Capturing a College's Historic Win

Ollie Piazza | March 25, 2026

There are moments in sports where everything feels fast and slow at the same time. This was one of them.

From the top of TD Garden, I got ready for what could be a big night. As an alumnus, I was proud. As a photographer, I was nervous. It was either going to be another long night with a tough ending or the beginning of history for the Merrimack Warriors.

When Merrimack took the ice for the Hockey East championship, it felt bigger than a normal game. You could sense it before the puck dropped. In 2023 leaving the Garden couldn't come quick enough. A crushing overtime loss to Boston University, and a moment I wasn't sure I would ever get to capture again, definitely not within 3 years. On the same weekend 3 years later I stood in the Garden again, but I was wishing the time would just stand still.

From behind the lens, I was just trying to stay ready. You can’t predict the big moments, you just have to catch them when they happen.The game moved quickly, but certain moments stood out the shifts in momentum, the buildup before a shot, the bench reacting. You learn to look for those.

Our communications team had done this before but it never got the ending it deserved.

And then it happened. The goal. The reaction. The clock hit zero finally. Everything let go at once. The Warriors are Hockey East Champions.

What stuck with me wasn’t just the hockey skill it takes to be a champion. It was what came after, the emotion, the celebration, the team coming together. That’s what I’m really trying to capture. Not just what happened, but what it felt like.

Because when it’s all over, those are the moments people remember. That's capturing history in the making.