HS boys hockey: Catholic Memorial ends another streak, drops Pope Francis
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Catholic Memorial boys hockey team somewhat avenged its loss in the Catholic Conference title race at the end of January, using overtime heroics to snap champion St. John’s Prep’s former 12-game win streak.
It didn’t need overtime a couple weeks later to do just about the same to Pope Francis on Saturday with sights set on the race for a much bigger trophy.
With a 2-0 win over the No. 4 Cardinals at Olympia Center, No. 3 Catholic Memorial broke up Pope Francis’ nine-game unbeaten streak while extending its own to seven. Junior goalie Ryan Littlefield posted 31 saves in the shutout, while the penalty kill unit went 4-for-4 to overcome a busy day in the box for both teams.
Neither of Morgan Lenehan or Adam Parker’s goals were flashy, but were more than enough in a defensive grind to double-down on the Knights’ 8-3 win over the defending Div. 1 champions earlier in the year.
“It’s a big boost, and we’ve been kind of creeping in that (No.) 5, 6, 7 range of the (Div. 1 power rankings),” said CM head coach Larry Rooney. “I think the boys know they can skate with anybody in the state. That’s a very good team. … They’re as good as any team that we’ve played and we proved that we can skate with those guys and play with those guys, but we’re going to need to defend the way that we did today.”
Much of this game brought a playoff feel to it.
After Lenehan gave the Knights an early lead about 10 minutes in, neither defense wavered despite combining for 10 penalties. Nick Ritchie (25 saves) and the Pope Francis penalty kill withstood man-down situations to start the second and third periods, while also staving off 45 seconds of a Knights 5-on-3 in the third. A lot of the shots CM got on Ritchie otherwise came from outside the dots or the point.
The penalty kill was equally successful for Catholic Memorial, holding off two penalties in the third, a five-minute major in the second, and an infraction in the game’s opening minutes. The Cardinals struggled to produce grade-A chances throughout most of the first two periods, and following the five-minute major (boarding), the Knights wouldn’t allow a shot on Littlefield for the next 12 minutes.
“We played really well defensively today,” Rooney said. “We defended in layers, we didn’t give up too many odd-man rushes. Our boys got back hard on the back-check, our defense had really good sticks. … The kids are going to come away with some bruises in games like this, and those bruises feel pretty good.”
Catholic Memorial doubled its lead with just under 12 minutes left, as Parker’s shot from the point got through heavy traffic for an insurance goal.
Pope Francis wouldn’t score, but that insurance goal proved critical as the Cardinals heated up offensively with 17 shots in the frame. Quite a few of them were dangerous looks, too, including a rebound bid on a wide-open cage that was somehow tipped away on a diving stick save.
Littlefield was nails all period, ensuring a signature win heading into the final week of the regular season.
“He played unbelievable,” Rooney said. “Our PK was unbelievable today, and your best player on the PK has to be your goalie – especially in the third period when he made some amazing saves. … (Playoff) games are going to be two or three goals, and you’ve got to have good goaltending and good defense.”