West Springfield, MA– We made our way down to Western Massachusetts for a big matchup in the D1 MIAA tournament between the Pope Francis Cardinals and the Waltham Hawks.
The first period got underway fast and both teams came out flying with each side getting early chances on net. Pope Francis would settle it down after the opening minutes and start to control play with a goal from junior forward Colin Foyle in the slot that would just beat the goalie glove side to put them up 1-0 in the first. Pope would continue to keep all the pressure on Waltham with another goal from freshman forward CJ Watroba in the slot off a shot from the end wall by freshman defenseman Matthew Bolduc. Pope would keep it rolling through the period as they would get one late with a minute to go as freshman forward Nick Petkovich grabbed a rebound off Watroba’s shot from the circle to make 3-0 Pope heading into the second.
Starting off the second period Waltham came out with a jump in their step to try and get back in the game with shots and physical play picking up in the opening minutes. Pope would find their game after 11 minutes with a goal from junior forward Joe DiMichele getting his own rebound and shooting one short side to make it 4-0. The Cardinals continued to keep their foot on the gas with another shortly after from sophomore defenseman Wade Wegrzyn who would tip a shot from Jack Moltenbrey after getting a great pass out of the corner from forward Ryan O’Leary to make it 5-0. It would keep on coming from Pope Francis as they would get another the next shift from Watroba off a great backhand saucer pass from forward Nick Petkovich to make it 6-0. Pope Francis continued to pepper the Waltham end towards the end of the period but Waltham would close out the period down six with a mountain to climb in the third.
Into the third we go with Pope Francis coming out right where they left off with most of the possession down in the Waltham end to start the period. Waltham senior goalie Jack Perry would make some unbelievable saves with ten minutes to go in the period, the Cardinals finding it increasingly difficult to get anything by him. Pope would have control halfway through the period with plenty of possession in the Waltham end and some great chances to follow with shots being fired from all directions. Waltham would not give up and with four minutes to go senior forward Jonathan Campana would get a breakaway and slip one by blocker side to get Waltham on the board to make it 6-1. Pope in the end would calm play down and close this game out to advance to the Round of 16 with a big 6-1 win over Waltham. They will face Braintree at home on March 7 in the next round.
Three Stars:
- F CJ Watroba, Pope Francis
- F Nick Petkovich, Pope Francis
- F Ryan O’Leary, Pope Francis