Middleton, MA – In what was the game of the day for us at MassNZ, the St. John’s Prep Eagles hosted the Catholic Memorial Knights for a Saturday afternoon tilt. There were high expectations for both teams coming into this one as each team entered with identical 8-1-0 records.
From the drop of the puck, SJP controlled play early in the first period. Their forwards played heavy, suffocating the CM defensemen on their forecheck and taking away time and space from their forwards. At the five-minute mark, CM would make an untimely D change and it would cost them. SJP senior defenseman Tommy Tilas would zip a pass cross-ice to his D partner Aiden Holland who had a clear lane to the net and beat the CM goalie Owen Watson high glove side to give SJP the 1-0 lead. SJP would continue to carry play and take the 2-0 lead when sophomore forward Johnny Tighe’s shot missed the net and junior Harlen Graber collected the loose puck and buried the rebound. CM would make their road back a bit tougher by taking two concurrent penalties, putting SJP on a 5-on-3 power play. SJP would capitalize once again, at the 13-minute mark, when senior forward Tommy Sarni caught a great cross-seam pass from senior defender Theo Vetere and sniped to give SJP the 3-0 lead. That’s how the period would end. SJP controlled most of the action, outshot CM, and would begin the second period on the power play.
CM would make a goalie change to start the second, putting in senior Dom Walecka. It didn’t take long for SJP to get back on the board: just 36 seconds into the period, Vetere took a shot slightly wide of the net and junior forward Ben McGilvary tipped it home to make it 4-0 SJP. From there, the game would even out a bit, with both teams playing tough and generating a few chances. Early in the second, CM would take to the power play looking to get back into the game. With only one shot to the net that rang off the post, the game would remain 4-0. There were not many prime scoring chances from either side and shots were roughly even as we headed to the third and final period.
CM showed no quit as they controlled possession for the first four minutes of the third period, they just couldn’t generate many scoring chances. SJP played a heavy game and didn’t give CM much space around their net. The game would remain 4-0 until the 15-minute mark. SJP’s Tilas made a great stretch pass to sophomore forward Jake Vana who went in on a breakaway and beat Knights netminder Walecka glove side high. The game looked to be over but with 26 seconds to go in the period, CM forward Tyler Hamilton would skate in on the breakaway and beat SJP goalie Payton Palladino bar down, wiping out the shutout. SJP would go on to earn the 5-1 win today.
Three Stars:
- D Tommy Tilas, St. John’s Prep
- D Theo Vetere, St. John’s Prep
- F Tommy Sarni, St. John’s Prep