St. Mary’s boys hockey comes up short against AC in D1 North final

NORTH BILLERICA – For the St. Mary’s boys hockey team, Saturday’s Division 1 North final was a lesson in luck.After seeing a certain goal late in the second period robbed by Arlington Catholic goaltender Cam Kelley, the Spartans had a game-tying bid ring off the left post in the third as the Cougars were able to survive a gallant bid by St. Mary’s, 2-1, to claim a second straight sectional crown.Click here for a photo gallery.”The future is so bright for this team,” St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee said. “They were playing a championship team over there and had a lot of chances to tie the game in the third period. AC is a great team and showed why they are a champion.”The two teams had seemingly been on course to meet each other since the tournament began (both had been banned from postseason play barring an appeal after a postgame brawl between the squads during the regular season, but each program successfully appealed the decision).On Saturday, the teams gave the huge crowd in attendance plenty to remember ? starting with a postgame handshake by both teams after the national anthem right through to the final desperate seconds with St. Mary’s trying to tie.”I have so much respect for Mark as a coach and that program he runs over there,” AC coach Dan Shine said. “They are a hell of a team and it’s really a shame that one of us had to lose that game. The fans certainly got one heck of a show out of it.”The teams played basically dead even all night as the Cougars finished with a 21-19 shots on goal advantage. And in a game as even as it was, the little things proved to be the difference.AC took advantage of a pair of power play chances while the Spartans were 0-for-5 with the man advantage. The Cougars also blocked several quality shots in the final minutes to prevent St. Mary’s from tying things up.”We knew in a game like this that special teams could make a difference and part of the game plan was not to get into penalty trouble,” Lee said. “And we did that early and it cost us.”The Cougars capitalized early when Brian Wilkins was called for hooking at 3:31 of the first. Paul Kehoe put AC on the board when he found a loose puck in the crease during a scrum to make it 1-0.St. Mary’s was back on its heels and got out of the period only down a goal thanks to some brilliant netminding from Donald Hesse, who stopped eight pucks in the opening period.The Spartans would have two power play opportunities early in the second but failed to convert in a sign of things to come. St. Mary’s was, however, slowly taking control of the game but had nothing to show for it thanks to Kelley.”Cam caught the flu at the start of the year and had to miss some games,” Shine said. “But to his credit, he hung in there and has been a leader for us down the stretch.”Late in the second, AC went back on the power play and lit the lamp again. Kehoe picked up his second of the game, finishing off a beautiful passing play with John Needham and Mike Settipani by firing a slap shot into an open net at 13:07.Kelley then made the save of the night in the final seconds of the period, getting a skate blade on Derek Stella’s rebound chance at the top of the crease to preserve the two-goal lead.St. Mary’s kept charging and when Julian Yourawski scored on a rebound at 2:14 of the third, the Spartans were set to make a run.On the next shift they came within millimeters of tying the game but Doyle Somerby’s shot rang off the left post. The Spartans kept coming but the clock eventually hit triple zero on them.”We really thought we were going to come back and tie that game up,” Lee said. “But this is a no-regrets season. These guys did everything we asked them to and beyond. They grew up a ton in that locker room this season.”