RallyNorth.net

Dracut overcomes Central Catholic

Friday, November, 09 By Alan Siegel
Staff writer

LOWELL | Brendan Slein tried to downplay the pain.

Make no mistake though, his right knee, deeply bruised and lacerated, was bothering him.

"Not a ton," he said. "But enough."

Enough to possibly keep him out of yesterday's Division 2 North semifinal-matchup against No. 6 Dracut.

Fortunately for No. 7 Central Catholic, the senior goalie's desire to play prevailed. Unfortunately, the Raiders did not.

The Middies defeated Central 2-0 in front of about 300 fans at Cawley Stadium. Unable kick the ball with his powerful right foot, Slein still made 11 saves, including a full-out diving stop to his left in the second half.

Exerting maximum effort, coach Ray Flaherty said, is Slein's trademark.

"He always does," Flaherty said of the Salem resident. "That's just the way he is."

During Wednesday's quarterfinal-win over Winchester, his knee took the brunt of an errant kick. He got bandaged up and returned, somehow avoiding a trip to the hospital for stitches.

"(People) told me to go," said Slein, who last February was taken to the hospital as a precaution after a vicious hit knocked him out of Central's Super 8 hockey loss to Catholic Memorial, "but I didn't."

Stitches would've forced him to sit out yesterday's match. It wasn't something Slein wanted to do, especially since Dracut had beaten the Raiders twice during the regular season.

"He just forgot about the injury," said senior forward Mukena Mbiye, who hooked a potentially game-tying shot left early in the second half. "He put everything into (the game)."