MSC meets La Salle for state title
Led by seniors, Mount in first state final since 2016
WOONSOCKET — It won’t be played at the original venue and there won’t be fans to cheer on either team, but the reality is it’s still Mount St. Charles against La Salle for the state championship.
For the 21st time in the long history of both Catholic powerhouses, the Mounties and Rams will compete for the state hockey title – but this time will be very different. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the R.I. Interscholastic League moved the series from Brown’s Meehan Auditorium to URI’s Boss Arena. The contests will also be played without fans after Governor Gina Raimondo urged people to avoid gatherings of more than 250 people on Wednesday.
“Right now, we can’t worry about that because we still have a job to do and we’ve said that from the start of the year,” Mount St. Charles senior defenseman John Belisle said. “It’s shift by shift and whether we play in front of no fans or not, we want this more than anything.”
“There’s still a lot of pride and we haven’t been there in four years,” Mount first-year coach Matt Merten said. “It comes down to being focused. The fans aren’t why you play. You play for your school and you want the fans to be there, but every player wants to win.”
La Salle first-year coach Shawn Tingley delivered the same message to his top-seeded Rams at practice Wednesday night. The Rams have spent the entire season on a “Revenge Tour” after losing last season’s state final to Bishop Hendricken. The Rams, behind the play of 12 talented seniors and superb underclassmen, lost just one game in a schedule filled with talented teams from all over the region.
“Right now, we can’t worry about that because we still have a job to do and we’ve said that from the start of the year. It’s shift by shift and whether we play in front of no fans or not, we want this more than anything.”
— Mount senior John Belisle
“This is something I don’t think anyone saw coming and there’s nothing you can do in a situation like this,” Tingley said Thursday afternoon. “We re-centered the boys at practice and told them you started the season together and you fought all year. People will be watching on LiveBarn, but the reason you play this game is for the 20 other guys in the locker room.
“We’ve had a great year and these guys have gone out and, at 22-1, battled for each other and fought for each other. These guys have an opportunity to see who the best team in the state is. We’re grateful that we have the chance to play this.”
The fans who choose to watch the series, which starts Friday night at 8 o’clock and continues Saturday at 6 p.m., on LiveBarn will be treated to an intriguing meeting between teams playing their best hockey of the season. The Rams swept the season series, earning a 6-1 victory at Adelard on Jan. 8 and then a 3-1 win on Jan. 31 at Smithfield Municipal Rink.
Mount believes they are a different team since those two games and in the case of the first meeting, the Mounties are a different team. Senior forward Alex Pratt, senior defenseman Chris Baxter and sophomore goalie Jason Mandeville watched that game from the stands because they were sitting out the first half of the season due to RIIL transfer rules.
The trio played in the second meeting, but Pratt and Mandeville started playing their best hockey in February. Pratt scored four goals against Burrillville at the end of the regular season and then scored twice in a Game 1 D-I semifinal victory over Hendricken. Mandeville was Mount’s best player in the sweep of the Hawks.
“We’ve grown from the second time we played La Salle and it was just over a month ago,” Merten. “Things change and lineups get tweaked – I’m sure La Salle is doing the same thing. We’re working on things just like they are. Whoever makes those adjustments and puts the mental part of what’s going on behind them is going to win. We can match their depth, but we have to correct the mistakes we made in both games.”
Mount’s top line of Trey Bourque (19 goals), Belisle and CeeJay Laquerre has anchored the offense, but the difference between late January and now is the improvement of the second line of Pratt, Matt Mahoney and senior Bryan Testa. Nolan Boucher, Micaiah Bascombe and Josh Mills are a strong third line.
Defensively, Baxter, senior Hobey Baker Award nominee Everett Misto, junior Brendan Donahue and Jacob Maddalena held the Hawks to just three goals in over 90 minutes of semifinal hockey.
“Our biggest priority is to get more shots than we had in the games against them,” Misto said. “We didn’t have much chemistry the second time we played them because those three guys just came back, so now that we’ve played together for a month, we’re a different team. Winning this would mean everything. We made the decision to come to Mount for this.”
La Salle, which is making its fourth straight state title series appearance, is the same team that scored four goals in the first period against Mount in the first period and the same team that beat New Jersey powerhouse Christian Brothers Academy and Massachusetts Super 8 squad Catholic Memorial. Led by All-State defenseman Zenas Kennedy and a rotating cast of elite forwards – led by Austin Tasca and Brayden Edwards – the Rams rolled through the season and outscored Burrillville 12-0 in the semifinals.
Tingley believes the series will come down to which group of seniors will perform the best. Just like Mount, the Rams feature a strong group of seniors led by Kennedy (seven goals and 17 assists), John Devine (10 goals and 21 assists), Robert Tasca (one goal and 16 assists), Kevin Kanaczet nine goals and 10 assists) and goalie Joseph Iannuccilli (1.43 GAA).
“I think it’s going to come down to who wants it more,” Tingley said. “I think there’s talent on both sides and we’re playing in the same environment in the same rink. It’s going to come down to the 12 seniors on our side and the 13 on their side. They’ve all paid their dues and whoever blocks out the distraction and plays for the name on the front of their jersey is going to have success. It’s going to be a great series and I hope a lot of fans can watch and enjoy it.”
Mount’s seniors are making their first appearance in the title series and for one Mountie, leaving the school with a state title would mean the world. Belisle’s father, Dave, and grandfather, Bill, saw their coaching careers end at the hands of the Rams in last season’s state semifinal. Now, he has a chance to go out a champion like his brother Brian.
“This would make the family proud and to do it with this group that’s seen it all over the last couple of years would be great,” Belisle said. “I know my name means a lot to the school, but I would be more happy to share the experience with the group and these coaches. We don’t want to play anyone other than them because of last season and get revenge.”