Showing up to any high school dance intoxicated probably isn't the best idea, but it's even worse when your hockey team plays in the state championship game two days later.
That didn't stop Swampscott (Mass.) High senior captain Trevor Massey and sophomore forward Ryan Cresta, who admitted during a school dance to consuming alcohol on Friday night -- less than 48 hours before the team's Division 3 state title game on Sunday, according to multiple media outlets, including Lynn's Daily Item and The Boston Globe.
Needless to say, the Big Blue teammates were suspended from the state championship game (and roughly 25 percent of any spring season), and Swampscott proceeded to fall short of capturing the school's first ever state title, losing 4-1 to Westfield (Mass.) High.
“(The team) took this loss hard,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia told The Globe. “I just tried to tell them that we had a history-making season -- 19 wins, the North title, the EMass title, (our) first-ever state final appearance -- they have a lot to be proud of. ...
“(The suspended players) weren’t in the lineup, there’s nothing we could do about it. The guys that were here today played their hearts out. That’s all we could ask.”
Massey earned conference MVP honors as a defenseman after amassing four goals and 18 assists this season. Cresta totaled seven goals and eight assists. The former recorded an assist in Swampscott's 4-3 upset of Medway (Mass.) High in the state semifinals.
“I’m sad -- I’m devastated,” Swampscott superintendent Dr. Lynne Celli told the Daily Item. “The most important thing for me is the safety of the students. That’s what I’ve been all about since I took this job. I know (how important the game is). I know the whole town’s excited for this. I’m excited. I will be there, rooting them on. But you can’t put anything above the safety of the students.”
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