A Day in the Life of the Milton High Boys Hockey Team

Two hours before playing in the MIAA Division State Championship against Burlington the Wildcats left the Ulin Rink in Milton under a police escort. 

A large group of fans cheered the team waving banners and wished them luck as the bus drove down Unquity Road. 

Following behind the two motorcycles, the bus entered the Southeast Expressway as cars driving by surely wondered who was in the bus and getting all this attention.

"This is really something," said Coach Paul Noonan.

The escort would lead the bus into Boston's TD Garden parking lot and the Milton Wildcats were about to play their final game of the season. Milton represented the South and Burlington represented the North in the MIAA Division 1 championship game.

Steve Wilkie, Milton's Team Manager, was helped off the bus by several of his devoted players. Wilkie had been the manager for 30 years. After recovering from a lengthy illness and missing most of the season last year, Wilkie had finally made it to the Garden. His team was making history. No Milton team had ever made it to the hockey state championship. 

Earlier, the Wildcats (19-4-3) had beaten Falmouth, Braintree and Natick for the right to represent the South in the MIAA Division 1 final, which was another first for the Wildcats. Their opponent was the Burlington Red Devils (18-2-6) who won the MIAA Division 1 North Title.

In the championship game, the Red Devils scored the first three goals and the Wildcats were trailing 3-0 into the second period.

Suddenly the noise was deafening as Milton's "Red Nation" were cheering and stomping their feet. Milton’s Lloyd Hill took a pass from Brendan Kelley and scored putting the Wildcats on the board. 

The period would end with Burlington holding a 3-1 lead.

Two minutes into the third period, the Red Devils would swarm around Milton's net as Jay Hankard made several stops, but finally the puck found its mark putting Burlington up 4-1. 

At the 3:10 mark Milton’s Brian Higgins would fire in a goal, keeping the Wildcats in the game 4-2. 

The Red Devils still had the momentum and scored two more goals, one in an empty net, as the game ended in their favor 6-2.

Disappointment could be seen on the faces of the Wildcats as the Red Devils celebrated their win.

A tearful Steve Wilkie stood with Head Coach Paul Noonan, Captains Jay Hankard, Paul Curran and Dan Curran as the MIAA Officials presented them with the second place finalist trophy. 

With a solemn exit from the ice, the Wildcats made their way to the locker room as Milton’s "Red Nation" applauded and cheered their team.

"This was a great game. I can't say enough about our team,” said Noonan. “Burlington's goalie was unbelievable - he won the game for them. This has been an experience. I never thought we would have gone this far. Hankard was something in goal," said Noonan.

Noonan stood outside the locker room making himself available to the swarm of reporters, and Wilkie could be seen talking to a Globe reporter.

As the Burlington players exited their locker room they would walk by Noonan who stopped and greeted every one of them with a pat on the back, congratulating them on their win.

The bus ride back to Milton was subdued as all the players were surely thinking about the game.

Still under a police escort, the bus pulled into the Ulin Rink parking lot to the cheer of their many fans.

"We made history tonight," said Steve Wilkie as he slowly got off the bus.