Caiden Brady is the triple-OT hero for Winchester in Division 1 upset of Belmont

Boston Globe

03-03-2025

Brady's goal at 3:50 of the third overtime propelled No. 11 Winchester past No. 6 Belmont, 2-1, in the Division 1 second round at John A. Ryan Arena. While Belmont's great season ended at 16-7-1, the Red & Black (14-10-0) draw No. 14 St. John's-Shrewsbury in the quarterfinals (day, site, time TBA).
'They just gave me a huge hug,' said Brady. 'They were so proud of me. They text me before every game, good luck. They mean everything to me.'
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In front of a capacity crowd, Brady sent the Red & Black faithful into hysteria.
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'To score a goal like that? That makes your high school career,' said Winchester coach Gino Khachadourian. 'That's something that you'll never forget.'
The game will be remembered as an instant classic, as sophomore goaltenders Graham Emerick (35 saves) and Belmont's Bauer (33 saves) dazzled in overtime. Grade-A saves that sent those in attendance jumping up and down became the norm, a war of attrition between players at their peak.
'I know him pretty well,' said Emerick of Bauer. 'We do some training together sometimes. Just us going back and forth, it motivates me to keep going.'
Winchester senior Chris McCarthy, who scored the first goal, went over to Bauer postgame.
'He's the only reason that it took that long,' said McCarthy. 'I almost had a heart attack a couple of times at some of his saves. I stopped playing, my mind went blank, didn't really know what to do.
'He's a helluva goalie and he's going to go somewhere for hockey, I bet you that.'
After a remarkable run to the championship game at TD Garden last season, the Red & Black re-lived some of that magic.
'I think this game proves it, that we still have it in us to go back to the Garden,' said Emerick.
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St. John's (S) 2, Hingham 1
(OT)
— Less than three weeks ago, the Pioneers were humbled by Hingham, 7-0 at Pilgrim Arena, part of stretch in which St. John's had 11 losses in 13 games.
Armed with a new weapon in sophomore netminder Colin McCarthy, recalled from JV for the postseason — not to mention the return of injured forward Daniel Menyalkin — the 14th-seeded Pioneers were able to flip the sheet on third-seeded Harbormen, stunning Hingham with a Brady Chenevert putback of a Tyler Bergman offering 3:59 into overtime for a 2-1 win at Canton Ice House Sunday evening.
'We made a tough decision to go with the new goalie, but Colin has played great,' Saint John's coach Mike Mead said.
McCarthy stopped 16 stops for the Pioneers (10-12-0), including one in overtime as the Harbormen (17-5-2) began the extra session with a power play — the only one for either team in the game.
Just two minutes after the penalty expired, SJS cashed in with a goal Menyalkin, the lone MIAA player currently committed to play college hockey (Bowdoin), surprisingly had no hand in.
'Having Menyalkin back, he's a presence on the ice,' Mead said. 'People are aware of him, and it enables our other lines to step up and do other things.'
Ashton Smith, the fifth defenseman for the Pioneers, scored the tying goal at 7:59 of the third. Hingham received its offense from fourth-line center Brendan McCarthy with an unassisted goal at 10:35 of the second period.
Xaverian 2, Barnstable 1 (2 OTs)
— Living on the edge, the eighth-seeded Hawks (15-6-1) continue to soar this postseason.
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Xaverian staved off an upset for the second round in a row, surviving on senior Jackson Morse's goal at 7:21 of the second overtime to knock off No. 24 Barnstable at the Canton Ice House.
'We stuck to it and were able to make some plays,' Xaverian coach Dave Spinale said.
The Hawks took an initial 1-0 lead over the Red Hawks (16-6-0) on a goal from Max LaRosa at 7:18 of the first period, a score which held until Barnstable evened it up on a Jack Cannon strike 12:18 into the third.
Michael Bulkin made 23 saves for Xaverian; Bob Doherty made 35 stops for Barnstable.
Division 2 State
Amesbury/Whittier 1, Boston Latin 0 —
Senior captain Bodie Marcotte pounced on a rebound off a shot by freshman Grady Stickney with 1.5 seconds left in the second period as the No. 26 Redhawks (10-10-2) downed the defending champion No. 10 Wolfpack (12-8-2) at John A. Ryan Arena.
It's the second consecutive upset for Amesbury/Whittier, who ousted No. 7 Walpole, 4-1, in the first round.
'They've come together as a team,' said A/W coach Steve Costa. 'They're playing for each other.'
Senior goaltender Nick Boothroyd posted a 24-save shutout as the Redhawks kept the play to the outside in a terrific defensive effort.
'We're never in the mix when they talk about teams in our division,' said Costa. 'Hopefully people take note that we're a good program.'
Next up is No. 2 Woburn (16-5-1) in the quarterfinals (day, site, time TBA).
Tewksbury 6, Duxbury 3 —
Senior captain Jay Lavoie struck just 27 seconds in, cleaning up a Tyler Bourgea rebound, and added another goal on the power play with 4:30 left in the second period, propelling the fourth-seeded Redmen (17-4-1) to a 5-1 lead en route to the second-round win at the Breakaway Ice Center in Tewksbury.
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Jason Feudo, Bourgea, and Jake Cunha also scored. Duxbury, the 13th seed, finishes 9-14-1.
Division 3 State
Triton 6, Watertown 4 —
Josh Hersey netted a hat trick for the No. 5 Vikings (15-5-2), one of them 45 seconds into the third period to break a 3-3 tie, in a second-round victory at the Henry Graf Skating Rink in Newburyport.
Mason Colby made it a two-goal lead, then added the empty-netter. Michael Taylor kept Triton in control, scoring his goal just 20 seconds after No. 12 Watertown tied it at 2.
Division 4 State
Littleton/Bromfield 3, Latin Academy 2 (OT)
— Junior defenseman Jake Taglieri made a rush down the right side and flicked in a wrister from the top of the circle in overtime, lifting the No. 4 Tigers (19-3) to the second-round victory at the Groton School.
Littleton/Bromfield carried a 2-0 lead into the third period on strikes from Conor Glew (from Caelan Piekos) and Ryan Pittorino (Zachary Lizotte). But LA (16-6) rallied with two goals, halting a four-game shutout streak for L/B goalie Jacob Dangel.
Brendan Kurie and Craig Larson contributed to this report.
Cam Kerry can be reached at