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Colin Dorgan scored in double overtime Friday night to send his Blackstone Valley Co-op team to the Rhode Island Division 2 championship game. The goal lifted his team past the semifinals – but that’s not why his story matters.
High school players score big goals in tournament hockey all the time.
What makes Dorgan’s goal different is what happened three weeks earlier. A mass shooter opened fire during Blackstone Valley’s senior day game at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, killing three people who were watching from the stands.
The shooter was Robert Dorgan. Police say he targeted family members before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Colin Dorgan lost his mother, brother, and grandfather that day. Two others were critically injured.
The Team Came Back Together
Rhode Island postponed all high school sports for a week following the shooting. Blackstone Valley didn’t return to the ice for almost three weeks – they finally played again late last week in the D-2 quarterfinals.
Every player on the team now wears a heart stitched on the front of their jersey. Inside it are the initials of the three who died.
Dorgan scored twice in the quarterfinal series. Then, with his team facing elimination in Wednesday’s semifinals, he came through again in the second overtime period.
We witnessed one of the most amazing moments you’ll ever see at a high school event tonight at Schneider Arena.
Colin Dorgan, who lost his mother, brother & grandfather in the Lynch Arena shooting last month, scores a 2OT game-winner to send his team to the @RIIL_sports D-II… pic.twitter.com/wU8rBe9F2d
— Nick Coit (@NickCoit) March 12, 2026
Blackstone Valley coach Chris Librizzi says the team has rallied around Dorgan since the tragedy. He and his staff made it a priority to keep the players together.
“The biggest thing for us after the tragedy took place was to keep them together as a family,” Librizzi told WPRI. “I was with [Colin] every single day, and his sister, and we as a group, as well, got together for 14 days straight. And I believe it made a difference. The bonding that this team went through every day the last two weeks has been nothing less than superior.”
Blackstone Valley faces one final game – the D-2 championship on March 18 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence. Whatever happens there, Dorgan’s story is already one people won’t forget.
