36 | <strong>01945</strong> Marblehead's hockey players and fans celebrate at TD Garden. CHAMPS, continued from page 35 thought. They pressured us all night and hit a couple of posts – it was just a crazy game. With a little bit of luck and a little bit of Leo (Burdge), we got it done.” They say the post is a goalie’s best friend. In the second period, the Warriors hit the iron three times against Marblehead netminder Burdge. “When you play long enough, watch it long enough, there’s many different ways to win and different ways to lose,” Nauset coach Connor Brickley said. “It’s a game of margins. The puck didn’t bounce our way tonight. It is what it is.” Burdge made save after save to preserve a 37-save shutout. “When the pressure is the highest, he saves everything,” Marfione said. Across the past three state tournament games, Burdge had made 21, 23, and, in the title game, 37 saves. “My main focus today was to track the puck and command the defensive side of things,” he said. “There’s only one shot I didn’t see today and I was lucky it hit me.” But to win, it takes more than a hot netminder. In the third period, it also took defensive captain Hogan Sedky, who put his body on the line to block a handful of shots. Leading by example, his pregame message to his teammates was to “play hard.” “It’s hard to say there was just one message, but we wanted to get out, play hard, and play Marblehead hockey,” Sedky said. “If we let them set the tempo, we were going to go behind.” Even in Nauset defeat, Brickley said the Headers “played exactly to who they were.” “We had a good idea that they like to go north and south, and we had a good idea that they wanted to play with speed and put pucks north,” he said. Marblehead got to the power play late in the third, but the Warriors controlled the action. Then, a double save from a scrambling Burdge kept the Warriors off the scoreboard. “It was a 2-on-1 and I got over to cover as much of the net as possible, which was blocked. Then, I just tried to cover it as soon as I could,” Burdge said. With more shots and more possession, Nauset just couldn’t find a way through the Headers. Time expired on the No. 1 seed, and Marblehead brought home a state championship – its first since 2011. When asked what it meant for him to be the senior captain on a state championship-winning program, Sedky expressed his love for the town. “I love each and every one of these guys. There was never a moment we didn’t think we couldn’t go all the way to the state championship – even when we were 0-6,” he said. “We’re the most bought-in team out there. From the first liners to the healthy scratches, I 45 give everyone on this team credit.” <strong>01945</strong> <strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2024</strong>.indd 36 6/4/24 12:14 PM
<strong>01945</strong> <strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2024</strong>.indd 37 6/4/24 12:14 PM