BRIGHTON – If not for Franklin goalie Colby Wagner’s strong performance in net, and the defense’s scrappy effort around him, the Catholic Memorial boys hockey team probably could have notched three goals instead of one by the end of the first period of a nonleague battle between the two contenders Wednesday night.

But after the Panthers’ potent attack finally broke through to pull ahead in the second, the Knights couldn’t be contained much longer themselves.

Three different players scored in the final minute, 30 seconds of the second frame, powering No. 3 Catholic Memorial (2-0) to a comeback, 4-2 win over No. 10 Franklin (0-1) for a signature early-season win.

“We have a nice leadership group in there with Connor Fryberger, Mike Corbett, RJ Donahue and Adam Parker, and those guys responded really well for us,” said Knights head coach Larry Rooney. “That’s as physical a team as we’re probably going to see all year. But St. John’s Prep, BC High, Xaverian, Malden Catholic, St. John’s Shrewsbury – they’re all physical. Every game is going to be like that when we get into January. … This is what Div. 1 hockey in the MIAA is all about.”

Much of the first period saw Catholic Memorial bombard the Panthers with pressure, of which Wagner (44 saves) held his own by allowing just a Donahue tip (Parker, Lincoln Hennessy assists) to find the back of the net despite facing 20 shots. Franklin struggled to keep the puck out of its zone, but limited shots around the net to trail just 1-0.

After the Panthers took a 2-1 lead on Ben Paterson’s power-play goal with 7:03 left in the second period, though, the Knights heated up quickly by utilizing their weapons from the point.

Brian McFadden’s shot was finished off on a rebound by Luke Long to tie things up at 2-2 with 1:29 to go in the frame. Cameron Reed completed Corbett’s rebound for the 3-2 advantage just 30 seconds later, and Corbett then got one through traffic from the top of the right circle with just 5.3 seconds on the clock.

“We dug down and we got some traffic in front,” Rooney said. “We had a lot of shots from the point, we use our D really well. … We’re going to use the point because we have a really strong defensive core, and they can shoot.”

“We stayed together, got shots on net, peppered the goalie,” Corbett added. “It was just great momentum.”

Down 1-0 after the first, speed helped the Panthers generate a trio of 2-on-1 rushes. Dan Daley sent a left-to-right pass on one, and Dylan McEvoy buried the goal for a 1-1 tie just two minutes into the second. Paterson then capitalized a power play on good passes from Anthony Lampasona and Logan Marchand up top for the 2-1 lead.

Franklin tried to produce more odd-man opportunities throughout, but the Knights did well to diffuse most of them while limiting its time in the offensive zone.

“They were dangerous, they were sending guys out and trying to create odd-man opportunities,” Rooney said. “I think we played pretty solid defensively, they didn’t have too many threats. … I think by the second period there when we took that 4-2 lead, it’s like, ‘OK, we have to get after it here and we have to play solid defensively.’”

“Just a great team win,” Corbett added. “It’s the best competition, we love playing town teams. They always give us their all. Just today, we came out on top.”