Shenendehowa boys' hockey wins third straight Section 2 Division 1 championship
· Yahoo Sports
SCHENECTADY - Each of the 11 Section 2 Division 1 championships he's won as the Shenendehowa boys' hockey coach has felt different for Juan de la Rocha.
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It's a sentiment that rings especially true for the team that captured Shenendehowa's latest area championship on Monday night.
"This group, I've coached a lot of them since they were 8," de la Rocha said after Shen's 5-2 championship game win over Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake/Ballston Spa at M&T Bank Center. "They're kids that grew up with my son (senior defenseman Joey de la Rocha). I usually just get to know kids in the last three or four years (of high school). This group is different, because I've been able to be a part of their lives for a little bit longer.
"Each one is special, no one is more so than the other, but this one is definitely unique."
It's also unique because this Shenendehowa (20-2-1 overall) team captured its third straight Section 2 Division 1 title by completing a perfect run against Capital Region competition.
Shen went 13-0 in the Capital District High School Hockey League during the regular season, then rolled to playoff wins over Christian Brothers Academy, Saratoga Springs and Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa. It's the program's 13th sectional title, breaking a tie with Saratoga for the most among area Division 1 programs.
"It feels amazing, being able to do it with all these kids that I've grown up playing with," said Shen senior goalie Brendan Westrick, who backstopped the victory with 23 saves.
Shenendehowa goalie Brendan Westrick is interviewed after his team won the Section 2 Division 1 boys' hockey final against Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa at the M&T Bank Center on Monday, March 2, 2026 in Schenectady, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Westrick kept Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa (16-5-1) off the scoreboard through the first two periods, by which time Shenendehowa had built up a 4-0 lead courtesy of its high-powered top line of Gavin Cronin, Justin Dooley and Evan Wojtowicz.
Cronin, who ranks second in Section 2 with 50 points this season, scored two of Shenendehowa's three first-period goals.
"If you look at our scores, if we score the first goal, we have good energy, and we just roll the rest of the game," Cronin said.
Cronin opened the scoring 5:21 into the game, getting the puck past Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa goalie Kasch Kinowski out of a scrum in front of the net. Dooley made it 2-0 a little less than seven minutes later with a smooth solo effort for a goal, and Cronin made it 3-0 a minute after that when he knocked home the rebound of a Jake Lapage shot.
Shenendehowa head coach Juan de La Rocha applauds as his players receive their patches after their team won the Section 2 Division 1 boys' hockey final against Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa at the M&T Bank Center on Monday, March 2, 2026 in Schenectady, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Wojtowicz redirected a Cronin feed past Kinowski to make it 4-0 midway through the second period, and Shenendehowa's penalty kill made the lead stand up by denying Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa on three power-play opportunities late in the period.
"We had a lot of resilience," Cronin said. "Everybody worked hard. We took some not-great penalties, especially in that position, but worked hard, got out of it, and that's what it came down to today."
Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa's Cameron Olsen, who gave the Shenendehowa defense fits throughout the night, got his team on the board five minutes into the third period when he weaved through multiple defenders for a power-play goal. Ethan Yu scored Shen's fifth goal on the power play with 2:31 to play before another highlight-reel effort from Olsen capped off the scoring with 17.3 seconds left.
Shenendehowa will face Section 1 champion Suffern on Saturday in a NYSPHSAA regional final, with the winner moving on to the state final four on March 14-15 at Buffalo's LECOM Harborcenter.
Shenendehowa celebrates after a goal by Gavin Cronin during the Section 2 Division 1 boys' hockey final against Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa at the M&T Bank Center on Monday, March 2, 2026 in Schenectady, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)For all of Shenendehowa's success within Section 2, the program has never reached a state championship game. Doing that, and becoming the first area team since Saratoga Springs in 2013 to win a state title, is this team's biggest goal.
"Even at the end of the game, it was kind of anticlimactic, in a sense, but it's almost like this wasn't their goal," de la Rocha said. "I mean, obviously they needed this to get to the next place, but I think that they have bigger aspirations in mind. It's something that I'm learning, this quiet confidence that they have. … We'll see how this next week or two unfolds to see what we're really made of."
This article originally published at Shenendehowa boys' hockey wins third straight Section 2 Division 1 championship.