Colin Dorgan Leads Blackstone Valley to Division 2 Title After Family Killed in Pawtucket Shooting

As of March 19, 2026, Colin Dorgan helped the Blackstone Valley Co-op capture the Division 2 boys' state hockey championship at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, scoring a crucial equalizer that propelled the game into multiple overtimes before a teammate netted the winner in a 3-2 victory over Lincoln High School.

The triumph came amid a painful backdrop: on Feb. 16 at a Pawtucket ice rink, an attack while Dorgan was playing left his mother, Rhonda Dorgan, his brother Aidan Dorgan and his grandfather Gerald Dorgan dead, and two others gravely injured. Police identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, who authorities say died of an apparent self-inflicted wound after bystanders intervened; investigators described the incident as targeted. Dorgan, the team captain, has returned to the ice with visible remembrances sewn into his jersey and credited his sister, Ava, who was present at the shooting and unharmed, with helping him resume everyday life.

Coach Chris Librizzi, a retired firefighter who has led the program for more than three decades, paused the season after the attack, arranged 10 days of counseling and gave players the choice to step away or continue; ultimately the entire roster returned. Teammates, local volunteers and broader Rhode Island hockey supporters have shown solidarity through memorial patches and public displays, and Librizzi said the championship offered a moment of release as the community begins to heal.

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