Video of Blackstone Valley Schools winning D-II hockey title in 4th OT
Blackstone Valley Schools co-op scores twice in the third, with Colin Dorgan netting the tying goal, then outlasts Lincoln 3-2 as Jaxon Boyes wins it.
Blackstone Valley Schools hockey linked up with the Boston Bruins on Monday.
Head coach Chris Librizzi received a call from Bruins President Cam Neely on Feb. 25 to find a date to bring BVS to the Bruins practice facility. The two sides originally had planned for the night of Blackstone Valley’s semifinals.
But that was postponed as BVS stunned Portsmouth in double overtime. Then the high school boys captivated the nation with their four-overtime victory against Lincoln for the Division II championship. The Bruins then welcomed the champs to Warrior Ice Arena on March 23 to tour the facility and watch practice.
“When the first player in practice stepped foot on the ice, the kids let out a roar and started slapping on the glass,” Librizzi said during a phone call on Monday night. “And the player actually had to turn around and look to see what was going on, because that’s not normal for their practice.”
“It’s really cool when you get to see a local team like that come in and support you guys,” Jeremy Swayman said. “Obviously, we’re doing the same for them and what they’ve been through. The hockey world is such a tight-knit community. It’s a family and whenever we get an opportunity like this, we really cherish it. It’s so cool to have these guys in the locker room and to see their excitement and really enjoy the good things that hockey brings us every day is something that we can really celebrate.”
Swayman sought out BVS goalie Jacob Faria and gave him a stick. And the entire BVS team met with Bruins players in the locker room after practice.
“[Faria] was grinning from ear to ear with excitement,” Librizzi said. “And just to be able to tour the facility from the kitchen area, where they have their own chefs, to the training room to the gym that they have. And then into the locker room and meeting all the players and getting some pictures in the stalls with the players and getting a team picture in the locker room was just great.”
Blackstone Valley returned to the ice on Friday, March 6, and beat the Rogers, Middletown, Tiverton, Mt. Hope, East Providence co-op, 2-1, in its first game back after the Feb. 16 shooting at Dennis M. Lynch Arena. BVS didn’t lose a game after the shooting as it rallied together in an inspirational ending to the 2025-26 winter high school sports season.
“We knew that they could get to that level at the beginning of the year,” Librizzi said. “We knew that we had the talent. But to be at the lowest level you could be at and then raise that to 100% to get back to where we wanted them to get to, and then achieve the goal was just amazing.”
The Bruins wanted to honor Blackstone Valley in another showing of hockey’s tight-knit community. The Providence Bruins also hosted BVS, and Coventry/Johnston, in late February.
“This community is just so amazing,” Librizzi said. “It’s not just the United States, it’s North America. “Just the outpouring of love and support that has been extended our way from everybody throughout North America has just been tremendous.”
