Super 8 Roundup: MC, Austin punch tickets to semifinals

LOWELL – When the Super 8 semifinals kick off on Wednesday night at the Tsongas Center, local hockey fans will have plenty to root for as both Malden Catholic and Austin Prep will be among the final four.On Sunday, the Cougars clinched their spot in the crossover round with a commanding 4-0 win over Hingham in the day’s first contest. MC’s spot was already locked up through the first two games of pool play but the Lancers faced rival Catholic Memorial for the top seed in their bracket.In a highly entertaining, fast-paced affair it was the Lancers who got a goal from freshman Ryan Fitzgerald 1:31 into sudden death overtime to take a 6-5 win and earn a date with the Harbormen in the crossover games. Austin will take on the Knights in the other semifinal on Wednesday.”That was a great high school hockey game,” MC coach Chris Serino said. “It was two pretty good teams going at it end to end.”Saugus’ Mike Vecchione had three assists as he joined Fitzgerald and Brendan Collier in being a thorn in CM’s side all game long.”They move the puck so well,” Serino said. “They have speed, tenacity and are good shorthanded and on the power play.”The Knights (17-3-1) started well as Troy Starrett gave them the lead 33 seconds in and they dominated most of the period. MC (16-3-4) rallied in the last minutes as Collier redirected a Connor Evangelista shot to tie the game and then finished off a Vecchione pass at 12:43 to make it 2-1 after one.Mike Iovanna’s shorthanded goal early in the second gave the Lancers a 3-1 lead before CM charged back as Dan O’Hear and Brian Besinger scored later in the period to deadlock the game at 3-3 heading to the third.CM jumped ahead at 3:20 of the third when David Lazaro scored on a rebound for a 4-3 lead. Iovanna tied the game for MC at 9:53 on a power play goal assisted by Alex Minter and Vecchione.The Knights responded two minutes later as Starrett got his second off a slick pass from Derek Colucci to make it 5-4. Just over a minute later, however, Justin Sencabaugh blasted home a shot from the right point to tie the game and force overtime.In the extra session, MC needed only two shots to end it as Fitzgerald took a long pass from Collier and rifled a shot inside the left post.”I thought we played a little better defensively in the third,” Serino said. “They had us running around like crazy in the second.”The Cougars came to the rink on Sunday not really knowing what their fate was going to be. Sitting at 1-1 through two games, Austin needed to win over the unbeaten Harbormen and await its fate.Putting on a clinic for 45 minutes, AP needn’t have worried about its fate as its 4-0 win was more than enough insurance to clinch a semifinal spot.”I thought we came out and played great with our backs against the wall,” Austin coach Lou Finocchiaro said. “All 22 guys in that locker room checked in and played hard.”AP grabbed a 2-0 lead after one on goals from Ryan Quinn and Brian Wright and then added two more goals in the second on Wright’s second of the game and a backhander from Lou Caraglia.