RallyNorth.net

LOWELL | There was still a period left to play, but one look at the St. John's Prep bench at the end of the second period and you know this one was, for all intents and purposes, over.

Because both teams exited the ice at The Tsongas Arena at the far end of the rink, the Eagles | on the bench furthest away | had to wait for their opponents, the Xaverian Hawks, to clear the ice first.

No matter what the sport is, when you don't score, you don't win.

The St. John's Prep hockey team found that out the hard way last night, dropping their Catholic Conference tilt at Xaverian, 3-0.

The Eagles (5-4-3) had 16 shots in the first period and had 34 for the contest, but couldn't dent the net once as Hawks' keeper Kyle MacDonald stopped everything fired his way. St. John's trailed, 1-0, with 5:40 remaining when host Xaverian doubled its lead on a Bill Scannell tally. The hosts added an empty netter from Matt Morin in the final minute.

WILMINGTON | Do you need to put your hand directly over a flame to know that it's hot? Of course not.

So why does the St. John's Prep hockey team feel the need to let their opponents take the initiative with a big hit or a goal before raising their own level of play?