Mount meets Warwick for title
Mounties too much for Burrillville in all-Valley semifinal Saturday
NORTH SMITHFIELD — A Mount St. Charles hockey team will play a team from Warwick for a state title Sunday morning at Rhode Island Sports Center. No, seriously, it’s happening. Unfortunately for the high school team that didn’t get the chance to play Bishop Hendricken in the state final because of a positive COVID-19 test, the Mount St. Charles hockey team that will take the ice is the junior high squad that earned a spot in the R.I. Junior Development League state final with a 4-0 victory over No. 3 Burrillville Middle School Saturday afternoon. The Mounties will play a top-seeded Warwick side that had no trouble with No. 4 Cumberland in the second semifinal.
“The best part about this whole thing is we get to finish the season tomorrow,” veteran Mount coach Larry O’Donnell said.
“The high school team didn’t get the chance to, but we’re fortunate that we can and that’s what I’m most grateful for. Win or lose, I’m so happy. We had a two-week break at the beginning of the season where we couldn’t get on the ice and then another four-week break. This is just great.”
While the varsity team has a storied history in the RIIL, the junior high team has never won the RIJDL title, but this is only the fourth season the team has competed in it after the program spent most of its history as an independent. In their only other finals appearance, the Mounties lost to a Cumberland team featuring a talented core of kids led by Jamie Robbins, Troy Senn, Jacob Lopes and Christian Oliveira.
Burrillville played the Mounties to a tie during the regular season thanks to the play of defenseman Sean Farrell and forward Cam Potter, but the Mustangs were outplayed Saturday. Goalies Colin Murray and Devan Manslof played well, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
“It was awesome that we could sneak this season in,” said Burrillville assistant coach Jaime Sousa, whose sons Connor and Cameron played big roles on team. “This is a learning experience for all these guys and this is all about development for the future. If they can learn from the mistakes they made out there and improve, they’re doing great.”
Mount, which features a mix of kids headed to the high school, girls co-op and U14 Academy teams, wasted no team grabbing the only goal it would need in the two-period affair. Just 1 minute, 49 seconds into the opening period eighth-grade forward Bryce Baxter scored from close range against Murray. The Mounties went into intermission with a two-goal lead when Jimmy Carrara produced the first of his two assists on a goal by Michael Masse.
Burrillville nearly cut the deficit in half midway through the second period when Seamus Coleman had a breakaway opportunity denied. The Mounties quickly responded with a goal from Logan Lefebvre thanks to some good work from seventh-grader Aidan Quinn.
“I think we were a little timid out there because they were a little bigger, a little stronger and a little faster,” Sousa said. “We have some weapons on our team, but our younger kids were a little timid and it showed. Their depth really was big and they played great, they deserved to win the game.”
The Mounties best player, Marco Senerchia, who will make the leap to Frank O’Connor’s U14 Academy team in the fall, finished the scoring with just 2:51 left in regulation after linemates Carrara and Lefebvre controlled the puck in the offensive zone.
“I feel like we played better today than the first two times we played them,” said O’Donnell, whose son Jack graduated from Mount in 2016 after helping the team reach the state final. “All of our goalies played well, but our first line was pretty dominant.”