Loud, energetic music filled the Canton Ice House Arena as the Brookline High School and Dedham High School hockey players skated onto the ice. Fans dressed head-to-toe in red, white, and blue clothing banged against the glass, excited for the game to begin.

The boys varsity hockey team played Dedham High School on Feb. 26, winning the game 7-3.

Within 8 minutes of the game’s beginning, sophomore Grayson Badger received the puck and had a breakaway, scoring the first goal of the game. Junior and captain Ellis Vish was proud of the way the team took risks and worked hard.

“Tonight we forced a lot of shots on goal, allowing us to clean up rebounds and start running the score up,” Vish said.

Nine minutes into the first period, junior Aiden Chin assisted Badger with a second goal for Badger. Towards the end of the first period, Dedham took a shot, ending the period with a score of 2-1 for Brookline. Sophomore Rohan Gervais slammed a Dedham player into the glass, and the crowd went wild.

“We were unsuccessful at the end of the first period as we were caught in a couple of odd man rushes leading to a Dedham goal,” Vish said.

Needham started the second period scoring a goal, tying up the scoreboard. Brookline fought back harder and Brookline’s goalie, senior Gil Markman, had multiple saves.

Senior and captain Colin Finnegan scored twice soon into the second period, making the score 4-2 for Brookline.

Two minutes later, freshman Steven Mcdougal scored, putting Brookline at a three point lead. Sophomore Jacob Gurdin said that Brookline’s improvement in the second period was a result of a stronger effort.

“We came out in the second period with a lot more intensity and took over the game until the end,” Gurdin said.

As the third period began and children ran up and down the stands with food and signs, Badger scored another two goals, one assisted by Vish as ten minutes remained in the third period.

As parents and friends were screaming, the players got aggressive, and Gurdin, Badger and freshman Emmet Teahan got sent to the penalty box.

Many were nervous, as Brookline had to play with four players on the ice. Finally, the remaining players were released from the penalty box, but Dedham fit in another goal, raising their score to four.

The game ended with Brookline winning 7-4. The Brookline superfans cheered loudly as the players piled on top of each other in a big hug. The team smiled and celebrated with the crowd as Brookline prepared to advance to the next playoff game.

“For our future goals we have to take it one game at a time, so going into Saturday’s game we have to have a strong forecheck and keep getting shots on net which will hopefully be enough for the victory,” Vish said.