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The Winchester High boys hockey team (12-9-2), the 17th seed, edged the 16th-seeded Wachusett Regional Mountaineers (18-2-1), 5-4 in a Round of 32 Division 1 state tournament game at Westborough’s Northstar Ice Arena on Feb. 25.
The Red & Black will now take on top seed Catholic Memorial (18-2-1) in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Allston’s Warrior Ice Arena, the practice home of the Boston Bruins, starting at 1:30 p.m. The Knights shutout Bridgewater-Raynham (12-7-2, 33rd seed) in their Round of 32 game at Warrior on Feb. 26.
“The first state tournament game is always the toughest,” said Coach Gino Khachadourian. “We were able to get out to a fast start, and then proceeded to maintain a lead that carried us through the game.”
Khachadourian went on to say that Wachusett had a “fast, skilled team that definitely pushed back, but fortunately we were able to capitalize on our chances,” while he added, “we definitely have some things we need to work on and clean up, before (Saturday’s) game against Catholic Memorial, but I’m proud of the way our team competed until the final buzzer. At this stage of the season, we need to do whatever it takes to win and advance.”
Gus Gustafson paced Winchester’s offensive attack with two goals. Eli Krogmeier, Caiden Brady, and Anthony Vaccari accounted for one apiece. Brady also setup a score, along with Ben Wright and Liam Connelly. Joe Vaccari was the assist leader with two. Graham Emerick did his part in net, making 38 saves to prevent any type of comeback by the Mountaineers.
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.
