Collier’s OT goal gives Malden Catholic Super 8 title

BOSTON – With one shot off the stick of Brendan Collier, the Malden Catholic hockey team completed a wire-to-wire job as the best hockey team in Massachusetts.The junior’s 30th goal of the year on a backhander at 4:50 of overtime gave the Lancers a 4-3 win over St. John’s Prep to claim the school’s first Super Eight title and the program’s first title of any sort since 1974.Click here for a photo gallery.”Obviously it’s sweet to win it this time,” MC coach and Saugus native Chris Serino said. “St. John’s played very hard and our defense did a nice job keeping (Colin) Blackwell in check.”After playing with fire at the end of regulation when the Eagles (18-6-2) had nearly three full minutes of power play time but were held to only one shot, MC regrouped and dominated the overtime session.”The interesting thing is that I was more nervous on the power play about them scoring a shorthanded goal,” St. John’s coach Kristian Hanson said. “MC is a great team and I think we were just a little tired at the end.”The end came seconds after Blackwell’s bid was stopped and Shane Eiserman had his rebound try broken up. In transition, Collier knifed into the Prep zone and ripped a backhander over David LeTarte’s shoulder from the bottom of the right circle.”It’s only fitting that line was on the ice to end it,” Serino said.It looked like the Eagles were going to come away with the crown as the second period ticked away when Blackwell scored to give the Prep a 2-1 lead and then set up Jon Farrow for a 3-1 lead with 2:55 left in the second.Less than a half-minute later, Mike Vecchione of Saugus made a laser beam pass that was tipped home by Ryan Fitzgerald to cut the lead to a goal. Vecchione then tied the game with 6.4 seconds left when he took a Fitzgerald pass and scored while being hauled to the ice by Prep defenseman Nick Pandelena.”We had a game plan going in,” Hanson said. “But good teams will find a way to get around that and it’s what MC did.”Neither team dented the scoreboard in a very defensive minded first period before Matt MacDonald broke the ice for the Prep at 3:34 of the second. Just 15 seconds later, freshman Tyler Sifferlin potted a rebound to tie things at 1-1.