SOUTH BOSTON – The Tewksbury boys hockey team felt robbed of a title with an upset loss to Boston Latin in last year’s Div. 2 state final.

Four days after the Wolfpack celebrated that championship and received their rings inside Murphy Memorial Rink, the Redmen got at least a little revenge Monday morning for what they fell just short of earning themselves.

It took less than two minutes for star junior Tyler Bourgea to score the first of his three goals, igniting an offensive eruption for No. 14 Tewksbury (6-0) as part of a 7-2 win over No. 24 Boston Latin in a physical game with 16 combined penalties.

Two of those goals came shorthanded in a clinic of execution on special teams, pairing with two goals from Ben Christopher and David Karlberg’s 30 saves in net to outlast a resilient Wolfpack (3-1-1) group.

Tewksbury now has at least six goals in all but one of its wins so far, but it didn’t shy away from how meaningful this one felt compared to the others.

“There was a lot of emotions going on out there for us after last year,” said Redmen head coach Derek Doherty. “It wasn’t the best finish for us. We have a few boys that were on the team – a lot of boys were on the team – and they have a good memory. This was an important game to them, but it’s a long season, too.”

“We thought about it a lot last year, how we lost to them in the state final,” Bourgea added. “We just took out all our anger in the game.”

Tewksbury’s Ricky Pacheco sends Boston Latin’s James Heath flying during a hockey game at Murphy Memorial Skating Rink. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

The first 50 seconds of play featured three loud hits, setting the tone for a highly physical affair that never relented.

Neither did the trips to the box.

Boston Latin earned its first for interference just 1:03 into action, which set Tewksbury up to open the floodgates. Jake Cunha (two assists) cycled the puck to Kevin Andriolo (goal, assist), who found Bourgea for an early goal and a 1-0 lead.

Jason Lavoie doubled the lead with 10:31 left in the first period, and Bourgea’s second goal came on a shorthanded breakaway just 53 seconds later to put Boston Latin in an early 3-0 hole.

“When we come out flying, we always end up producing more goals,” Bourgea said. “(The first goal) helped us a lot because it was a momentum shifter.”

“We attacked the net and got things done,” Doherty added. “Our guys were ready to play.”

Boston Latin slowed the bleeding for a bit in an otherwise back-and-forth flow, but Bourgea replicated his second goal with another shorthanded breakaway midway through the second period for a 4-0 lead.

Penalties racked up for both groups, committing eight in the game’s first 22 minutes. But that wouldn’t slow down Tewksbury, as Bourgea almost netted a hat trick on shorthanded goals alone if not for an Oliver Murphy save on the last opportunity. A 4-on-3 opportunity arose shortly after Bourgea did complete his hat trick, and Andriolo finished off a 5-0 lead with 7:14 left in the second period.

“We’re a really good penalty-kill team,” Bourgea said. “Special teams is big for us. We produce more on special teams more than anything. … We just practice it a lot. Practice makes perfect.”

Boston Latin generated plenty of opportunities to keep pace, it just struggled finishing. Billy Cunniffe cut the deficit to 5-1 on a power play late in the second period, and he assisted Nolan Rowley a few minutes later on a four-shot flurry.

Tewksbury’s Anthony DiFranco raises his arms to celebrate a goal during a 7-2 win over Boston Latin. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Sandwiched around Rowley’s goal, though, were both of Christopher’s goals to keep Boston Latin at a distance. The Wolfpack heavily outshot Tewksbury 16-7 in the third period as the Redmen killed off a five-minute major and two minutes of 5-on-3, but Karlberg came up huge to stave them off.

“He’s focused,” Doherty said. “Since (his first start against Central Catholic), he’s been very focused and he’s playing really well. He’s taking great angles.”