Medford welcomes hockey heroes into Hall of Fame

They’re two of the most heralded hockey teams in Mustang history.

It was only fitting both scored their biggest goal to date, their place in the Medford High Hall of Fame.

Both squads were inducted in a special ceremony, Sunday at the Malden Irish American.

The fact that both got to skate in together made it an extra special occasion.

“It feels great,” said Ned O’Keefe, 57, a backup goalie for the 1985-86 squad and current head coach of the Mustangs boys hockey team. “To have the team I was actually on get inducted is fantastic.”

“It’s a great accomplishment 20 years in the making,” said Brendan Bourque, a forward from the 2005-06 squad.

Both teams were among four honored at the Nov. 23 ceremony, joining the 1983 MHS baseball team and the 2007-08 Mustangs cheerleading team. It was be a family reunion of sorts for Bourque. His uncle, Lou Moschella, was part of the 1985-86 hockey team. His uncle Stephen MacAdams was on the 1983 baseball team.

“It’s a small world and kind of surreal, especially this year having two other members of my family getting inducted at the same time,” said Bourque. “It’s pretty cool.”

The Medford Mustang Hall of Fame also welcomed record-setting swimmer Brian McIver (’86); Thanksgiving Day football MVP James Meagher (’96); girls soccer standout and coach Rachel (Rainho) Perry (’89); Medford baseball’s hit king Steve Gambale (’02); MHS hockey and boys soccer star Jay Garrity (’03), GBL girls soccer scoring champ Emma (McNamee) Rios (’08); three-sport superstars Alaina (Mitrano) Buldini (’04), Michelle (Enos) Ferrer (’04), Jennifer (Bove) Allard (’09), Jessica (Kearn) Regan (’00); gridiron giant and top wrestler Matthew Sullivan (’16); and brother and sister tandem Jake Porrazzo (’13) and Adrienne (Porrazzo) Cronin (’15), as well as coach Ray Dyer. Chris Murphy (’04) and Frank Zizzo (’74) will receive the community service award. David Nichols (’69) will be honored with the Distinguished Alumni award.

Mustang Spirit circa 1985-86

One of the most accomplished teams in Medford High hockey history, the 1985-86 Mustangs remain the benchmark by which all others have been measured. O’Keefe along with MHS assistant coach Larry McGayhey were members of this historic squad that helped make Medford a bona fide hockey hotbed.

A junior netminder with the Mustangs that magical season, O’Keefe still has fond memories of the run.

“I was the backup goalie, so I had a great seat for everything and saw it all,” said O’Keefe. “I felt that team through the years without a doubt was one of the top three ever to play for Medford High School. I mean, that 1993 team with Shawn Bates was pretty close. Them and maybe the 2005-06 team. That’s about it.”

Sporting a cavalcade of All Scholastic D1 and D3 college stars, as well as a pair of National Hockey League recruits, coach Peter Brennan’s squad cruised through a remarkable 18-2 regular season run.

Led by senior team captain and four-year letterman Mark Steritti, Brian Walsh (American International College), high-scoring junior Joe Sacco (Boston University/NHL), younger brother David Sacco (BU/NHL), standout goaltender William O’Brien (UMass Boston) and sophomore sniper Daniel Bates (Salem State), the Mustangs had the kind of talent you only dreamed about at every end of its star-studded roster.

“We were loaded and only had five seniors on that team,” said O’Keefe. “To have the rarity of those guys like Steritti, Paul Bartalini, Joe Sacco. To have all those guys together, that will never happen again for a public school. It was a close-knit team, that just had that Medford mentality. It was just so different.”

It was apparent these Mustangs were on a mission, capturing both the Greater Boston League championship and D1 North Sectional State Championship. They continued their postseason conquests winning four more games, including a pivotal victory over Arlington to clinch the D1 North crown.

Medford capped its dream season with a marquee matchup against Ted Donato and Catholic Memorial at a jam-packed Boston Garden, St. Patrick’s Day, March 16, 1986. Trailing 4-2, Medford’s Steve Bartalini rallied the Mustangs scoring a pair of goals sending the game into extra sessions.  Catholic Memorial’s Steve McElaney potted the game-winning goal with under 30 second left in the second OT, to end it in heartbreaking fashion.

“If we won that game, that could have changed everything,” said O’Keefe, noting how CM won the title the next four years. “We could have stopped the Catholic Memorial dynasty right away. As a public-school team, we certainly hung with those guys, we were just as good, if not better.”

According to O’Keefe, public schools don’t have the manpower to build a program like that anymore.

“Being the coach now, you go from 1986 where you had 50 kids and 11 goalies trying out, to barely getting 20 kids to coming into the program,” he said. “It’s just a whole different era.”

“We had depth,” added O’Keefe, who played just a handful of games that year.  “I was a backup goalie my whole career and could never get into the net. I tell these guys now 40 years later, if I didn’t stick it out, I wouldn’t be the head coach now. Someone had to be the backup goalie.”

He still enjoys being part of a team forever cemented in Medford High folklore four decades later.

“I love it,” said O’Keefe. “We still brag about it all the time.”

Medford magic circa 2005-06

Twenty years after the 1985-86 team’s epic run, another Medford High hockey team captured the hearts and imagination of its hometown.

The 2005-06 squad was another talented group heading into the season, but nothing could have prepared them for the year ahead.

To even be mentioned in the same breath as the 1985-86 squad remains the ultimate compliment.

“It’s awesome,” said Bourque, 37, a global security manager for a biotech company in Cambridge.  “I look at the players on that (86-86) team, the Sacco brothers, Bates. I don’t think I ever heard a bad thing about that team. I’m good friends with Mike Tringale and even he talks about it. It’s incredible to be compared to that team.”

The 2005-06 Mustangs embarked on an amazing 18-0-4 regular season run in the GBL, scoring its first Greater Boston League title in 15 years. It was the program’s first and only undefeated GBL season since 1936. A Super 8 qualifier and Final 4 finalist, the squad also earned the MIAA Sportsmanship Award in back-to-back seasons.

“I think we were the first team in 70 or so year to go undefeated in the regular season,” said Bourque. “I obviously wish things could have gone better with the Super 8. Being the only public school in it that year was a great accomplishment. We had a good team. We had a lot of players go onto D2 and D3. It was a good year for us.”

Led by then second-year head coach Chuck Allen, the Mustangs were a committed group determined to make a sizable impression.

A squad loaded with high-end firepower, tight checking defense, and a stellar Hall of Fame netminder in Collin Tracy, Medford had all the ingredients for success.

Forwards Chris Galvin, Adam Ziegler, David Honeycutt and Joe Monaco gave Medford had plenty of offensive firepower. Bourque skated on a line with Chris Wells and Jamie Grubb. Fellow forwards like Mike Bove, Chris DiFranco, Rob Faggiano, Chris Galvin and Kevin Hayes were also quick to jump over the boards. Added in the rising talents of Steve Servidio, Mike Silvio and Greg Wall into the mix and you had a squad capable of putting up big numbers.

Defensemen PJ Barnaby and Nick Zizza anchored an inrtimidating MHS blueline brigade that also featured Brett Cavallaro, Mike Monaco, Shaun O'Brien, Joe Pye and Dan Tinkler. Tracy was a brick wall in the net, backed by Medford netminders Joey Baker and the late John Marckini.

“I knew we were good,” said Bourque. “We were at the top of the GBL, but didn’t necessarily see us going as far as we did. In the Super 8 we knocked off Hingham in the first game. We had an unfortunate loss in a close game to Catholic Memorial and lost Austin Prep in OT, which was a tough pill to swallow.”

Medford was ultimately eliminated by BC High in the semifinals, with future Merrimack goalie Joe Cannata holding them off the scoreboard.  

“It was a fun ride,” said Bourque. “Being able to play in the Garden was definitely an opportunity of a lifetime that not many people would give back. I don’t know how you’d stack it up with the 1985-86 team. They had a couple of NHLers and Olympians on that team, but we did our best.”

Bourque credits coach Chuck Allen with getting the team to believe.

“Chuckie did a great job,” said Bourque. “He came in with Bobby Goodwin, a goalie coach out of Cambridge Rindge and Latin. Chuck was really good with the players. He developed a lot of us and had a great eye for hockey. He did a lot for us and for me as a person.”

The team remains tight two decades later.

“We all grew up playing hockey together since we were 3,” said Bourque. “I still talk and golf with many of these guys. A couple are Medford police officers. People tend to separate, especially 20 years after high school, but it’s good that we all still talk to each other. It was a fun ride.”