WELLESLEY, Mass. — Babson College hosted a heavyweight showdown of MIAA powerhouses on Saturday afternoon and while Catholic Memorial made it close, St. John’s Prep emerged victorious, 6-3.
After a scoreless first frame, St. John’s Prep scored two goals in 26 seconds right before the 11-minute mark of the second. The first was a wrist shot from junior center Christian Rosa (Lynnfield, Mass.) that snuck under the blocker of CM goalie Owen Watson (Newton, Mass.). The second came off a dump-in that took an odd ricochet off the boards and bounced out in front of the net before senior right wing Harlan Graber (Wenham, Mass.) rifled it into the open net.
Catholic Memorial responded when senior defenseman Finn Burke (Newton, Mass.) sniped one over St. John’s Prep senior goalie Brian Cronin (Billerica, Mass.) to cut the lead to 2-1. Rosa scored his second of the period when he finished off a tic-tac-toe play with linemates Jake Vana (Boxford, Mass.), a junior right wing, and Ben McGilvray (Reading, Mass.), a senior left wing, to make it 3-1.
The ice was extremely sticky to open the third period, and it played in SJP’s favor. CM tried to break the puck out, but the ice slowed it down and McGilvray found Vana in front of the net for a goal to make it 4-1. Less than two minutes later, senior left wing Cole Blaeser (Boxford, Mass.) flew down the right side of the ice and slipped one through Watson’s legs to make it 5-1.
CM head coach Larry Rooney immediately called time out, and it paid dividends. First, junior defenseman Mike Corbett (Belmont, Mass.) snuck a shot through from the right point to cut SJP’s lead to 5-2. Then, senior left wing Brendan Macneil (Belmont, Mass.) deposited one on the power play to cut the lead to 5-3.
But St. John’s Prep iced it when it prevented Catholic Memorial from gaining the zone and setting anything up, and eventually, Vana scored an empty-netter to make it 6-3.
It was a big win for St. John’s Prep, which improved to 5-1-1. CM fell to 6-1-0.
Thankfully for hockey fans, these two squads face each other again less than a month from now at 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 25 at Essex Sports Center.
Here were standouts and notes from players I kept a close eye on throughout the matchup:
Jake Vana
St. John’s Prep, 9/1/05, RW, right shot, 5-11/170
He wasn’t the fastest guy on the ice Saturday, but boy did he make an impact. He always seemed to make the right play and against a strong CM team, he never tried to do too much. His chemistry with his linemates was evident on two of the goals. Head coach Kristian Hanson also used Vana quite a bit killing penalties, which Vana was good at, as he did a fine job of covering the points and helping out down low.
Christian Rosa
St. John’s Prep, 12/1/05, C, right shot, 5-10/170
His two goals in the second period certainly got him on this list, but that wasn’t all Rosa did. He was good at creating chances for his linemates as well, like when he found Vana across the offensive zone for a scoring chance in an extremely stingy first period. That SJP top line was lethal in this one.
PETE FRATES WINTER CLASSIC: Standouts and takeaways from the tournament
Aidan Holland
St. John’s Prep, 4/21/05, LD, right shot, 5-10/175
It was impossible to miss Holland on Saturday — he was hitting everything that moved. While the game ended with nine goals, the first period was all about tone-setting with both teams not wanting to give up an inch of extra territory. Holland was a huge part of that, laying the body out on some of CM’s top players, such as when he knocked down CM’s Connor Fryberger (Needham, Mass.) in open ice. In the corners, he always went for the body first and was often rewarded for it.
Anthony Pellitteri
Catholic Memorial, 5/2/07, RD, right shot
Pellitteri may have been the least-flashy player on the ice, but he was one of the more effective ones. He was good on Saturday at making the simple play. He was poised with the puck in his own end. His head was always up. As a result of those two things, his breakout passes were crisp and he was always able to find an open teammate no matter where they were.
Joe Marchi
Catholic Memorial, 10/30/07, RW, right shot, 5-7/154
Marchi, a freshman, is already one of Rooney’s go-to players on offense, and it’s easy to see why. The small wing is shifty with a good shot. With just over five minutes to play in the first period, he worked his way to open ice in the high slot, turned and fired a wrist shot off the crossbar. He works well off Tyler Hamilton, his center, creating offense well off the rush. The ‘07 forward is certainly raising his value among prep school teams in the region.
Connor Fryberger
Catholic Memorial, 10/25/06, C, right shot, 6-4/190
Fryberger was always around the puck Saturday. His best play came when CM was down 5-2 and on the power play. He controlled the puck, zipped around the net and tried a wraparound goal. When that didn’t work, he picked the puck back up and went the other way, and tossed the puck right in the low slot. Macneil eventually potted the pass. Aside from that sequence, Fryberger drove play nicely and worked well with left wing Macneil and right wing Morgan Lenehan (Needham, Mass.). Recently, colleague Jeff Cox wrote that Fryberger has “the size to intrigue scouts and college coaches.” I’d have to agree on that one.
Tyler Hamilton
Catholic Memorial, 12/7/06, C, right shot, 5-11/146
Hamilton is one of the most interesting prospects in the MIAA. He was solid on Saturday, although CM could’ve used a little more production from the do-it-all centerman from Framingham, Mass. His speed stood out to me more Saturday and he advanced the puck well. He never showed hesitation to go to the dirty areas either. Rooney used him both at the point and on the right wing on power plays. Hamilton recently made Cox’s list of sophomores who will receive heavy college interest.
