Central handles Prep in 1A opener, 4-1

LOWELL – There is no easy road to the Division 1A championship and that journey became exponentially more difficult for top-seeded St. John’s Prep Sunday as the Eagles were waylaid by No. 8 Central Catholic, 4-1, in their best-of-three quarterfinal series opener at Tsongas Arena.Reasons aside, the Eagles (17-3-1) spent much of the game reacting rather than initiating and it cost them. Central (15-5-3) has now handed St. John’s two of its three losses this season and could wrap up the series Thursday night at Stoneham Arena (7:45 p.m.).”I’m not sure where to start. In all aspects of the game we were outplayed. It felt like we hadn’t played forever but we looked like the No. 8 seed and they looked like the No. 1. We’re fortunate it’s a two out of three series,” said Prep coach Kris Hanson.Central coach Mike Jankowski said the Raiders’ play-in win, in which they climbed out of a 3-0 hole against Hingham for a 4-3 OT win, proved to his club that it belonged in the 1A mix.”The way we came back to win that game has given us great confidence. We have 24 guys who believe in themselves; we have to bring that every game,” he said. “We really made a conscious effort to play team defense. We had a breakdown and gave up the one (power play) goal but we were able to regroup.”Central seized the initiative from the outset and struck first at 5:07 of the first period when junior sniper Lloyd Hayes’ close-range shot caromed off the foot of a Prep defender and past Prep goalie Billy Price (22 saves).The Eagles applied their only sustained pressure late in the period and pulled even on the power play. Junior James Currier, who has developed a knack for scoring key goals, swept the rebound of Tyler Bird’s bid from the left side past Central keeper Colin Soucy (22 saves) into the open right corner with 4:23 left in the period.Central was back in attack mode to start the second period and it resulted in junior Kevin Regan’s game-winning goal at the one-minute mark as he deposited Christian Thompson’s pass from behind the net for a 2-1 lead.”Top to bottom we did nothing well. On the second goal, their kid was wide open in front,” said Hanson.Four seconds after a power play expired, Central’s senior defenseman Nick Gorski stretched the lead to 3-1 with 5:28 let in the period, ripping a shot from the left circle into a yawning net. Price had made a sparkling right skate save on Gorski’s power play attempt from the same spot moments earlier but the Eagles failed to control and clear.Soucy preserved the two-goal lead with 42 seconds left in the period, getting a glove on Brian Pinho’s shorthanded attempt after the senior picked a Raiders defenseman at the blue line and walked in clean.Central’s Alex Lester erased any remaining suspense at 1:49 of the third period, flipping home a loose puck after the Eagles didn’t clear the puck following a Price poke-check.”Until we beat them, they’re a better club. In my mind we’re an eight (seed) and they’re a one,” Hanson said. “We’ve certainly shown all season that we can win big games and right now there is none bigger than Thursday night.”