Stoughton High Hockey Loses on Last-Minute Goal

For two periods on Saturday, the Stoughton High hockey team outplayed North Attleboro. However, in the third, the momentum slipped over to the Red Rocketeers, who found the back of the net with exactly one minute to go in the final period to win the game, 1-0.

With the last-minute loss, Stoughton falls to 3-11-1 and 2-7-1 in the Hockomock League.

“I thought we played two really good periods,” Stoughton head coach Dan Mark said. “[In the] third period they seemed to get a little bit nervous. They battled hard the whole game, can’t really complain. It’s a tough break at the end. The referee even said that was one of the few times a bounce went to somebody and it went right to them. It’s unfortunate.”

The Black Knights and the Red Rocketeers earlier this season and the teams shared similar records entering the game. Mark knew that this was a winnable game for his team.

“That was basically the message: it was a winnable game for us,” Mark said. “They did great. I think we played better this game than we did in the tie. It was kind of unfortunate that’s how it ended up.”

Stoughton started freshman Paul Sheehan for the first time this season, and Sheehan didn’t disappoint. North Attleboro controlled the third period and consistently applied pressure, but Sheehan was up for the task, making 17 saves.

“He did a very good job,” Mark said. “[It was] his first varsity start. I thought he did a solid job. Only let up one goal obviously.”

Stoughton outshot North Attleboro 19-18 and were led offensively by sophomore Phil Falkof. Falkof consistently split defenders with his quickness and set up his teammates on good feeds.

“Phil is definitely one of the better players in the league, no question about it,” Mark said. “He makes things happen out there.”

Senior captain Jordan Ricci led the Black Knights defensively. Ricci never seemed to leave the ice and constantly pestered the North Attleboro forwards.

“We sat him out one shift,” Mark said. “[For] the last three or four games, we played him just about every minute of every game. We’ve had two defensemen out with concussions. We got [Josh] Potter back today [but] we’re still missing Chris Gill. The other kids have been filling in, but Jordan’s been playing the bulk of the minutes.”

Currently the Black Knights have seven seniors, while the rest of the team are underclassmen. Highlighted by Falkof, the future looks bright for Stoughton.

“Hopefully bright, you never know,” Mark said. “Hopefully the other guys get better too. We have a lot of juniors.”

The Black Knights will return to action on Monday when they play Canton, one of the best teams in the league. However, the message Mark sent to his players after the game was simple.

“Just hang in there,” Mark said, “They have nothing to have their heads down about.”

Check out the postgame interview with head coach Dan Mark in the media gallery above.