Cathedral hockey makes statement with win over BC High

Jan. 16, 2013


Cathedral High School captain Peter Crinella, right, awaits a faceoff in the attacking zone during the Panthers' 3-2 victory over Boston College High School on Jan. 12. Reminder Publications photo by Chris Maza

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Royal purple looks a whole lot sharper when accented with a crown.

It may be premature to crown the Cathedral High School hockey team king of the Division 1 ranks just yet, but the Panthers have put the rest of the state on notice that it they are making a hard push for the throne.

Cathedral, ranked No. 3 in ESPNBoston's Jan. 8 boys' hockey rankings, rallied to upset No. 1 Boston College High School in front of a packed house at the Olympia on Jan. 12.

"It's a great feeling to become the No. 1 team," Jack Williams, who scored the winning goal, said. "We took them down and hopefully now we slide up to No. 1. It's an exhilarating win. Both teams were undefeated and hopefully we stay undefeated."

With the big win and an average margin of victory of nearly four goals, the Panthers have asserted themselves as perhaps the best team in the state and made a statement that last year's appearance in the Super 8 tournament was just the beginning of what could become a special era for the school.

"It's a fantastic group of kids," Cathedral coach Brian Foley said. "It's just a fun group. They're a lot of fun to be around and they have no fear. They're not worried about getting down. They play hard from the beginning of the game to the final buzzer."

Williams got the winning goal when he got his stick on Johnny Leonard's low slapshot shot from the point, taking advantage of a 5-on-3 opportunity afforded them when Alec Flynn was sent to the BC High penalty box for roughing and the bench was hit with an additional two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"It was a 5-on-3, a great opportunity to take the game," Williams said. "We moved the puck well, we had a ton of shots, John took a great shot low and I just tipped it in past the goalie."

Foley said that plays like that are just something he has come to expect from Williams.

"Jack Williams has been the key to our power play," he said. "He moves it really well when he gets [the puck] in front. He slides it well to left or right post. We've been getting a lot of low goals this year, which is something we weren't able to do much last year. He's great tipping the puck on shots from the point and he's great at hunting down the rebounds."

Williams' goal came less than a minute and a half after Peter Crinella, who recently accepted a scholarship to Holy Cross, evened the score when the puck found his stick during a scrum in front of the net.

Crinella also scored the Panthers' first goal, which tied the game 1-1 in the second period after BC High's Patrick Kramer gave the Eagles the advantage in the first.

Less than a minute after Crinella's second-period marker, however, the Eagles responded with a second Kramer score.

Cathedral had a chance to send the game into second intermission tied on a power play, but BC High goalkeeper Peter Cronin, who is getting looks from Division 1 college teams, came through with a big pad save on a shot from the point to hold the lead.

Crinella buried his second goal 3:02 into the third period to tie it up at 2-2.

BC High had its chances when Cathedral finally took the lead, most notably a power play of its own, but Cathedral killed it off and goalie John Liquori made a huge save just after the penalty expired to preserve the one-goal advantage.

"We work a lot on special teams. Both the power play and the shorthanded did a great job today and we needed it," Foley said. "These games are dogfights and you need your good special teams play."

With big wins under their belts, Foley said the Panthers still have to remain grounded and focused because even at this point, they can get much better.

"We just take it a game at a time and practice by practice," Foley said. "We'll look at this game and see what we've got to work on to keep improving. We're so young that we can't help but improve and that's what's fun. We've been improving weekly and we've got to keep working hard and stick to that formula."

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