{"id":521386,"date":"2026-03-13T15:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521386\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:40:10","slug":"high-school-hockey-player-leads-rhode-island-team-to-victory-after-family-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521386\/","title":{"rendered":"High school hockey player leads Rhode Island team to victory after family tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) \u2014 High school hockey player Colin Dorgan, wearing a patch on his jersey honoring his mother, brother and grandfather who were killed last month in a <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pawtucket-hockey-rink-shooting-rhode-island-4e9c9df9c3a2b0a524f0e9bdd0908d45\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rhode Island ice rink shooting<\/a>, scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to advance his team to the state championship game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the greatest moment of my life,\u201d senior Colin Dorgan told WPRI-TV after Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-d40000\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan shoots the puck past the goaltender to score the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773416409_769_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan shoots the puck past the goaltender to score the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)<\/p>\n<p>Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan shoots the puck past the goaltender to score the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan celebrates after scoring the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773416409_285_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan celebrates after scoring the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)\n                <\/p>\n<p>Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan celebrates after scoring the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan celebrates after scoring the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773416410_609_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan celebrates after scoring the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)\n                <\/p>\n<p>Blackstone Valley Schools forward Colin Dorgan celebrates after scoring the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p>Colin Dorgan was on the ice with his Blackstone Valley Co-op teammates when his mother and brother, Rhonda Dorgan and Aidan Dorgan, were killed in a targeted attack during a Feb. 16 hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Colin Dorgan\u2019s grandfather, Gerald Dorgan, later died from his injuries, and two others were severely injured.<\/p>\n<p>Police have identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Robert Dorgan also went by the names Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano, authorities said. <\/p>\n<p>After the shooting, all Rhode Island high school sports were postponed for a week. However, Blackstone Valley returned to the ice for the first time since the fatal attack earlier this month, with players donning hearts stitched on the front of their jerseys with the initials of all three who died. <\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-810000\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Blackstone Valley Schools head coach Chris Librizzi embraces Colin Dorgan after Dorgan scored the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena on the campus of Providence College in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773416410_737_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Blackstone Valley Schools head coach Chris Librizzi embraces Colin Dorgan after Dorgan scored the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena on the campus of Providence College in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)<\/p>\n<p>Blackstone Valley Schools head coach Chris Librizzi embraces Colin Dorgan after Dorgan scored the double-overtime game-winning goal against Portsmouth High School in the Rhode Island high school hockey state semifinal, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Schneider Arena on the campus of Providence College in Providence, R.I. (Courtesy of T.J. Auclair &amp; Kyle Auclair\/Little Big Leaguers Photography via AP)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p>After securing a playoff victory on March 7, Blackstone Valley defeated Portsmouth 3-2 on Wednesday with Colin Dorgan scoring on a breakaway in double overtime.<\/p>\n<p>The team will now play in the Rhode Island Division 2 boys hockey championship game on March 18.<\/p>\n<p>Officials have said the shooter was specifically targeting family members.<\/p>\n<p>Law enforcement have credited several people who intervened and quickly <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/hockey-rink-shooting-hero-rhode-island-pawtucket-fcf58def325c4c6698775e5d46e260fc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stopped the attack<\/a>. At least three bystanders were able to contain the shooter in the middle of the stands as the crowd fled and ran around them.<\/p>\n<p>Rhonda Dorgan\u2019s mom, Linda Dorgan, and a family friend, Thomas Geruso, were also wounded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) \u2014 High school hockey player Colin Dorgan, wearing a patch on his jersey honoring his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[219989,235255,793,219992,7922,6755,235256,880,8959,219987,219489,219988,219488,4382,99,219997,795],"class_list":["post-521386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aidan-dorgan","tag-colin-dorgan","tag-general-news","tag-gerald-dorgan","tag-gun-violence","tag-hockey","tag-linda-dorgan","tag-rhode-island","tag-rhode-island-rams","tag-rhonda-dorgan","tag-robert-dorgan","tag-roberta-dorgano","tag-roberta-esposito","tag-shootings","tag-sports","tag-thomas-geruso","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}