Middleton, MA – In the final game on Day 1 we saw the hometown team St. John’s Prep take on BC High to see who would face Central Catholic in the title game of the Frates Classic tomorrow. Emotions for this game were riding high with the hometown Eagles playing with heavy hearts after the passing of tournament namesake and ALS research champion Peter Frates earlier in the month. Before the game all four teams came out for the ceremonial puck drop to honor Frates, which was a really nice moment and an all-class move by both Central Catholic and Pope Francis, having played a few minutes prior.
The first period was back and forth with each team generating chances but ultimately BC High was the lone team to dent the scoreboard. Eight minutes in sophomore forward Max DaSilva drove to the net and tipped home a shot by junior forward Colin Norton to make it 1-0 BC High. St. John’s Prep made a push in the latter half of the frame and picked up the physical play, but still faced a one-goal deficit after the first.
In the second period, St. John’s Prep put on a full-court press and dialed up the forecheck pressure. It only took 13 seconds for them to tie the game up as senior Ned Malolepszy capitalized off a loose rebound and flipped it far side past BC High goalie Dalton Neelon: 1-1. The remainder of the frame featured a more aggressive SJP Eagle defense in the neutral zone and defensive zone. They used their sticks to defend and threw their weight around to slow down the BC High attack. A couple of turnovers led to chances for BC High but they also struggled with zone exits which cut down on the number of chances from last period. The third should decide this one…
The final frame featured a lot of back and forth with many close calls: a couple of pipes, some rebounds that trickled wide and a few other chances from prime scoring areas. Despite the great hustle by both sides and opportunistic shots – neither team was able to put one home, which brought us to 3-on-3 OT. In the 3-on-3, both sides were cautious not to make gaffes, until a late penalty was called on St. John’s Prep giving BC High a chance to deliver the knockout punch. But credit to the SJP Eagle penalty kill – they were able to stimy BC High and force a shootout.
During the shootout, after misses on both sides, BC High’s Colin Norton scored on a clean forehand-backhand move, only to be answered at the other end by 2005-born freshman Cam Russo to knot the SO at 1-1. Consecutive misses thereafter led to a rocket wrister by senior Aidan Carey which put BC High up for good as junior goalie Dalton Neelon shut the door on sophomore forward Cole Lopilato to seal the victory for BC High (although, the game goes down in the record books as a tie for Standings purposes).
Three Stars:
- F Aidan Carey, BC High
- G Dalton Neelon, BC High
- D Jack Gilligan, St. John’s Prep
NZ’s Take:
This battle took shape much the same way we’ve seen in previous years when these teams face-off. St. John’s Prep is a well-disciplined, 200-foot hockey team that is really tough to play against physically and BC High is all about pushing the offensive pace and taking ice aggressively looking to transition with numbers at every turn. The two battled for more than three periods today and it was a lot of fun to watch because each team was able to play their game in spurts. Despite the final score, both teams threw everything they had into this game and either one could have come away with a berth in the Championship. But the matchups are now set: BC High will play Central Catholic at 2pm for the title and Pope Francis will play St. John’s Prep at noon back at Essex Sports Center.
For St. John’s Prep we were intrigued by how complete Jack Gilligan‘s game is: he is physical, but can jump up in the rush, he takes ice when he has possession and gaps up with an attacker bearing down. He will be a terrific addition to a college team once his Eagle days are done. Also impressive was strong senior forward Ryan Webb who played a full 200 feet today: picking up an open man on the defensive end and making some nice bump passes in the neutral zone to spring his linemates on the rush. He looks to have added some bulk in the offseason and his game is in a very mature place because he influenced plays at both ends.
For BC High, we noted Max DaSilva in our PLPG but hard to miss Aidan Carey’s contributions as well. He scored the GWG in the SO but his play 5-on-5 was a positive as well. He was able to jump to top speed quickly from a standstill and put pressure on the opposing D – those quick feet were tough to limit for 45 minutes. Under the radar was also the play of 2005-born freshman forward Ryan Flaherty: he excels as a puck hunter and hustles to track down dump-ins. We like his willingness to slow the play down with possession and evaluate his options instead of dumping it off to his first choice.
