Not much seperates Mounties, Hawks

Third-period goal enables Hendricken to sneak away with 2-1 victory

WARWICK — Bishop Hendricken hockey head coach Jim Creamer says that if he had his druthers, the Hawks would play longtime rival Mount St. Charles as often as humanly possible.

“We would love to play them every game of the season,” said Creamer following Hendricken’s hardfought 2-1 win over MSC at Thayer Arena Friday night. “They’re well coached and play hard … they’re a great opponent.”

MSC coach Dave Belisle wasn’t quite as will- ing to say his club should tango with Hendricken all the time, “but I want this type of competition every game. I think we’re evenly matched.”

In what was hailed as a showdown for first place in the Cimini Division, the

Mounties and Hawks once again demonstrated that not much separates them. Friday’s encounter marked the third one-goal game with the Hawks now leading the season series, two games to one.

While both sides were backed by tremendous goaltending, the difference was that the Hawks were able to assert their physical nature over a Mountie squad that relies heavily on team speed. Both of Hendricken’s goals were the result of being in the right place at the right time.

Senior forward Reilly Miller snapped a 1-1 tie at 6:36 of the third period. It was one of two shots that alluded MSC goalie Zachary Noke (18 saves). Mount received a power-play opportunity with 6:40 left in regulation but couldn’t cash in on the opportunity.

After killing off a Hendricken power play, the Mounties pulled Noke with just under a minute left. The bid to net the tying goal was doused when MSC was called for tripping in its own zone with 4.3 seconds left.

It was a good night for two of MSC’s key building blocks moving forward. Sophomore Brian Simpson gave his team a 1-0 lead at 10:36 of the first period on an assist from junior James Belisle. The Mounties had an excellent chance to pad their lead after a game misconduct on the Hawks resulted in a five-minute power play. Nothing came of it as Hawks goalie Wyatt Alberigo went on to stop 20-of-21 shots.

“It took some of the momentum away when we could have made them pay for a dirty hit, but that wasn’t the determining factor,” said Belisle. “We had our chances in the second and third periods to bury a couple … it was a good game.”

The 1-0 lead for MSC stood until 13:53 of the second period when congestion in front of Noke resulted in a goal for Andrew Hopgood. Patrick Creamer assisted on both Hendricken goals.

The Mounties (6-3) now trail the Hawks (6-2) by three points for first place in the Cimini standings. The fourth and final meeting of the regular season will take place Wednesday night at URI’s Boss Arena.