RallyNorth.net

Central heats up, downs Andover

Saturday, January, 21 By David Willis
Staff writer

TEWKSBURY — Central Catholic had 11 months to deal with the memory of Andover’s last-minute upset victory a season ago that nearly derailed the Raiders’ Super 8 hopes.

“Last year was such a killer,” said senior co-captain Ryan Daigle. “This is our biggest game and we wanted to take down Andover more than anything, and we did it.”

Trailing by a goal after one period, Central took control the rest of the way to down the archrival Golden Warriors 4-1 last night.

“That loss last year left a bad taste in our mouth,” said forward Mike Kelleher. “We wanted to come back big today. We kept the pressure on the whole game and played well.”

The Raiders, ranked No. 9 in Eastern Mass, have now won four of their last five meetings with Andover, the No. 20 team in Eastern Mass.

“There is so much emotion in this game that it can get the better of you sometimes,” said Central coach Mike Jankowski. “It took a while for us to find out stride, but we had a lot of energy.”

The Raiders controlled the pace of play for nearly the entire night, outshooting the Golden Warriors by a whopping 43-8 margin.

Jack Wilkie, however, gave Andover a 1-0 first-period lead with a power play goal 8:06 into the game.

But Central quickly bounced back in the second. First, Ross Webber slammed in a loose puck in front for a his first goal of the season, then Kelleher gave the Raiders the lead with a goal on a 5-on-3 power play, his second tally of the year.

“We were trying to work the puck around quick for the open shot,” Kelleher said. “Everyone went towards the goal and I finished it off with a score.”

The Raiders kept the momentum going in the third, with Alex Lester scoring a power play goal, and Daigle wrapping up the scoring when he roofed the puck over the goalie’s glove for a shorthanded tally, his team-high fifth for the season.

“They just kept giving me space so I kept going,” said Daigle. “Right when he (the goalie) came at me I looked top corner and shot it. I’ve been practicing that and have beaten (Central goalie) Kyle (Williams) with that a few times.”

Williams wasn’t tested often, but did turn in a few impressive saves including when he reached backwards to stop a puck just short of the goal line.

He faced tough competition in Andover goalie Colby Gilbert. The varsity newcomer made 39 saves including an outstanding glove stop while falling backwards and a pair of stops on breakaways.

“This game means so much to our guys so the win was great,” said Jankowski, who is now assisted by Scott Manty, who was the Andover interim coach at the end of last season.

“It is always big to come out on top.”