Framingham, MA: The Xaverian Hawks and St. John’s Pioneers faced off in the late game of the MHL Cup at Loring Arena Thursday night. Pioneer junior goalie Dan Laursen faced a lot of rubber and did his best to give his team a chance but in the end the Hawks were too much and won the game 3-1 earning a berth in the Finals tomorrow night.
The Hawks struck quickly with back-to-back scores in the middle of the first period. First with 7:58 left Josh Barton barreled down the left wing by a defender and fired a pass on the tape of Matty Ryan for the score. Pretty goal to start things off. Then 36 seconds later senior Michael Pitochelli popped home a rebound of a Jack Silva semi-breakaway with an additional assist to Matt Joyce. It was quickly 2-0 Xaverian.
Senior goalie James Herring made a big stop early in the second period and after that Xaverian controlled most of the play. The entire Xaverian team played a lot in the SJS end and moved the puck well on the cycle. The line of Josh Barton, Matty Ryan and Ryan Pomposelli was nearly impossible to keep from having long shifts in the Pioneer end. The second period ended with a five minute major on SJS with an ejection. The score remained 2-0 after two.
Xaverian continued to control play when Matty Ryan sent Pomposelli on a breakaway and Ryan fired home the dagger to make it 3-0. Joyce also assisted. The Pioneers added a late goal and the game ended 3-1 but was never in doubt. Senior James Herring looked solid in the net to earn the win. They will play Marshfield for the MHL Cup Friday at 7:30.
NZ Take:
For Xaverian, Josh Barton dominated entire shifts consistently. His skating has improved and he was one of the best players we saw all day. D1 prospect with lots of upside. A man amongst boys at this level. Pomposelli is strong on his skates and moves to scoring spots. Matty Ryan drives the net hard. Sophomore D Andrew Barton has some skills but is still lanky and needs experience and some weight. Junior Ty Marchi has a tricky stick and was good on the PK, sophomore Robbie Barletta is tough and confident. Made lots of plays and was used on the power play on the point.
For SJS, junior Dhillon Wilde was their best forward. Senior Cam Luzzo showed some promise on D. Junior Sean Clark has speed off the edge.
Three Stars:
- Josh Barton (Xaverian)
- Matty Ryan (Xaverian)
- John Joyce (Xaverian)
