RallyNorth.net

Sat, Feb 14, 2009 01:00 PM @ Andover

Team	1	2	3	Final
Central Catholic	0	1	0	1
Andover	0	0	1	1

Goalie duel ends in draw for Central, Andover

Saturday, February, 14 By David Willis
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — If there were any lingering questions whether first-year varsity goalies Cam Keller of Central Catholic and Kyle Berthiaume of Andover were ready for the bigtime, they were answered yesterday afternoon.

With two of the hottest goaltenders in the state playing a game of “one-up,” Central Catholic, the No. 2-ranked team in Eastern Mass., played Andover, the No. 18 team in Eastern Mass., to a 1-1 tie yesterday at the Valley Forum.

“It was a great battle,” said Keller. “They had a few breaks late and I had to make some stops. And Berthiaume is a great goalie and made some big saves.”

With the tie, — the third in the last four meetings between the two teams — Central Catholic remained undefeated at 14-0-6 (8-0-5 MVC/DCL Division 1). The Raiders have two games remaining, a non-league game against St. John’s Prep on Wednesday and a league matchup with Westford on Friday. If they win out, they earn the Merrimack Valley Conference/Dual County League Division 1 title.

A Central loss to Westford would opened the door for Andover (10-4-4, 8-2-3 MVC/DCL Division 1) to earn a tie for the league title. The Golden Warriors still must host Acton-Boxboro on Wednesday.

“These are two teams that will be a key factor in the tournaments,” said Andover coach Mario Martiniello. “Central’s probably headed to the Super 8, and if they were to ask us to go too, that would be amazing. But if not, we have we’ll be ready for the state tournament.”

The two goalies were at their best in the final minute of the game.

After a blast from the point, Andover’s Berthiaume turned away two shots from just in front of the net. The Golden Warriors then went on a breakaway, only for Keller to slide his right pad out to halt a stuff from a streaking Warrior in the final 10 seconds.

Now the primary starter after an early goalie rotation, Berthiaume turned in a game-high 29 saves, including 11 in the second. It was the sophomore’s third straight start, and sixth in the last seven, in which he has allowed one or fewer goal.

“Berthiaume has come up so big for us,” said Paul Russell. “We couldn’t have done what we are doing without him. We are relying on him to play well and win games.”

As good as Berthiaume was, Keller was just as good. The senior first-year starter made 22 saves, turning in 11 in the third against an aggressive Golden Warrior attack. It was his third start in four games in which he has allowed one of few goals.

“(Keller) has just been stellar all season,” said Central coach Mike Jankowski. “Any time we have needed him to step up, he has come up huge. My hat’s off to him. He has been the backbone of the team.”

After a back-and-fourth first period, Central Catholic took the lead in the second. After a dump into the zone, Conor MacPhee tossed a puck on net that went over Berthiaume’s shoulder 5:33 into the period. It was MacPhee’s team-high 16th goal of the season, and third of the year against Andover.

“We were trying to throw some pucks on net,” said Jankowski. “He got it on net, and did a great job of finding the place under the crossbar. He has done a great job.”

But the Golden Warriors answered with 4:09 left in the game on dynamic sophomore Russell’s 15th goal of the season. Like MacPhee, Russell also scored two goals in the first meeting between the two teams.

“We were on the power play,” he said. “My plan was to stay in and get rebounds. I was banging away at the puck and just put it home. A win would have been good, but a tie isn’t bad.”