Catholic Memorial boys blank St. Mary’s
Move on in Div. 1 hockey playoffs
>> Freshman goalie Anthony Palmer was in the zone right from the opening faceoff, but not even his sensational effort for St. Mary’s of Lynn could prevent Catholic Memorial from moving on in the Div. 1 state tournament.
With overwhelming control across all three sections of the ice Sunday afternoon at Warrior Ice Arena, the second-seeded Knights (19-2-1) strong-armed their way back to the state quarterfinals as part of a 3-0 win in a second-round tilt. Morgan Lenehan’s powerplay goal somehow stood as the lone score for Catholic Memorial within a 22shot first period, but that’s all it would really need after squelching any Spartans (13-7-3) attempt to generate offense.
Brendan MacNeil and RJ Donahue still found the back of the net as the
Knights bombarded Palmer (36 saves) throughout, and the defense can hold their heads high after allowing just six shots on goalie Owen Watson in the shutout.
Catholic Memorial gets No. 7 Xaverian next for the third matchup this year between the conference foes.
“We’re taking care of business one game at a time,” said CM coach Larry Rooney. “That was the best team win we’ve had all year. … These kids are feeling really good about themselves right now, and I told them they should enjoy that. They’ve worked hard.”
As the forecheck dominated St. Mary’s early and often, Palmer stood on his head despite a bevy of highquality bids from CM in the opening nine minutes. Twice he deflected shots from down the gut up over the net, and two quick shots on a 2-on-1 were stopped by his pads and the glove. One wrap-around bid was even denied with a dive to the back post.
Restless body language grew visible for some Knights, but they finally jumped ahead on the game’s first power play with 5:15 left in the first period. Mike Corbett gathered the puck out of the faceoff, and his shot from the point made it past Palmer’s outstretched leg to Lenehan at the far post for a tap-in goal.
Rooney knew tension was tempered for his players as they stuck to the game plan and got continuous shots on net.
It still felt relieving to get the first one in, though.
“It was so amazing, it was a great feeling,” Corbett said. “Especially after the saves (Palmer) was making, he was really good, he was giving us hell. … We just had eyes on the prize, we were ready.”
MacNeil’s breakaway goal early in the second period made for nice insurance and Donahue’s crafty goal in the waning minutes of the third sweetened the victory, but neither were necessary with how dominantly CM limited the Spartans.
If it wasn’t the forecheck keeping the pressure on, the backcheck quickly defused any rush before it developed out of the St. Mary’s defensive zone. Corbett, Finn Burke, Donahue, Anthony Pellitteri and Austin Kelly all stood out with disruptive plays at the blue line too, making Watson’s quest for a shutout rather easy.
“We had good, active sticks, we used our points well (on the forecheck),” Rooney said. “Any time they got to clear it out to the neutral zone, we just kept putting it back there and they’re tired at that point. … That was the game plan, to keep the puck behind them and not try to play an individual game, but a team game.”
St. Mary’s looked more comfortable as the game went on, allowing 17 shots on net over the final two periods after 22 in the first. Three shots on net of their own in the third were promising, but Watson absorbed them all in the win.
“It’s great momentum going into Xaverian Wednesday,” Corbett said. “We know that they’re going to be a tough opponent.”