A hockey player who lost three members of his family in a mass shooting at a Rhode Island rink last month played hero for his team Wednesday night.
Senior Colin Dorgan scored on a breakaway in double overtime to give Blackstone Valley Co-op a 3-2 win over Portsmouth and reach the Rhode Island Division 2 hockey final.
“The greatest moment of my life,” Dorgan said. WPRI TV After his goal, his teammates celebrated on the ice and the fans at Schneider Arena in Providence erupted in applause.
A month earlier, Dorgan’s brother, mother and grandfather were killed when a shooter identified as Robert Dorgan opened fire on spectators at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, during Blackstone Valley’s Senior Day game. Authorities have said the attacker, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was specifically targeting family members. Two others were seriously injured.
All high school sports in Rhode Island were postponed for a week following the shooting. Blackstone Valley did not play for nearly three weeks, finally returning to the ice for the start of the D-2 quarterfinals last weekend. All the players of the team have a heart stitched on the front of their jersey, which also has the initials of the three who died.
Dorgan scored two goals in the deciding game of that best-of-three quarterfinal series at No. 5-seed Blackstone Valley, sending the team back to the semifinals on Wednesday night.
“The biggest thing for us after the tragedy was keeping them together as a family,” coach Chris Librizzi told WPRI. “I was with [Colin] Every single day, and her sister, and we as a group, stayed together for 14 days in a row. And I believe it made a difference. The bonding this team has gone through every day over the last two weeks has been unmatched by any other.”
This was evident against top-seeded Portsmouth, with Dorgan completing the upset with his 2OT winner with 48.1 seconds remaining.
“These are all my brothers,” he told WPRI. “I love these kids, and I know they love me too.”
Added Librizzi at the end of the storybook: “How much better can it get, right there?”
The D-2 finals are March 18 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence.
