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Williams, Central down St. John's

 
WILMINGTON — Central Catholic beat St. John's Prep 3-2 before a large crowd at Ristuccia Arena in the second annual Derek Hines Memorial game.
          A win over a Catholic Conference foe, of course, should pay dividends for the Raiders (6-1-1) come Super 8 selection time.

Nick Leonard, Ryan Abraham and Steve Balsamo scored for the winners. Kyle Williams played well in net with 18 saves.

St. John's dropped to 2-4-1 with all four losses by one goal. Colin Blackwell of North Andover and Nick Pandelena of Atkinson picked up assists for the Prep.

            The Eagles didn’t have to look far for inspiration with Derek Hines’ No. 23 away game jersey hanging outside the locker room and his home shirt behind the Prep bench. Hines, a former St. John’s Prep hockey and lacrosse star class of 1999, went on to captain the West Point hockey team. First Lieutenant Hines served in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger and was killed fighting for his country.
            “The big picture today is supporting Derek and his family,” said St. John's coach Kristian Hanson. “The hockey game is only a small part of it. I’m glad we had a good crowd here. Derek made the ultimate sacrifice; I just ask (my team) to play good hockey.”
            St. John’s never led in the game. Despite coming out aggressively and putting eight shots on the sophomore Williams the Eagles trailed, 1-0 after 15 minutes.

Leonard scored at 13:09 of the first, cutting across the crease, faking a shot and then sliding the puck into the lower right corner.
                        The Eagles tied it up early in the middle frame when Matthew McDonald redirected Pandelena’s slapshot under the top crossbar at 2:47. But Central regained the lead later in the period on a goal by Abraham, who deflected Nick Leonard’s shot.

The Prep had two strong bids to knot it up again, but first Derek Palm was robbed by Williams, who smothered the puck in the crease, and seconds later Williams gloved a wicked shot by Blackwell.
            A defensive lapse early in the final period led to the game winner by Balsamo, who tipped in a Jonathan Daniels shot after a Prep defenseman lost the puck in front of his own net.
                       The Eagles kept pressuring Williams, and it paid off with a shorthanded goal by Sam Kurker, who took a perfect pass across the crease from Blackwell and tipped the puck into the open corner.
    “We skated well and used our speed,” said Central coach Mike Jankowski. “We played a physical game which caused some problems for them. After losing our opener to Westford when their goalie made 55 saves, we’ve been an exciting team to watch. We’ve got some very skilled players; this group is strong and cohesive. Our defense did a great job bottling St. John’s up in its own end so they couldn’t pull the goalie.            

Hanson said, “This was a big game for us, and we needed a win. Give Central Catholic credit; that’s a good, hard working team. This is always a big game for us, but being part of the Derek Hines Memorial Game makes it even more special.