Yesterday, St. Patrick's Day, with their fans a noisy wall of kelly green on one side of the Garden, shamrocks pasted on their helmets and the organist pumping out "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," the Green and Gold of Matignon High School could have beaten the Bruins.

To win the State Division I schoolboy hockey championship, though, the scrappy Matignon squad had only to best St. John's of Shrewsbury. That they did, and stylishly, 9-3, before a happy Garden crowd.

Shellacking

Matignon dominated from the first face-off, shelling the St. John goalie for the first three goals of the game in a two-and-a-half minute first period stretch.

A similar three-goal Matignon outburst began the second stanza, and two more tallies ended the period, as the Green and Gold upped their lead to six, 8-2.

Forwards Steve Lyons and Kevin Conley each connected for hat tricks and calmly added a pair of assists.

Matignon goalie Dave Kervick turned in his best performance of the season, knocking back one St. John's drive after another to compensate for a sometimes-leaky Matignon defense.

Matignon scored two goals off a high-energy powerplay, and notched three more on classic breakaways.

Don't Wink

George Boudreau banged home the prettiest goal of the night, a wrist shot that was bending the twine in the left corner of the net before the St. John's netminder even noticed it was on its way.

St. Johns collected one goal each period, to the delight of their mostly crestfallen rooting section. But coach Marty Pierce's squad shut down every Shrewsbury rally before it had a chance to begin.

Cambridge police escorted the Matignon squad through the main streets and byways of the city last night, and hundreds of city residents turned out to greet the squad, which includes such luminaries as Ned Danehy, son of the city's former mayor Thomas W. Danehy.

Earlier in the day, Barnstable topped Longmeadow, 6-5, in overtime to pick up the Division II state crown.

The win is the second state championship for a Cambridge team. The Rindge and Latin basketball squad beat Worcester North last week to capture the state basketball title.

Victors in the state's toughest league, the Boston-area Catholic Conference, Matignon came into last night's contest heavy favorites.

But the schedule maker did as much to insure a victory for this roster of Danehys, Kellys, Morans, Duffys and McGinnitys.

For yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and Matignon was wearing the green.