Shrewsbury Hockey Edges Hanover to Repeat as D3 State Champs

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

BOSTON - The Shrewsbury Colonials upset Hanover, handing the Indians their only loss this season and capturing a second consecutive Division 3 state title in the process.

Shrewsbury relied on their top line of twins Anthony and Liam Quinlivan, and Tyler Borys, along with goaltender Pat Shaugnessy to earn a gritty 2-1 victory at the TD Garden.

The game started with a balance of pace and not much action. Both goaltenders were relied on heavily to start with a few posts included. One of those came with 6 seconds remaining in the first, with Anthony Quinlivan ringing iron after a great backhand to forehand move.

Tyler Borys opened up the scoring for the Colonials in the second period after a beautiful two pass sequence from the Quinlivan brothers, the best coming from Anthony when he slipped a pass back door to find Borys and put Shrewsbury up 1-0. Shrewsbury ran with the momentum until late in the period, when a few costly penalties propelled Hanover to some quality scoring chances.

Still, Shrewsbury senior goaltender Pat Shaughnessy shut the door.

The third period was full of action, as Hanover’s Zach Taylor buried a pass from Lucas Lanagan right under Shaughnessy’s pad to tie it up. From there on it was all Shrewsbury from the net out. James Tepper ended up getting the game winner on a great individual move in the Indian zone and finishing top shelf on the back hand.

This Shrewsbury team was one of the many that has had success over the past five seasons, capturing the program's third title in 5 years. Senior captain Liam Quinlivan said this win was “Unbelievable. It’s even better than last year as seniors. It’s the last time playing with these guys and it’s something I’ll remember.”

“We tried getting pucks deep and playing our game. Establishing a good forecheck was something we focused on and we did a good job containing them” said Quinlivan. Liam followed up saying he loved playing alongside his brother and junior Tyler Borys. “We always know where each other are going to be and we click really well.”

Shrewsbury finishes the year 16-2-2 and yet another victory at the TD Garden.