BC High continues to roll in 2018
Has any hockey team had a better start to the New Year than BC High?
The simple answer is no. The Eagles continued their assault on all-comers yesterday against Catholic Conference rival Malden Catholic at UMass-Boston, skating away with a workmanlike 3-0 victory to extend their 2018 winning streak to five games.
BC High got goal-assist games from seniors Joe Dragon and Danny O’Connell, while junior goalie Luke Garrity only needed to make 14 saves as the Eagles improved to 6-3-1 overall (3-1-0 CC).
“We are drawing on our experience of playing in tight games and we know what we have to do, and we’ve gone out and done it,” said BC High coach John Flaherty whose team has outscored its five opponents in 2018 by a 25-2 margin.
After withstanding a flurry by Malden Catholic (1-4-2, 1-2-0) to open the game, and after killing off an interference penalty, BC High flipped the momentum when Dragon took a feed from O’Connell and rifled a shot near-side past Lancers sophomore goalie Kevin Burkett (15 saves) at 6:39.
“We have guys that are doing a great job on the penalty kill,” said Flaherty after his team killed off both MC power plays. “We also have good depth to throw a fresh line out after we kill off a power play and these guys jump out and put one away — that to me is a game-changer.”
Following a quiet second period, the Eagles came out flying to start the third. After Burkett turned aside two solid bids, O’Connell finally cashed in at the 10:49 mark when he poked in a loose puck to make it 2-0.
Junior Thomas Kramer closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute of play.
“We were off to a tough start in the beginning of the year, but we never panicked,” said O’Connell after the Eagles started the season at 1-3-1. “We looked at 2018 as a new season, so we’ve came in with a new mindset and a clean slate, and so far we’ve played well.”
In other Catholic Conference action, Ryan Pomposelli scored twice and James Herring stopped 28 shots to earn a 3-0 shutout for Xaverian (5-2-2) over Catholic Memorial.
Connor Morris collected one goal and three assists to cross the career 100-point plateau, as Hanover (8-0-1) beat Pembroke, 7-4, in Patriot League action.
Dara Canavan provided the only goal while Owen Cuddyer picked up his third straight shutout to lead Braintree (3-1-4) to a 1-0 win over nonleague Barnstable.
Girls hockey
In an MVC/DCL crossover matchup, Julia Provvisionato notched her fourth shutout with 23 saves as Lincoln-Sudbury (8-1) blanked Acton-Boxboro, 2-0.
Abby Gendron scored the game-winner with three minutes to play as Masconomet (7-1-1) topped Marblehead, 3-2, in a Northeastern Conference clash.