St. John’s Prep icemen have to settle for a tie against Malden Catholic

MALDEN – It looked like the St. John’s Prep hockey team would pull one of the most stunning upsets of hockey season so far Tuesday night at Valley Forum II, leading 4-2 with a little under eight minutes to go.But Malden Catholic, the No. 2 team in the state, was able to rally back for the third time in the game and escaped with a 4-4 tie when defenseman Greg Crovo scored with 58.2 seconds left in the third period.”This is a significant point for us,” Prep coach Kris Hanson said. “They have only one loss and are considered the elite team in the state and I’m sure that they didn’t anticipate having such a difficult game with us.”Everything would have indicated that the Lancers (11-1-2) would have run the Eagles (4-5-5) right out of the building. MC outshot St. John’s 42-10 in the game, including a 17-2 gap in the final 15 minutes, but the Eagles took advantage of what chances they got to beat goaltender John Carbonneau four times.”I told the guys after the game that we got four goals scored on us without sustained pressure,” MC coach Chris Serino said. “What does that tell you? That we made a lot of stupid mistakes.”It was the second time this season that the Prep had given the Lancers fits. In January, the teams played nearly 43 minutes of scoreless hockey before Brett Biondo gave MC a 1-0 win.Tuesday, the Lancers came out determined to make that wouldn’t happen on their home ice. They pelted freshman goalie David LeTarte with 13 shots in the first period, keeping sustained pressure in the Prep zone throughout.And when Derek Dubois was called for hitting from behind at 7:27, the Lancers jumped on the chance to go in front.Saugus native Mike Vecchione took a pass from Biondo and beat LeTarte to the stick side for his fourth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead at 8:33. Peabody’s Alex Minter also picked up an assist on the play.The Lancers continued to pressure but the Prep hung, and then delivered a big play of their own with 2:09 left in the first.Cameron Roy’s home run pass from the Prep zone found Greg Tremblay at the MC line for a breakaway chance on Carbonneau. Tremblay didn’t fake and put a bullet over the goalie’s shoulder for his first tally of the season and a tie game after one.Early in the second, the Eagles got a power play chance when Mark Adams was called for holding at 1:03. Just 45 seconds later, Dubois made a perfect pass from behind the net, finding Kyle Linehan for a one-timer past Carbonneau and a 2-1 Eagles lead.Linehan’s goal seemed to rattle MC for a moment, getting them back on their heels. And just 1:17 later, the Prep struck again off a scramble in the Lancers zone. The puck came back to defenseman Kevin Davis, who blasted a shot through traffic to give St. John’s a 3-1 lead.”Kevin really played a phenomenal game with (Nick) Riccio out (due to illness),” Hanson said. “He was huge for us.”Ironically, Davis’ goal would be the last shot the Prep got on Carbonneau’s net in the period as the Lancers reassumed control of the game.Late in the second, MC got rewarded for the pressure as Minter went to the net and followed his own rebound to cut the lead to 3-2 heading to the third.”No lead is safe against that team. I will confidently say that,” Hanson said. “I never felt safe when we were ahead.”Minter’s goal gave the Lancers a boost but early in the third, Colin Blackwell stole momentum back for St. John’s when defenseman Adams fell down and the Eagles line, allowing the junior a clean break the other way.Blackwell faked right and niftily tucked a backhander under the crossbar to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead with 9:32 left. But the Lancers dug deep and showed their mettle.Minter found the mark for a second time with 7:16 left when he went to the net and tapped home a Crovo rebound to cut the lead to a goal. Then with Carbonneau off for an extra attacker following an MC timeout with 1:08 left, Crovo brought the Lancers all the way back when his drive from the right point got past a screened LeTarte.MC then nearly w