Duxbury No Friend Of Winchester Hockey

Winchester was tied 1-1 heading into the final period Sunday night at the TD Garden. It was a familiar place for the Sachems, who turned that same score into a 4-1 win last Monday in the Division 1 North title game.

But this time, the final 15 minutes weren't kind to Winchester. Duxbury junior Friend Weiler scored his second and third goals of the game and the Green Dragons held on to win the Division 1 state title, 3-1. Winchester, which was chasing its first state crown since 2000, settled for the runner-up trophy and a final record of 17-8.

It was a strange and late night for both teams. With three of the five games before them going to overtime, including a four overtime win by BC High in the Super 8 final, Winchester and Duxbury (23-4) started two hours after their scheduled 7:45 p.m. start. The long wait may have explained the scoreless first period.

In the second period the offenses picked up. Weiler, the son of the former Duxbury girls' coach of the same name, opened the scoring at 7:49. After a diving stop by Winchester goalie Rob DiVincenzo, Weiler collected the rebound and gave Duxbury a 1-0 lead. But 43 seconds later Luke Mix scored for Winchester, with assists going to Angelo Mario and Jack Houle, and it was 1-1 after two.

In the third period Winchester's offense couldn't get untracked and the Sachems didn't have a shot on net for almost 10 minutes. With 4:02 to play Weiler scored his second goal to put Duxbury up, 2-1. Winchester called a timeout with 1:09 remaining and pulled DiVincenzo. But with 2.3 seconds left Weiler was there again, scoring his third goal into an empty Winchester net.

With the clock approaching midnight, the Sachems season was over.