Middleton, MA – In this ultimate clash of the titans, we were in the house to watch the two top Catholic Conference rivals do battle to determine who would win a Catholic Conference Championship. Sitting at 15-2-0 were the visiting Catholic Memorial Knights taking on the host St. John’s Prep Eagles with a record of 14-1-1. Essex Sports Center was packed for this game and the students were amped with the ‘ship on the line. This game was rescheduled to a 3:30pm puck drop, following a postponement from a couple of weeks prior. This was by far the most hyped matchup we’ve seen throughout the season at any level.
In the first period, the pace was high and the intensity was palpable. Just over 30 seconds into the proceedings the Eagles were penalized for roughing and that gave CM an opening where they would cash in. With 30 seconds remaining in the power play, freshman forward Joe Marchi swooped behind the net and dished it off to fellow freshman forward Nick D’Olympio. He in turn offered up a pass back to the point for sophomore defenseman Anthony Pellitteri who wound up and fired it through a sea of bodies to make it 1-0 CM with 14:51 remaining. The Eagles remained undaunted and put immediate pressure on the Knights looking for an equalizer. It would only take one minute to capitalize as junior forward Cam Umlah won a draw in the attacking zone back to junior defenseman John Morton who fired it off the boards and the bounce off the kickplate landed right on Umlah’s stick. He fired a one-timer off the pipe and in: our score was now 1-1. Both teams were fully engaged now and the remaining 14 minutes were up and down the sheet with sharp passing and notable physicality. We would head to the room knotted at 1 a piece.
In the middle frame, once again special teams was a factor early as CM was whistled for slashing and SJP went to work. Following a full ice clear, senior defenseman and captain Aidan Holland passed it cross ice to senior forward Cole Blaeser moving up the left wing. As the puck rimmed around, it kicked hard off the kickplate and skidding out in front to senior forward Will Van Sicklin who buried it to break the tie: 2-1 SJP. For the majority of this period, the Eagles have done a great job of limiting time and space for the Knights and it’s been difficult for them to gain the blue line as a result. CM did start to make a push as we got under 10 minutes and a couple of scrambles around the SJP net led to tense moments for the Eagles, but alas, senior goalie Brian Cronin was able to control his crease well to shut them down. There would be no additional scoring and we went onto the 3rd period with the Eagles owning the momentum: the Knights would need a rally to tilt the ice back in their favor.
In the final frame, the Knights got off to a good start as a first minute slashing penalty was assessed to SJP. Just a minute and a half later, another Eagles penalty was assessed for tripping, gifting the Knights a 2-man advantage. Cronin came up with a big save to end the first penalty but CM would cash in on the second one. Senior defenseman and recent Bowdoin commit Finn Burke gained the zone with ease and fed an open Marchi in the slot for a quick shot and a goal to tie the game at 2-2 with 13:15 left. CM continued to put the pressure on following their tying goal and five minutes later that resulted in a too many men penalty on the Eagles with 8:05 to go. The Knights would take the lead just a minute later as Marchi would win an offensive zone faceoff and pass it back to Pellitteri who handed it to Michael Corbett who fired a wrister from the point to break the tie at 3-2 with 7:04 left to go. That goal being scored let some of the air out of the building and this became the road game that CM had always wanted to play. That momentum led to yet another score as a turnover in the neutral zone was dumped in and chased down by sophomore forward Morgan Lenehan. He handed it off along the wall to Marchi who dished it right back to Lenehan at the near post: 4-2 Knights with 4:20 to go. Despite the three unanswered goals, the Eagles were not about to go away that easily. They put on a ton of pressure in the CM end and that led to a goal when Holland started the breakout from his own end and senior Ben McGilvray gained the zone, chasing the puck down in the corner. Junior forward Jake Vana was there to support and whipped a pass into the slot where Van Sicklin was waiting: 4-3 Knights was now the score and the crowd came alive with 2:16 to go. Just a few seconds later a sparkling chance around the net was thwarted by junior goalie Owen Watson and a timeout was soon called by the Eagles with 1:43 remaining. They pulled their goalie and looked for the equalizer, but it did not materialize. Senior forward Brendan MacNeil shot the puck into the empty net just before the buzzer sounded to give us the final score of CM 5 and SJP 3. The Knights win the Catholic Conference title on the road, in what was one of the best hockey games we’ve seen all year by two of the best teams in the State. But be aware, that this is just the beginning…the month of March will yield even more games just like this one.
Three Stars:
- F Joe Marchi, Catholic Memorial
- F Will Van Sicklin, St. John’s Prep
- D Anthony Pellitteri, Catholic Memorial