Super 8 opener: Central trounces St. John's-Shrewsbury
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LOWELL — Noah Jankowski skated onto the ice ready to make an impact. But by the midway point in the first period, the Central Catholic star had surprised even himself.
“You’re always hoping, as a confident player, for a big game,” said the junior center. “But I wasn’t expecting that.”
Jankowski scored twice in the first 6:47 of play, and the top-seeded Raiders were rolling from there on the way to a 5-0 victory over No. 8 St. John’s of Shrewsbury in the first round of the Super 8 tournament.
“I thought we came out and played really well,” said captain Joe Biddle. “Noah gave us a lead, and we kept the momentum going. Now we feel like we have a lot more for the rest of the Super 8.”
The Raiders advance to the Super 8 second round, where they will play No. 5 Hingham (12-4-6) on Monday back at the Tsongas Center (time TBA.) Central is now two wins away from the Super 8 title game.
St. John’s Shrewsbury moves to the loser’s bracket, and will face No. 6 Andover on Sunday at the Chelmsford Forum. The loser of that game will be eliminated from the tournament.
“I thought we played well, especially in the first half of the game,” said Raiders head coach Kim Brandvold. “St. John’s (Shrewsbury) is a good team. We skated well, got on the pucks and limited their opportunities.”
After his two quick goals, the crowd was buzzing about the play of Jankowski. But Brandvold said he has high expectations for the son of longtime Central Catholic head coach Mike Jankowski.
“Noah’s been scoring goals for us like that all season,” said Brandvold. “He plays the game the right way every day. We take pride in getting to the inside and in front of the net and scoring goals that way, and Noah has done that all year.”
Jankowski started the scoring exactly five minutes into the game. He took rocket pass from behind the net and buried it for a 1-0 lead.
It took just 1:47 for Jankowski to strike again. This time, he tapped the puck home for a 2-0 advantage. Jack Gray and Biddle assisted on the score.
“On the first goal Owen (Fowler) made a great play behind the net,” said Jankowski, who now has 13 goals and 22 points for the season. “He was able to get it to me and I just tapped it in for the goal.
“The second one was in traffic. We were getting pucks to the net, which we want to do. Biddle got a nice shot on net, and I was able to get my stick on it and get it into the net. I was awesome to set the tone for the game like that. It really got us going.”
Junior defenseman Steven Birch added to the advantage with 0:04 left in the second. He hauled in a loose puck and fired a shot from the left faceoff circle into the goal. It was the third goal of the season for the Windham resident.
That was all the scoring until the final two minutes of the game. With 1:50 left, Will Winship scored his team-best 15th goal of the season to make it 4-0. Then, six seconds later, Charles Stahley added a goal to cap off the scoring.
Reigning Eagle-Tribune All-Star Central Catholic goalie Matt Pasquale was rarely tested, but made all 14 saves he was asked to for his area-best 10th shutout of the season.
“Matt was amazing for us as always,” said Biddle. “We always know we can rely on him.”
Central next takes on Hingham, which beat Andover 2-1 in overtime in their Super 8 first round matchup. The Raiders rolled past Hingham 4-0 in their regular season meeting.
“We want to go into the next game with the same speed and energy we went into this game with,” said Jankowski. “We want to keep pushing and keep moving forward. It will be a fun game.”
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Contact David Willis at DWillis@eagletribune.com
Central Catholic 5, St. John’s-Shrewsbury 0
St. John’s-Shrewsbury (13-7-3): 0 0 0 — 0
Central Catholic (22-1-0): 2 1 2 — 5
Super-8 First Round
Goals: CCHS — Noah Jankowski 2, Steven Birch, Will Winship, Charles Stahley
Assists: CCHS — Jack Gray 2, Eric Lester 2, Nick Foderaro, Joe Biddle, Jankowski, Owen Fowler, Evan Digiovanni, Sean Brown
Saves: CCHS — Matt Pasquale 14; SJ-S — Greyson Payne 31
Game Statistics:
Super-8 First Round
Goals: CCHS — Noah Jankowski 2, Steven Birch, Will Winship, Charles Stahley
Assists: CCHS — Jack Gray 2, Eric Lester 2, Nick Foderaro, Joe Biddle, Jankowski, Owen Fowler, Evan Digiovanni, Sean Brown
Saves: CCHS — Matt Pasquale 14; SJ-S — Greyson Payne 31
