FRAMINGHAM – The stage was set for another potential all-time battle between Catholic Conference heavyweights in a Div. 1 state semifinal Sunday night, but the St. John’s Prep boys hockey team’s early haymaker proved just too much to keep it from happening.

Senior Caleb White delivered a hit so hard at center ice in the opening minute that his own helmet popped up, establishing a hunger the top-seeded Eagles (21-3) used for three goals in the first period of a 4-0 win over No. 4 Xaverian.

Jake Vana’s goal in the opening six minutes fanned flames to a fire that also saw seniors Christian Rosa and Brendan Powers tally deflating scores before the first intermission. Hawks goalie Cole Pouliot-Porter (41 saves) stood on his head in the following two periods, but St. John’s Prep prevented any offensive rhythm for a comeback within a 45-13 shot advantage.

Xaverian ends its season one win shy of a third straight trip to TD Garden, where the Eagles instead will face No. 11 Winchester in search of a second state title in three years.

“I respect what (the Hawks) do, so coming into this game, we certainly didn’t take them lightly and we knew we had to play our best,” said St. John’s Prep head coach Kristian Hanson. “I think that was part of our motivation in the first period was we knew how good they are, we knew they scored on their first shift in all three tournament games, we knew that push was coming. … (Our seniors) were ready to go and right from the drop, we played our game.”

Physicality was noticeably high for the Eagles even beyond White’s opening hit, and their bench fed off the energy.

Vana scored on a feed in front from senior Brady Plaza for the 1-0 lead, and he followed with a dish from below the goal line to Rosa four minutes later to go up 2-0. A power play just before the end of the period led to Powers’ tip-in goal, and an empty net goal from Johnny Tighe (two assists) late in the third capped off a big performance from the seniors.

After the first period, it was just about maintaining that level of intensity and staving off whatever Xaverian could respond with. Limiting it to two shots on net in the third, when Xaverian needed a three-goal rally, did exactly that.

“All practices, all we do is D-zone,” Rosa said. “It’s really paying off and we’re just keeping things simple.”

“I think it also shows how tight of a group we are,” Vana said. “We’ve emphasized it all year.”