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Central Catholic falls in shootout

Wednesday, March, 04 By David Willis
Staff writer

LOWELL — It took overtime, a shootout and a disputed call for Central Catholic to suffer its first loss of the season.

After a feverous Raiders rally sent the game into overtime, Central Catholic saw a goal in the decisive shootout disallowed in its 3-2 loss (3-1 in the shootout) to Catholic Memorial in the second day of the Super 8 tournament.

With CM leading the shootout 2-1, Central’s Steve Balsamo drove to the left, cut right in front of the goalie and slit the puck into the net. The play was initially called a goal, but was then disallowed because it was ruled Balsamo had stopped his momentum and started again, according to tournament director Jim O’Connor.

The following Central shooter was stopped, and Catholic Memorial scored another goal to clinch the victory.

“This is a tough one to swallow,” said Raiders coach Mike Jankowski. “It was called a goal, then it was called back. We have a problem with the call being changed.”

The Raiders now face a must-win contest on Saturday in Lowell against Winchester. A victory would send them to the semifinals of the Super 8. All four teams in their bracket (Winchester, CM and Hingham) are 1-1 in the tournament after Hingham won the early game.

“We know there’s nothing we can do about (the call) now,” said Central co-captain Brendan McCarron. “We are going to come out with everything we have against Winchester. We are going to take out anger out on them. We have everything to lose their.”

Central Catholic came out quick, firing four early shots on CM goalie Tommy Knox. But it was the Knights that took the lead 4:29 into the game on a slap shot from inside the blue line. CM then made the lead 2-0 with 3:16 left in the second on a goal by David Lazaro.

But the Raiders delivered a comeback in the third. Just 2:34 into the final period, McCarron took a pass from Balsamo and fired it home to cut the lead to 2-1.

“When I scored it really pumped everyone up,” he said. “We came out a little slow, but we really picked it up in the third. It was a very intense game against a very good opponent.”

Central then killed off a four-minute major penalty midway though the period, setting up the tying goal. Freshman Tommy Evangelista took a pass near the blue line and fired a shot that hit the goalie, went over his shoulder and slid over the goal line to make the score 2-2 with 3:53 to go in regulation.

The two teams then played an 8-minute scoreless overtime, going to the shootout. CM’s first two shooters scored, and Conor MacPhee notched a score for the Raiders. But Balsamo’s goal was disallowed, and the Raiders could not recover.

“You never want to see a game decided by the officials,” said Jankowski. “But we were able to come back and I think it was a great performance for us. McCarron had a great game and this team is determined every day.”

Senior goalie Cam Keller was again a standout in net for the Raiders. He turned in a game-high 27 saves, including a highlight-reel stop with his left pad on a rebound as he was falling backwards.

While he was happy to take the win, legendary Catholic Memorial coach Bill Hanson expressed strong words after.

“(The shootout) is a lousy way to end a hockey game,” said the CM coach since 1976. “I think the game should be played out. Our guys were just one player better than them. But Central is a terrific team. I though they were the best team I saw on Sunday.”