The Cranston co-op boys hockey team pulled off a 6-5 overtime upset over Exeter-West Greenwich in the Division II prelims on Monday night to advance to the quarterfinals against Rogers this weekend.

The Falcons would take a 3-0 lead in the first period but EWG would claw its way back to eventually tie the score with 3:41 remaining in regulation.

Grant Bailey would net the game-winner for the Falcons with 6:57 left in the overtime period to send Cranston to the next round.

Cranston got six different goal scorers in the win, as Justin Drohen, Harry Woloohojian, Devin DeAnglis, Jared Prior and Nathan Kempe also added scores.

“The production has been spread across the board and we may have found lightning in a bottle with our line of Justin Drohen, Devin DeAnglis and Harry Woloohojian. We’ve put all of our eggs in one basket and the leadership has been great. To see where we were in November and where we are now, it’s night and day. I said to them on Friday, ‘hockey is fun again,’” said Cranston coach Matt Brannon.

Goalie Jaedon Case recorded 27 saves in net while Brady Scanlon added a pair of assists.

Cranston entered its season finale against St. Ray’s in a must-win scenario. The Falcons would roll to the 7-0 decision to claim the division’s final playoff spot.

“Credit to the kids at this point. We’ve been battling some injuries, we’ve been skating only 11 kids the last few games. It was a must-win game against St. Ray’s, we treated it like a playoff game and took it to them early to get that win, then we carried it over into (Monday). For a team that is this young, you can’t ask for anything more from them. It’s an exciting time and in playoff hockey, anything can happen,” said Brannon.

Cranston’s roster is the youngest in Division II and finished the regular season with just three wins. Although it has been a rebuilding year, the team is starting to heat up at the right time.

 “They’re building confidence in the room. Now that they’re seeing the results, it’s like, ‘we can play with whoever.’ They’re scoring goals which they struggled with throughout the year, they’re putting it all together. Things have clicked. They’re having fun, they’re joking on the bench. It was nice to see,” said Brannon.

Next up is Rogers, who beat Cranston 3-0 and 8-2 in their regular season meetings. The team will be relying on their leaders to once again take on one of the state’s best teams. Drohen has been on fire, racking up six points in the win against St. Ray’s and three against EWG.

“(Drohen) didn’t let his teammates down, he had a big night for us (on Monday) and on Friday. Credit to him, Harry and Jared Prior, those are the three juniors that have been on the team the longest and have been sticking together,” said Brannon. “They’re leading us right now and we’re just going to ride it.”