Four weeks after surviving a mass shooting at one of their games, the Blackstone Valley Schools co-op team won the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Division II Boys Hockey Championship Wednesday.
Defenseman Colin Dorgan lost his mother, brother, and grandfather when his father killed them during a game at the David M. Lynch arena in Pawtucket on Feb. 16. The father then died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Incredibly, Dorgan, a North Providence senior, scored the goal that tied the game late in the third period. His team went on to win the championship at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence 3-2 in quadruple overtime.
“It’s been an emotional four weeks for this team,” coach Chris Librizzi told reporters after the game. “And when the season came to a halt, the kids were obviously upset, as were the coaching staff and everyone who was in the building. And then when (Colin Dorgan) came back to the locker room and decided to play with us to end the season, our level of competition went from about 15% to about 90%.”
The February shooting at Lynch Arena sent Dorgan and his teammates scrambling off the ice in fear for their lives. Colin’s mother Rhonda Dorgan, brother Aidan Dorgan, grandparents and a family friend were all shot. Rhonda, Aidan and Colin’s grandfather Gerald Dorgan died. Family friend Thomas Geruso was discharged from the hospital earlier this month.
The whole team wore a patch on their jerseys with the initials of the victims.
“Right on my chest,” said Dorgan, pointing to the patch.“I think they’re with me every step of the way. And I could just – throughout all of the playoffs, even in this game, in the overtimes, I think I truly felt it in my heart, in my soul that they’re still with me.”
The team advanced to the finals after Colin Dorgan scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the semifinals.
Since the tragedy, the players have cried, bonded, practiced, played and triumphed, Librizzi said. On Wednesday night, they celebrated by going out for pizza.
Dorgan credited his teammates with helping him start to heal from the tragedy.
“It’s nothing short of absolutely amazing what happened,” he said. “And I couldn’t have done it without these people next to me.”
“They made me feel like really one of their brothers,” he said. “And it truly means a lot to me.”
