Hingham Takes Care of Business in D2 South Final

By Jake Levin (@JakeLevin477)

MARSHFIELD, Mass. — Forget about being on the same planet. Once again, no team in the Division 2 South bracket could get in as much as the same galaxy as the top-seeded Hingham Harbormen, its latest sectional title a 13-6 victory over the Bishop Feehan Shamrocks.

While the margin of victory was Hingham’s smallest in any of the last four sectionals finals, what the Harbormen (21-3) accomplished in the third quarter was just as lethal as anything its unveiled in recent memory.

After a difficult first half spent trying to solve the puzzle of Feehan’s zone defense, senior attack Jack Hennessey seemingly put all of the pieces together at once.

The St. Lawrence University-commit, who had a game-high nine points (four goals, five assists), decided enough was enough and took his game to another level as part of an 8-0 Hingham run in the third quarter.

“I was being a little passive in the first half, the zone [defense] was kind of freaking us out a little bit. Once we got a couple, it was easy,” Hennessey said.

Hennessey figured in the scoring of seven goals during the run, which he began on the heels of a Shamus Cochrane goal that got the Shamrocks within one, at 4-3 just 48 seconds in to the second half.

Hennessey assisted on a Marshall Terres goal over a minute later, and took a pass from Frankie Higgins off a win on the faceoff-X and scored for Hingham’s then-largest lead of the night, 6-3.

Hingham attack Marc O'Rourke

By the time the dust had settled, the Harbormen had grown their lead to 12-3.

Hingham head coach John Todd said that his team had spent plenty of time in practice over the last several days reviewing zone defense, but added there’s nothing that can truly replicate facing it live in a game.

“Not too many teams live and die by it, but the teams that do run it very well,” Todd said of the zone. “They’re smart. We don’t see it every single day.”

Todd went on to point out that overcoming the zone takes a total team effort, something he had to hammer into his team at the half. 

“We had to get in their ear a little bit at halftime,” Todd said. “You can’t beat a zone with one or two guys.”

The Harbormen have now won 10 straight games, their last loss coming over a month ago on May 4 vs. Duxbury. 

They’re awaiting the winner of tomorrow’s Wakefield-Beverly game from the Division 2 North sectional, but as many current Hingham players are aware of, the buck doesn’t stop there.

“This has been a really special year, especially the way the seniors have been leading us,” Terres said. “Just the way we’ve gelled, this has gotta be the year.”

“We’ve just got to keep playing as a team,” Marc O’Rourke (goal, two assists) said of the ultimate goal: raising a state championship trophy at Boston University next Saturday. “Our defense has been pretty solid these last couple of games. We’ve been pretty unselfish all year, we’ve got a lot of firepower. We’ve got to play hard and play together.”