AC thwarts Prep in D1 North hockey semis

NORTH BILLERICA – The St. John’s Prep hockey team came into Wednesday’s Division 1 North semifinal against top seed Arlington Catholic looking to continue a run of upsets.The Cougars, though, weren’t ready to become the third single-digit seed to fall victim to the Prep.Steve Feeney’s goal with 7:09 left in regulation put AC up for good in a 2-1 win that puts the Cougars in Sunday’s final against Wakefield.”You can’t keep expecting to score one goal and win,” Prep coach Kristian Hanson said. “We only scored three goals in three games. We were fortunate to get as far as we did.”The Eagles had a glorious chance to lead early when Justin DiRienzo was hauled down on a breakaway at 16 seconds. But he hit the crossbar on the resulting penalty shot.Jon Sokolski rang the left post moments later for the Prep.They would prove to be the only quality chances for the Eagles as Cam Kelley stopped all five shots he faced while David LeTarte had 10 saves for the Prep to keep it scoreless after one.AC would break the ice early in the second.Off a goalmouth scramble, Brian Walsh scored on a John Needham rebound at :48 to give the Cougars the lead.After killing off an AC power play moments later, the Eagles went on the offensive when John Maiocco was called for cross-checking at 4:02.DiRienzo fed a pass back to Conor Brophy for a shot through traffic that eluded Kelley and tied the game.The defenses took over from there, keeping the game tied into the second intermission.Both teams came out flying in the third with Kelley and LeTarte each coming up with big saves.The teams exchanged power plays before Feeney converted a 2-on-1 feed from Dan Williams to put AC ahead.St. John’s had a power play chance with 3:30 left but the Cougar penalty killers held the Eagles without a shot.LeTarte departed for an extra attacker with 34.4 seconds left, but AC cleared the puck twice to easily kill the clock.