BOSTON — In a heavyweight matchup in boys MIAA hockey, No. 1 Catholic Memorial and No. 3 Pope Francis still couldn't decide a winner after overtime, skating to a 2-2 tie.
Pope Francis went into the first intermission with the momentum after tallying two in the opening period.
Cardinals senior forward Thomas Connery (Agawam, Mass.) got his team on the board midway through the first period when sophomore forward Whitaker Zinger hit him with a pass on an odd-man rush. Connery finished the chance, which was Pope Francis' first shot of the game, past CM freshman goalie Jaxson Fleming (Waltham, Mass.).
With 2.9 seconds left in the first, there was a face-off in CM's zone. Pope Francis won the draw into the corner and the puck got thrown to the front of the net, where senior forward Matt Regan (Longmeadow, Mass.) jammed the puck past Fleming right before the buzzer.
The Knights, however, responded.
Junior forward Will Robinson (Milton, Mass.) threw a puck on net from the face-off dot that bounced off a Pope Francis defender's helmet and behind Cardinals goalie George Ramsey.
The Knights tied it on a power play with 13:49 to play in the third period when sophomore forward Dan Antonellis (Belmont, Mass.) tipped a shot from junior defenseman Liam McKinney past Ramsey.
There were chances late and in overtime. Pope Francis even had a five-minute power play after CM's tying goal and had a two-minute one in the final minutes of regulation. But it wasn't enough.
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With the tie, Pope Francis moved to 1-0-1 after beating Natick, 3-2, on Thursday. Catholic Memorial also went to 1-0-1. The Knights opened their season with a 6-0 win over Belmont on Thursday.
Let's dive into some takeaways.
1. Catholic Memorial was the better team. The Knights controlled play for the majority of the game, especially early. They finished the night outshooting Pope Francis, 38-18.
Pope Francis, however, was opportunistic. The Cardinals locked things down defensively and did well at keeping the Knights to the outside. They bounced on turnovers and generated a good bit of offense off the rush.
2. A top story of the game was Catholic Memorial's penalty kill. The game was tied, 2-2, when junior forward Jack McCourt (Milton, Mass.) put Pope Francis on a five-minute power play, and Pope Francis only mustered three shots. CM did it by playing Pope Francis' slingshot power play breakout aggressively, getting one forward up on top of it, and the other reading where the second pass went. They clogged things up with both defenders on their own blue line, too, so when Pope Francis did cross the red line, they were forced to dump it in.
Even in the defensive zone, CM's killers were aggressive up top, which led to turnovers. The same was true when sophomore forward Trevor Hamilton (Framingham, Mass.) went to the box for CM with 1:59 in the third period.
3. Another top story of the game: Ramsey. The Pope Francis netminder was superb. The Knights had a sequence early in the third period when he made multiple, in-tight saves on Hamilton. Late in the first, sophomore forward Will Alves (Dedham, Mass.) grabbed the puck off the half wall, dangled middle and fired one that hit Ramsey right between the eyes, and he never wavered. Time and again, he was Pope's best and most clutch player.
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Never was that more true than when he robbed CM sophomore forward AJ Ankstitus (North Dighton, Mass.) in tight. The Knights had just scored to make it 2-1, and Ankstitus was all alone in the slot when he dangled to his backhand, and Ramsey read it, getting across to make the flashy glove save.
4. Fleming was equal to the task. He'd probably want Connery's back, but it was an odd-man rush and a high-danger chance. Regan's goal was just a complete defensive breakdown, so that wasn't on Fleming.
After that? The 2010-born netminder was locked in. Midway through the second, Regan got in close and bumped Fleming, leading to Fleming throwing some punches. And then on that Pope Francis five-minute power play, the Cardinals' two best chances were at the top of the crease, and Fleming extended his right leg to stop them both.
He's so stable in net and never overcommits or gets flustered. It was a fantastic goalie matchup on Saturday night.
5. The Pope Francis defensive pairing of seniors John Goggin (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Mason Gautreau (Springfield, Mass.) was the definition of a shutdown duo on Saturday. Goggin showcased a nice stick and was physical when defending the front of his own net and contesting chances. Gautreau was similar, defending from the inside while getting in front of shots.
6. Speaking of Pope Francis defensemen, sophomore Joe Chianciola (Feeding Hills, Mass.) impressed. On Connery's goal, he started the play in his own zone when he turned the puck over, rushing a breakout. But, to Chianciola's credit, he hustled up to the top of his own zone quickly, swiped the puck away from McKinney with a good stick, and that kick-started the rush the other way.
Chianciola also showed himself as a nice skater with skill who was creative with pucks. He wasn't afraid to try and make plays. He's a late '09 and is 6 feet and 180 pounds.
7. The Knights are fortunate to have Fleming provide stability in net. But it's hard to get more stable than senior James Baker (West Roxbury, Mass.) on defense. The Dorchester, Mass., native looked a step above, rushing the puck when he wanted to and making small-area passes in transition. In his own end, he defended the rush well with great gaps and was quick to step up to break up plays and get things going the other way.
8. Ankstitus seems like such a pain to play against. He's a bit of a waterbug, chipping in on the penalty kill with his high compete and helping the power play with his nice hands. He was fun to watch.
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9. Late in the third period, Alves went for a big hit on Pope Francis junior forward Quinn Woytowicz (Longmeadow, Mass.) coming up the wall, and delivered. The funniest part: Alves led back-first like longtime Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall was famous (or infamous) for doing.
10. Fortunately, these two teams play again on Feb. 14 at the Olympia Center. While Saturday night's momentum was more on CM's side, I'm curious to see how things go after both teams essentially play a full season.
