughout, but we weren’t able to capitalize on our chances.”
But as is their wont this year, the Winchester boys weren’t down for long. They were back on the O’Brien Arena ice on Feb. 14, where they dominated the Belmont Marauders to the tune of 6-1. This win set up the Monday night game against host Malden Catholic (5-13-2, 23rd seed in Division 1), and they ended up playing the Lancers to a 3-3 overtime tie.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
