MIDDLETON – One of the first goals the St. John’s Prep boys hockey team sets for the season is winning the Pete Frates Winter Classic in honor of their legendary late alum.

For the first time since 2015 and just the second time ever, the Eagles finally delivered Thursday evening – on Frates’ birthday.

Senior Jake Vana gathered the puck by his own blue line and out-skated the last defender on a breakaway, went to his backhand, and flipped in the game-winning goal in overtime to propel No. 7 St. John’s Prep (4-1) to a 1-0 win over No. 3 Pope Francis (3-3).

Junior AJ Farese won tournament MVP with consecutive shutouts, posting 11 of his 21 saves in the final period as fatigue started to wear down the Eagles.

With the win, St. John’s Prep gets revenge from the loss to Pope Francis in last year’s Div. 1 state semifinal.

“Winning it on Pete’s birthday in the Frates tournament is probably about as special as it gets,” said Eagles head coach Kristian Hanson. “That’s one of the goals we set at the beginning of every year, is Frates. It’s nice that we can check that box today.”

“You can’t make this stuff up,” added Vana, who has Frates’ photo on his locker. “On his birthday, playing against the team we lost to last year. And I mean, obviously what Pete Frates has done for not only the Prep community, but the entire world. … Winning this after not winning it for the last 10 years, it was just unbelievable.”

The desire to take this year’s tournament championship showed in a defensive grind, with both groups racking up blocked shots through all of regulation. Neither team allowed many high-quality looks to get through, not even on a combined six power plays as penalty kill units surged. And on whatever did get through, Farese and Cardinals goalie Nick Ritchie (26 saves) kept the game scoreless for 53 minutes.

That included a big third period for Farese, reaching for a tough glove save and withstanding a three-shot flurry in the closing minutes of regulation.

“I think Pope Francis is a really strong team, at times I thought they outplayed us,” Hanson said. “(Farese) was there to have out back when we needed him most. He was phenomenal today. Without him, we don’t win the game. But every piece matters.”

His efforts this tournament were a bit of a breakout for the first-year starter, posting shutouts against high-quality teams in consecutive games.

“I feel the boys really embraced the whole idea of Pete Frates,” Farese said. “They really took battle today, the D helped me out a lot. Just tried to win it for him and we did.”

“The first couple games, we kind of left (Farese) out to dry,” Vana added. “He’s one of the best goalies in the state when we help him out a little bit.”

Vana also made sure to help Farese win the showdown against Ritchie, going back to the same move in overtime that he tried on a breakaway at the end of the first period.

“I noticed (Ritchie) was really leaning toward his glove side, so that’s why I went to my backhand on the first one,” he said. “Great play by (JR Goldstein) to chip it off the glass to set me free (on the second one). I looked and (Ritchie) kind of gave me the blocker side, and I just wanted to stick with what I was comfortable with.”