Prep hockey falls to CM

WILMINGTON – As the season approaches its midpoint, St. John?s Prep continues to struggle with its identity. That was apparent in Saturday afternoon?s 2-1 loss to Catholic Memorial at Ristuccia Arena.?It was a frustrating game. We rely heavily on our first line to score but there are adjustments we have to make. We have to crash the net, get ugly goals and rebound goals. There are some who don?t seem to want to do that. But, until we do, we?re not going to score a lot of goals,” said coach Kris Hanson after the Eagles fell to 0-3-1 (3-4-1).It was a milestone win for CM?s Hall of Fame coach Bill Hanson, who became the third coach in state history to win 600 games. “It?s good, it?s nice. I wasn?t tracking it, but, it couldn?t have happened with a nicer group of kids,” said Hanson, now in his 40th year of coaching, after CM ran its record to 6-1-0 in its first league game.The Prep dominated the first period, amassing a 12-3 edge in shots and taking a 1-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the period. Jimmy Currier?s pass from below the right circle found Mark Etherington for an open-net finish on the left side. However, that was all CM?s sophomore keeper Brandon Collett (25 saves) would yield.?St. John?s played extremely well and jumped us in the first period. They won a lot of battles but we settled down. Our goalie (Collett) kept us in the game in the first period, then made some key saves at the end,” Hanson said.CM tilted the ice in its favor in the second period and pulled even at 6:53 when sophomore defenseman Tim Weinstein blocked down a shot in his own end, initiating a 3-on-2 break. Weinstein swung wide to the left, then sent a backhand pass to sophomore Billy Czar for a chip-in at the right post.?I thought we played a great first period, there was a role reversal in the second, and then the third was pretty even. We had some great opportunities to tie it late but (Collett) made the saves,” said Prep coach Kris Hanson.CM sophomore Paul Hardiman netted the game-winner 59 seconds into the third period. Senior Mike Stathopolous fought through a check, carried deep along the right wall and found Hardiman with position on a St. John?s defender in the low slot. Hardiman went high from a tight angle, popping the water bottle behind St. John?s senior goalie Brian Conry (22 saves).That spoiled a sparkling performance by Conry in his varsity debut.?I thought Brian played very well. The kid made a great shot on that goal and you certainly can?t fault Brian on either goal. We gave him an opportunity and he responded,” said Kris Hanson.Hardiman?s goal left Collett to close it. He kicked aside Seth Murray?s close-range bid set up by Kyle Hentosh with 7:10 to play, then denied Zach Pearce?s rebound attempt with 3:10 left. St. John?s called timeout and pulled Conry in the final minute but did not get a shot on net.St. John?s looks to rebound tonight against in-town public rival Danvers in The Onion Town Classic Monday (Ristuccia, 8 p.m.) in what is an exclusionary game for the Div. 2 Falcons. The Eagles resume Catholic Conference action Saturday against BC High in the annual Derek Hines Memorial game (Ristuccia, 12).