RallyNorth.net

Central hockey ends in heartbreak in Super 8 first round

Sunday, March, 08 By David Willis
Staff writer

WOBURN — Each and every member of the roughly 1,500 fan capacity crowd crammed into every inch of the intimate, rustic O’Brien Arena hung onto the edge of their seats as the final minute ticked off the clock.

Central Catholic, desperate to keep its season alive, won a faceoff to the left of the Austin Prep goalie and began a final surge at the net.

First it was an attempted wrap-around, then a blast from the point, and finally a backhand stuff at the left corner of the goal. Each attempt appeared to have a real chance of finding the back of the net, but all three were turned away.

Austin Prep was then able to clear the puck and kill the final seconds and the No. 3 seed Cougars locked up a 2-1 victory over No. 6 Central Catholic in the decisive game of their best-of-3 Super 8 first round series on Sunday afternoon.

The loss eliminated the Raiders — who forced a Game 3 with a 7-4 victory over Thursday — from the Super 8 tournament and sends Austin to the semifinals. It is the second straight season the Cougars have eliminated Central in the Super 8 first round.

“This is a very tough one,” said Central head coach Mike Jankowski. “Congratulations to Austin because they finished us off. But we had our opportunities and we couldn’t find the back of the net. Then we made a few mental mistakes and that hurt us.

“We felt like if we got an early goal we could score several and keep the that feeling going from Thursday’s win. So when we took the lead early we were feeling good.”

Coming off the dominant Game 2 victory, Central opened Sunday’s deciding match in perfect fashion.

Just 3:11 into the game, freshman phenom Jake Wise gave the Raiders the lead on a nifty goal — his 15th tally of the season and second of the postseason — with the assist going to Larry Galasso.

“What Jake can do on the ice is just beautiful to watch,” said Jankowski, who said he expects Boston University recruit Wise to be back at Central next winter. “He is a pleasure to watch and coach.”

That lead, however, would not stand for long.

Just 31 seconds after Wise’s score, Austin Prep tied the game on a goal by Kevin Kiley. It would remain 1-1 until there was 2:51 left in the second, when Central goalie Pat Schena made a huge save, but Austin’s Eric McAdams was able to knock home the rebound.

Central Catholic had golden opportunities in both the second and third. But the Raiders were unable to solve Cougars goalie Dylan Regan (21 saves), and committed a few costly errors.

“Mistakes hurt us,” said Jankowski. “Especially the one near the end of the game when Wise was coming down with the puck on the 3-on-1 and we were called for offsides.  That really hurt because he makes big things happen. At the end of the day they made big plays and we didn’t.”

Schena — who transferred to Central from archrival Andover High before the school year — made an impressive final statement for the season. The junior turned in 23 saves, including a tremendous glove stop, snatching the shot out of the air in the final minutes to keep it a one-goal game.

“We gave a lot of goalies the chance this year and Pat stepped up and took over down the stretch,” said Jankowski. “That made us a better team. He has made some huge plays for us in the postseason.

“Our team showed a lot of resilience and tremendous character all season. We just couldn’t finish today, but I am very proud of them.”