BOSTON — Standing in the media room at TD Garden still in his sweat-soaked St. John’s Prep jersey late Sunday night, the smile simply wouldn’t leave Lynnfield native Tommy Sarni’s face.
The senior captain had just capped off his high-school hockey career in dream fashion — scoring four goals and notching two assists at the biggest venue and in the biggest game in the state to help lead his Eagles to the Division 1 state championship.
“That’s it, that’s the cherry on top for me,” Sarni said following his final hockey game. “That’s about the best way I could possibly imagine going out — winning it all with my boys. I almost don’t even have the words for it.”
Sarni got the scoring started Sunday night when he found the back of the net less than two minutes into the game. He finished things for the Eagles as well, scoring the final three goals of the game — two of them coming on empty nets. Oh, and he had assists on the other two goals the Prep scored in its 6-2 win over Xaverian.
And yet, as has been the case all season, Sarni — who will be playing Division 1 lacrosse at Providence College next year — deflected praise and instead showered his teammates with it.
“I just tried to make the best play I could in the moment, but it was all my teammates setting me up,” said Sarni. “You don’t get many golden opportunities, but those guys set me up with a few and I just tried to take advantage.”
It’s been a winter to remember for Sarni, who led the top-ranked Eagles in goals this year with 21 when all was said and done. Alongside his teammates, who he says make up the tightest locker room in the state, Sarni helped lead the Prep to its most wins in program history (22) and its first state championship since 2015.
A fitting way to end his hockey career, according to him.
“I’ve said this a bunch this year, but this is the tightest group of guys in the entire state,” said Sarni. “There’s no ‘hero ball,’ everybody wants everybody to do well. It doesn’t matter who does it, as long as we win.”
But the winning for Sarni dates even further back, as he was a key member of the lacrosse team that captured the Division 1 state championship back in June of 2021. As a matter of fact, seven or eight of his teammates on the ice Sunday were a part of that winning lacrosse team as well.
“I think it says a lot about how we prepare ourselves and our desire to win these big games,” said Sarni. “Sometimes it comes down to who wants it more, and having been around these guys for a long time, I can say for sure that no one wanted it more than us.”
And get this — he made an appearance at the first lacrosse practice of the season Monday afternoon.
“I just want the third one,” said Sarni while gesturing toward his newly-acquired state championship medal. “I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t do it.”
No days off.
