Vecchione helps MC hockey defeat Prep

WILMINGTON – The day didn’t begin well for the Malden Catholic hockey team and didn’t look to be getting any better against St. John’s Prep on Wednesday at Ristuccia Arena.The Lancers were forced to forfeit a win over Weymouth earlier in the season because of an ineligible player on Wednesday morning and then trailed the Eagles for most of their game on Wednesday night. But showing the resolve of a No. 1 team, MC rallied in the third as Mike Vecchione’s goal with 2:27 left put the Lancers ahead and led the way to a 5-3 win.”It was a long day,” MC coach Chris Serino said. “And the kids were disappointed with what happened. But they showed a lot of poise in the third period (Wednesday) and I think I learned a lot about my team in this game.”Just down the hallway, the Eagles were still trying to figure out how a 3-2 lead with 8:00 remaining had vanished in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The Prep was outshot 21-6 in the third period but thanks to David LeTarte looked ready to pull off the semi-stunner before penalties and MC’s talent took over.”Our goal was to come out and play them even in the first period and we did even better with a 2-0 lead,” St. John’s coach Kristian Hanson said. “MC is a deep team and it’s a matter of time before they wear you down and score on you and that’s what they did.”The Eagles didn’t play in awe of a powerful MC team as they led just 45 seconds in when Jon Farrow piggybacked a shot through the pads of Pat Young following a turnover.It was still 1-0 until late in the first when Sam Kurker stormed up the left wing and ripped a slap shot over Young’s shoulder to send the Eagles to the first intermission up two.”We really didn’t play well (Wednesday) but that’s a credit to them,” Serino said. “St. John’s made us do things that we don’t normally do with the puck.”The Eagles had a chance to go up by three in the second period but Young made a miraculous save on Farrow’s bid at the top of the crease and with it gave MC the wake-up call it was looking for.Moments later, the Prep’s Colin Blackwell was called for slashing and it didn’t take long for the Lancers to pounce as Ryan Fitzgerald scored on a Brendan Collier rebound to make it 2-1.The Lancers then nearly tied it up with 3:45 left but Nick Roberto rang a shot off the left post and it stayed 2-1, St. John’s, heading to the third.”MC is such a talented team,” Hanson said. “They force you to make mistakes and capitalize on them.”The final period began with MC on a power play and LeTarte under siege. Through the first four minutes, the Lancers put nine shots on net but came away empty every time.The Prep still hadn’t recorded a shot on goal in the third when Roberto scored off a faceoff win by Garrett White to tie the game with 11:20 remaining.St. John’s showed some resolve of its own and pushed back in front three minutes later off a scrum in front of the net which ended with freshman Tyler Bird swatting a puck out of midair and past Young.With just under four minutes remaining, Blackwell was called for tripping and the Lancers went back on the man advantage. Once again it was a rebound that did in St. John’s as Collier roofed one over LeTarte to tie it again.Even more damaging for St. John’s was what happened 2:22 later as Vecchione found the slot wide open and he banged home a Garrett White pass to put MC in front for the first time at 4-3.The Saugus native added an empty net goal with 48 seconds remaining to seal the 5-3 win.”It was very unfortunate that we didn’t get a point out of this game,” Hanson said. “But I thought the kids had a great effort and we hope to take a lot out of this.”