ARLINGTON – Down by a goal and just 27 seconds away from elimination in a Div. 1 second round tilt at Ed Burns Arena on Saturday afternoon, the Arlington boys hockey team came out of a timeout to its raucous student section hollering an “I believe that we will win” chant.

Eleven seconds later, junior Nolan Russell charged all the way down the ice to blow them kisses in celebration.

Russell’s second goal of the game knotted the score, senior Quinlan McNulty-Lu buried the golden goal in overtime, and the No. 7 Spy Ponders (17-5-2) pulled off a sensational 4-3 comeback win over No. 10 St. Mary’s of Lynn to advance to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2022.

Arlington had lost in the second round in each of the last two seasons, and goalie Matthew Smith Jr.’s performance (31 saves) for the Spartans (15-8-1) made a third straight letdown appear likely.

Instead, the Spy Ponders stay alive and will play defending champion No. 2 St. John’s Prep after an emotional rally.

“It was hard,” said junior Cam Petrillo (goal, assist). “It was so hard. But we battled back, we stayed together as a team, we didn’t get too ahead of ourselves, and we knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy game. They’re a great team, they play hard.”

“Unreal,” added McNulty-Lu. “It feels unreal. … We were a family, we stuck together, and we pushed through it.”

JP Messuri’s two assists earlier in the game set up goals from Russell and Cam Petrillo for a 2-0 lead, only for Smith Jr. to lock down, and for Cam McGonagle and Kalen Huddle to each score about a minute apart for a 2-2 tie at the end of the second period.

Even play followed, but once Stephen Nason put the Spartans ahead 3-2 with 3:50 to go for St. Mary’s’ third straight goal, momentum seemed like it might be too much against the Spy Ponders.

“(Smith Jr.) played great in net for them, he’s such a great player, he’s such a good kid,” said Arlington head coach John Messuri. “With him in net, I thought our fate might have been sealed.”

Arlington pulled John Snider (17 saves) with 2:12 to go, and immediately challenged Smith Jr. It wasn’t until after the timeout that the Spy Ponders could get to him.

The initial play, which Arlington used to tie the score in last year’s double-overtime loss to Winchester, didn’t work out. But the rebound on Kurt Beck’s shot went to Russell on the left doorstep, he took it around the back of the net, and wrapped in the neutralizer with 16 seconds left.

“I started taking it around the net and I saw (Smith Jr.) wasn’t really getting over in time,” Russell said. “I was lucky enough to put it in. … We all remembered the feeling last year, losing in the second round, so that was another push to try to win this game.”

“I believed,” Petrillo added. “I was praying. I swear to God I was praying during the timeout. When we went down (the ice to celebrate with Russell), I swear I started crying. I knew the job wasn’t done, but (we got) it done.”

Arlington used its typical patient approach in overtime, generated a few good looks, and the last one saw Petrillo send a strong feed to the backdoor that McNulty-Lu buried for the winner with 4:09 left.

“I was surprised we got a goal with under 27 (seconds) to go,” John Messuri said. “I’m not surprised in overtime. I’ll take my chances in overtime with our skills against anybody.”

“We knew that if we played hard and finished every forecheck, went with our game plan, then we could’ve won it,” McNulty-Lu added. “And that’s what we did.”