MSC geared up for Rams
Mounties confident headed into state semifinal series
WOONSOCKET — The Mount St. Charles hockey team’s three contests against rival La Salle show just how much the Mounties have improved from the start of the season to this weekend’s state semifinals.
In the first meeting on Dec. 19, the Rams used a pair of goals from Austin Tasca to hand the Mounties their worst lost of the season, 5-1. Following a 1-0 La Salle victory in an MSC Holiday Face-Off consolation game just over a week later, the Mounties got revenge on Jan. 25 when Alex Pratt scored a pair of goals in a 4-3 victory.
“I think the effort and confidence has changed since the first time we played them,” Mount coach Dave Belisle said after Tuesday night’s practice at Adelard. “The confidence level has changed with this group. That’s the difference. As the year has gone on, our forecheck has gotten a lot better and our power play has gotten better. All aspects of our game have improved.
“We had a really tough nonleague schedule [as did the Rams] and we really did well against the non-league schedule. We played La Salle one of the first games of the year and we started to get better as the schedule got tougher.”
Over the next two – and possibility four – days the Mounties will find out if they’ve improved enough to reach their first state final in the last four season or if they’ve only improved enough to give La Salle a credible challenge in the state semifinals. Starting tonight at Smithfield Municipal Rink at 7:30, the No. 2 Rams and No. 3 Mounties will find out.
While the Mounties and Rams constantly crossed paths in the state tournament earlier this decade, it’s been a while since the longtime rivals met with the season on the line. Their last playoff meeting was in 2014 when Mount swept the Rams and went on to win their most recent state title.
“Obviously it’s a very big series against a very good opponent,” Mount St. Charles senior goalie Ryan Forget said. “We need to take it one shift at a time. We have to come out from the drop of the puck and get all over the them and we have to try and contain them. I think what’s happened is not so much about them, but us progressing throughout the year and jump- ing on top of them. We’re playing with a lot of pride here.”
The Mounties, who won their first playoff series in three seasons with last weekend’s sweep of No. 6 Prout, are acutely aware of what coach La Salle coach James Mello’s team will bring to the table this weekend.
For the Rams, it all starts in net where Justin Spencer, who played at Mount his freshman season when the squad went to the state final, has allowed just 1.67 goals a contest with a save percentage of 92.9. Reserve goalie Calvin Orton is one of only two goalies to shut out Mount this season.
Offensively, there isn’t one player for Belisle to key on, as nine Rams scored at least four goals during the regular season. Tasca, a talented freshman, scored a team-high 11 goals and added nine assists. Junior defenseman Zenas Kennedy led the division with 17 assists and added four goals. Colin Chapman (nine goals), Ethan Cordeiro (eight), John Devine (six) and Jacob Handanyan (six) are also capable scorers. The Rams led the division with 70 goals.
“I really like our chances this weekend,” Mello said. “We’ve gone through a lot of maturation and we finished first in the league in goals for. I know we can put the puck in the net and I know we can keep them out, it just comes down to doing it for the full 45 minutes for the two games or three games that we play them this weekend. I know there’s a lot of good buzz with Mount and how they’ve improved since the last time we played them.”
Belisle said the biggest key defensively is staying out of the penalty box because the Rams scored on 30 percent of their power plays according to rihsh.com. The Rams were 2-for-4 on the power play in the last meeting at Adelard.
“We’re going to need good goaltending and we’re going to have to stay out of the box because they’re very good on the power play,” Belisle said. “If we can stay even strength and don’t take stupid penalties, we should be good. They have good speed and they fore check, too. They’re kind of like a mirror image of us. They play off their forecheck. The team that can get the puck in early and control the game with the forecheck that will be the key to it.”
Mello, who has had plenty of time to scout the Mounties because his team hasn’t played in the last two weekends, agrees that winning the neutral zone and controlling the game with the forecheck will decide the series.
“We’re saying the same thing as them because you don’t want any turnovers through the neutral areas of the ice and you don’t want to make it easy for the other team,” Mello said. “You want to put the puck behind them and make them go the whole length of the ice. In high school hockey, you can build strong momentum with a strong foreheck.”
The Mounties, who finished a point behind La Salle for second place, have three players with more than 10 goals, including Pratt who scored 12 of his team-high 18 goals during regular-season play. Senior forward Michael Canavan led the team with 22 league points, while he’s tied with second-line forward Trey Bourque with 33 points in all games. Junior second-line forward James Belisle has a team-high 21 assists.
Dave Belisle said a big factor in this season’s success has been the senior leadership shown by defenseman Alex Gonfrade, Canavan and Forget. Because of injuries and off-ice issues, there was a leadership void on last season’s team.
“We just had no seniors last year, so I think those three guys in particular and some of our juniors who had big roles last year, everyone is better off because of the experience,” Dave Belisle said. “It’s great for us to be back in this position playing against a great team like La Salle that is a traditional rival. We’ve earned our place here, but we know this is going to be a long series.”
The series shifts to Adelard Arena tomorrow night at 7 o’clock, with a potential third game taking placing Monday back in Smithfield. The other state semifinal series between No. 1 Hendricken and No. 5 Smithfield also starts tonight at Thayer Arena.