The 1986 boy’s hockey team enjoyed a banner season and made a lifetime of memories by winning the NEPSAC hockey Division II championship. Coaches Clark Smith, class of 1980, and Jay Grant were rookie coaches who inherited an experienced roster with 13 of the 18 players on the team being seniors. The team was an offensive powerhouse that averaged almost six goals a game and was led by Sean McKiernan ’86, who scored 61 points that year to set a still-standing school record, and Larry Trinceri ’87, who scored 41 points that season and still holds the record for most points in a career. Goalie Matt DelGuidice ’86 was always kept busy, averaging 38 saves a game. Matt played at the University of Maine and was drafted by the Boston Bruins, spending parts of two seasons with the NHL team. Defenseman Kurt Stahura played at Wisconsin and was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars.
The tournament set up in those days was quite different. Instead of the quarterfinals being on Wednesday and the semifinals and finals on the weekend, Williston had to play the three games in two days. In the quarterfinals, the Wildcats beat Holderness 9-4 on Saturday afternoon, then traveled to Exeter to play Wilbraham Monson, which beat Williston earlier in the season. Late in the second period, the Wildcats found themselves down 2-0 late, then sparked by Chuck Burgess ’86, Mike Harris ’86, and John Tatro ’87, Williston scored three goals in the last three minutes of the period to take the lead. In the third period, Williston pulled away for an 8-3 win. The next morning, Williston was back at it playing a strong Salisbury team in the championship game. After giving up a goal just 13 seconds into the game, Williston fought back with goals by Sean McKiernan and Doug Horwich ’88 to tie the game midway through the second period. Defenseman Kurt Stahura ’86 then took charge by scoring three goals in the final period-and-a-half to secure a hard-fought 5-3 victory. Once again, Matt DelGuidice was stellar in goal, turning away 31 shots on net.
- Chuck Burgess ’86
- Rob Couch ’86
- Matt DelGuidice ’86
- Bart Forsythe ’86
- Kevin Guinan ’86
- Mike Harris ’86
- Sean McKiernan ’86
- Benjamin Poole ’86
- Michael Prior ’86
- Parker Rand ’86
- Kurt Stahura ’86
- Chris Thompson ’86
- Peter Wiehe ’86
- Mike Cialek ’87
- John Tatro ’87
- Larry Trinceri ’87
- Brian Wood ’87
- Doug Horwich ’88
- Coach Jay Grant
- Assistant Coach Clark Smith ’80
