HIGH SCHOOL BOYS HOCKEY: Tabaku's game-winner completes Braintree's comeback vs. Milton

RANDOLPH - Deni Tabaku's cameo appearance in the Braintree High boys hockey team's 3-2 win over Milton Tuesday night received a resounding rave review.

“It felt like I was in a movie,” Tabaku, a senior forward, said after sinking the game-winning goal in the 4-on-4 overtime frame. After a loose puck fell to his skates right in front of the net, the film's next scene cut to the Wamps' electric student section collectively pressed against the glass rallying over the team's celebratory group hug.

"Having all your friends come up to you and go crazy, it was unreal," Tabaku said.

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Braintree head coach David Fasano hopes the highlight can serve as a confidence booster for Tabaku, as one of his many upperclassmen.

“I went out there and I was like, ‘We have to get a shot on net, we’re looking for a rebound,'" Tabaku added. "It led to that and it was just lights out from then.”

It wasn't easy for Braintree (9-2-1) to earn a shot at an extra chance in overtime as Milton maintained a two-goal lead in the second period and a 2-1 lead late into the third.

“I’m proud of the way we responded. Things looked bleak. The kids decided what they wanted to do in the third period and they went out and did it,” said Fasano. “It’s a gut-check win.”

Milton's first goal came on a transition push at 10:33 mark of the second period, as senior Owen Radley capitalized on the odd-man break. Eight seconds later, at 10:25, junior Declan Walsh made a similar move to put the Wildcats (7-5) ahead by a pair of scores in the blink of an eye. Four players (juniors Owen McHugh and Jimmy Fallon, and seniors Jack Vaughan and Shea Donovan) collected assists in the sequence.

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“Great plays by both lines,” said Milton head coach Chris Watson. “Right off the face-off, I think we shocked them with the first one and then one the next face-off, they were still stunned and we were able to get it to another 2-on-1. Quick pass, same shot, same place. I was hoping we could get find a third one of those later on, but we couldn’t.”

“They’ve been playing a lot better since we beat them opening night (by a 5-2 score)," Fasano said. "Our guys know that, we’ve got a bullseye on our back. We’re getting everyone’s best effort and I thought we showed a lot of grit in the third period.”

Trailing 2-1 with 2:46 remaining, senior Josh Donovan's first career goal couldn't have come at a better time for Braintree. A deflected shot from the point tied things up and set up sudden-death overtime, despite a few aggressive shots-on-goal the rest of regulation by both teams.

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“We have a veteran group, kids that have been around 3-4 years and that’s what we talked about going into the third period," Fasano said of the comeback. "Guys have been in a lot of big games during their careers here, deep tournament runs, and we wanted to keep the undefeated Bay State League record going.”

The win improves Braintree's in-conference record to 8-0-1. The Wamps tied Wellesley, 1-1, on Jan. 8 and suffered losses to Pope Francis (4-2) on Dec. 29 and Hingham (5-4 in OT) on Jan. 15.

"Last year was tough with COVID, but they know this is the real thing this year," Fasano said. "It's a good win for us, we've played some really good teams."

For Milton, which came into Tuesday's game on a three-game win streak and victors of seven of its last nine games, the Wildcats handed the leaders of their division a tough test.

“We’ll take some things that we need to work on, but we’ll take a lot of positives from it,” Watson said. “They’re a good team. It proves we can stay with the big boys.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: HIGH SCHOOL BOYS HOCKEY: Tabaku wins game for Braintree over Milton