Prep steals a tie with rousing comeback

WILMINGTON – Down and all but out after Frank Crinella’s goal at 18 seconds of the third period gave Springfield Cathedral a 5-1 lead, St. John’s Prep rallied for an improbable 5-5 tie Saturday afternoon at Ristuccia Arena.The Eagles (12-5-2) erupted for four goals in a span of 5:02 with less than six minutes to play, leaving the Panthers (9-5-6) stunned after a signature win that would have likely solidified a Div. 1A Tournament invitation slipped away.St. John’s captain Nick Pandelena started the comeback with a power play goal with 5:19 to play and captain Sam Kurker capped it with goalie Jared Hynes out and an extra attacker on, chipping a Brian Pinho rebound over the right pad of Panthers keeper John Liquori (27 saves) with 17 seconds left.”Those last five minutes were incredible,” said coach Kristian Hanson. “I think that’s a great lesson for us because no lead is safe. It’s a funny game and it’s a game of momentum. Once we got one and then got two, I think we started to believe a little bit and they probably were back on their heels a little bit.”St. John’s grabbed a 1-0 lead at 2:46 of the first period when slick combination passing by Tyler Bird and Kurker (two goals, two assists) freed up Pinho (goal, assist) for a right side finish.Despite being outplayed for large stretches, Cathedral exited the first period tied, 1-1, when defenseman Artie Potter’s seeing-eye wrist shot through a screen changed direction and fluttered past goalie Dave Letarte with 2:03 left in the period.A single play defined a frustrating second period for the Prep. Trailing, 3-1, on a pair of goals by Brendan Ashe, the Eagles fell behind 4-1 seconds after they thought they had scored shorthanded when Pinho and Kurker broke in 2-on-1. Thinking Kurker had scored on a shot that went through the crease and behind Liquori, the Eagles relaxed, play continued and Peter Crinella snuck behind the defense and collected Matt Foley’s two-zone pass for a backhander through Letarte’s pads at 11:44.Ashe’s second goal and Crinella’s tally resulted from Prep penalties on the same play to defensemen John Ryan and James Brighteney as they scrambled to thwart a breakaway bid by James Dowd with 4:26 left in the period.Hanson said the Eagles talked about getting the first goal and chipping away in the third period – then watched Frank Crinella zip the period’s first shot over the glove of new goalie Hynes just 18 seconds in. Undeterred, the Prep kept attacking, amassing a 14-4 edge in shots en route to a 32-15 game advantage.Pandelena’s power play wrister from the high slot froze Liquori at 9:41, making it 5-2. With 3:45 remaining, junior Andrew Brandano sliced in from the left circle and snapped a shot over Liquori’s glove to the far corner. Kurker’s first with 1:22 to play resulted from a scramble after the defenseman Brightney’s initial shot from the blue line.On the equalizer, Liquori denied Pinho’s bullet from the right side of Brandano’s set-up but the puck squirted to Kurker positioned in the low left slot and he banged the rebound over Liquori’s extended right pad. It was the BU-bound senior’s 27th goal of the season and increased his season total to 53 points.”We waited to pull Jared until there were 40 seconds because we had the momentum and didn’t want to risk not getting the chance to tie it. It’s just such a game of bounces,” Hanson said.St. John’s wraps up the regular season Wednesday night against Bishop Fenwick (Ristuccia, 8 p.m.), then awaits next weekend’s 1A Tournament seeding.