For a hockey team looking to make a run through the state tournament, the key is the player in net.
"If you don't have a good goalie, you're going nowhere," said Hingham High boys' coach Garrett Reagan, whose squad received the second seed in the Super 8 tournament and will play a first-round game on Saturday at the DCU Center in Worcester.
"It's true at any level."
As the MIAA tournament begins this week, many teams will be counting on the strong play of their goalies to make game-changing saves. This season, three area schools can credit consistent goaltending with helping each to earn tournament berths.
In Hingham, junior Nate Eagan, a first-year starter, carries the hopes of the Harbormen in the state's elite tournament. In Canton, junior Mike Cahill gave up hockey last season only to return this year and help the Bulldogs earn their first Hockomock League title in six years. In Kingston, senior Dan Brady consistently faced more shots than his opponent, but managed to help Silver Lake qualify for the state tournament for the first time in three seasons.
All three will have their chances in the state tournament.
Eagan is described by Reagan as a "kid that worked extremely hard, and it's paid off." During the fall, Eagan's improvements could be seen as he challenged for the varsity spot.
In December, Eagan stepped in and helped Hingham rebound from a lackluster second period in a 6-2 win against Falmouth. It was three games into the season and a time that Reagan considered critical to the team's season.
"You get in trouble right off the bat, then who knows what happens," Reagan said of the rest of the season.
Eagan went on to record a 1.75 goals against average as Hingham built a 17-3-1 record.
In Canton, Cahill gave up the sport last season only to determine that he "got really sick of doing nothing." Junior forward Tim Ford persuaded Cahill to come back to hockey and the two met up in the summer to run sprints and long distances and to play roller hockey to get Cahill back in shape.
Cahill earned a spot on the junior varsity, but soon proved his value to coach Brian Shuman at the varsity level.
"It got to a point where it was tough not to play him at the varsity level because he was playing so well," Shuman said.
Canton had several goaltenders vying for the team's starting spot, including seniors Will Bigwood and Pete Desisto, making the decision tough for Shuman.
"It's by far the most difficult thing for a coach to manage the goaltender position, especially when you have people of similar ability," Shuman said.
Cahill helped make Shuman's decision a little easier in a matchup against rival Mansfield in late January. Mansfield won the first meeting 3-0, but on Jan. 26, Cahill came up with key saves in a 5-1 win.
"That gave me a boost of confidence and in practice the next day I felt better and more comfortable on the ice," Cahill said.
Cahill went on to play in six games and earned a 0.71 goals against average and a .953 save percentage.
Canton senior forward Chris Malloy said he and his teammates improved communications with Cahill to make him more effective.
"We have confidence in him; I'm not sure we would have won the league title if we didn't have him," Malloy said.
Canton (14-4-0), the fourth seed in the Division 2 South sectional, was scheduled to play the winner of tonight's Quincy-Mansfield game in a quarterfinal.
In Kingston, Brady gets more than his share of shots, while protecting the net for Silver Lake, which is routinely outshot.
"He's been very, very solid and when he's hot, he is phenomenal," Silver Lake coach Bill Donovan said. "He makes saves that you can't believe."
Silver Lake handed Pembroke its first loss of the season late in the year. In that game, Brady protected a 3-1 lead. When the teams met again, Brady protected a 3-0 lead as his teammates were outshot 34-19.
In a 2-1 win against Scituate, the Sailors took 17 more shots than Silver Lake.
Brady's save percentage is .921 heading into the tournament, but most of the season he was above .930, Donovan said.
"When push comes to shove, I would rather get outshot and have a hot goalie than win the battle of shots on goal," Donovan said.
Silver Lake (12-8-2), the 13th seed in the Division 3 South sectional, played fourth-seeded Blue Hills Regional (14-2-3) in a first-round game last night in Canton.
Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.
