RallyNorth.net

Prep's pressure finally sinks super goalie

Tuesday, January, 01 By Jean DePlacido
Staff writer

Before the New Year's Eve game, St. John's Prep hockey coach Kristian Hanson's message to his players was simple | keep shooting. Hanson knew St. John's of Shrewsbury had an outstanding goalie in senior Ben Siok, and the only way the Eagles were going to prevail was to put a lot of shots on net.

That's precisely what the Eagles did in a 3-0 shutout that proved to be much tougher than the score indicated. St. John's peppered Siok with 33 shots and were never sure that anything would get past him.

"We realized coming in they had a really good goalie, and we knew they had tied BC High," said Hanson. "They haven't given up more than two goals in any game. The only way we were going to beat him was to put a lot of shots on net. He's a tall goalie, so I told our kids to try to beat him down low, maybe try the five hole (between his legs)."

The Eagles outshot their opponent, 36-23, but Siok made one sensational save after another before the relentless attack paid off two minutes into the middle period when senior Dan Lawton flipped the puck over the goaltender's shoulder after taking a pass from Mike Pagnani. The Prep fired 18 shots at Siok in that period alone, but had to be content with the one goal lead heading into the final 15 minutes.

Nobody was more frustrated than Eagle senior captain Christian Cowles, who had tested Siok repeatedly with a variety of good shots, only to be rebuffed time and time again, including a sensational stop by the senior goalie on a breakaway. But hard work paid off when Cowles finally put one in the back of the net after breaking down the left wing and roofing the puck into the top right corner for a power play goal that made it 2-0.

"I had been shooting low but nothing was working," said Cowles. "I was getting very frustrated with so many good chances and nothing to show for it. He's a great goalie and very tough to beat, but you have to keep testing him. We didn't care how it went in as long as we got it past him. I must have had 15 shots that didn't go in, so I went up top. My main concern was just to get it on net somewhere up high. That was huge in a one goal game.

"We've been playing well lately after getting off to a slow start. Once we got rid of the jitters we've come together as a team. We can build on a big win like this."

The Eagles, who are now 3-1-1, added an insurance goal by Steve DiCarlo just over a minute later when he jammed a loose puck past Siok. The Pioneers were hurt by penalties in the second and third periods (nine).

"We couldn't get in a flow because of those penalties," said Pioneer coach Brian Murphy. "That power play goal by St. John's that put them up by two was a tough one to take, but hats off to the Prep. That's a very good team with very good players. All of them go after it."

Prep goalie Kyle Pettoruto wasn't nearly as busy as Siok, but he came up big when he had to. He made two outstanding saves in a row early in the game, denying Connor Gorman's point blank bid and then getting the glove on a slap shot from the point by Pat Quinlivan seconds later when Shrewsbury was a man up.

"We were strong from the goalie on out," said Hanson. "Kyle was very sharp all game. Defense wins games, and our defensemen did a good job. Colin Prior set the tone with a huge hit on the first shift, and that goal by Lawton was huge to get us on the board and give us a big lift. Cowles did a great job, too. He's relentless and finally put one in.

"We're not a young team, but we have a lot of juniors and seniors with no varsity experience. They had to not only adjust to varsity but a whole new coaching staff. I think the trip to Vermont was great for team bonding. We know in this league it is going to be a battle every night. There are no nights off."