Prep hockey splits at Pete Frates Winter Classic

NORTH ANDOVER ? St. John?s Prep?s group of Kyles confounded Central Catholic Sunday night at Merrimack College?s Lawlor Rink.
Eagles? sophomore wing Kyle Hentosh (hat trick) ? an All-Tournament team pick; junior wing Kyle Lynch (two goals); and junior goaltender Kyle Martin (22 saves); played major roles as The Prep upended Central, 5-4, in the consolation game of the first Peter Frates Winter Classic.
Hentosh, Lynch and rambunctious junior Billy Falter comprise the Prep?s “Yellow,” or second line. They were charged with shutting down Central?s first line and that they both contained the Raiders? top marksmen and scored all five St. John?s goals elicited praise from coach Kris Hanson.
?Their assignment was to shut down Central?s top line and they played a great game. They?re a hard-working group. The fact that they scored all five goals is all the better,” he said.
Meanwhile, Martin ? who played regularly against Central while attending Westford Academy ? took his regular turn in the Prep?s two-goalie rotation and responded with a calm, composed effort.
?He looked really strong. It was his turn up in the rotation. We?ll continue to rotate. The way I look at it, we have two No. 1s and I trust them both against any team,” Hanson said.
Central took a 1-0 lead with 3:09 left in the first period when Billy Stahley zipped a big rebound of Christian Thompson?s shot into the open right side.
The Eagles cashed in twice during a four-minute boarding major assessed to Central defenseman Cam Boudreau.
Hentosh tied it at 14:24 of the first period, burying a quick wrister from the right circle set up by Lynch?s pass through the slot. Then, 50 seconds into the second period, he picked defenseman Seth Murray?s (three assists) shot from the right point out of mid-air and deflected it past Central goalie Ben Zargaj?s (11 saves) short side.
Central got its own four-minute power play with 4:16 left in the period when Prep?s Anthony Quartieri also received a major boarding penalty. Martin stood tall, robbing Central?s Jake Wise at the right post, then dragging his left pad while sliding right to deny a slick backhand attempt by Eric Robbins.
Textbook passing on a 3-on-1 break from Murray to Falter to Hentosh sent Hentosh in clean for a backhand finish and a natural hat trick that made it 3-1 with 10:08 to play.
Lynch stretched the lead to 4-1 little more than a minute later when his centering pass from the rear wall caromed off Wise?s skate past Zargaj.
Thompson?s power-play tally pulled Central to within 4-2 with 8:04 remaining but Lynch netted the game-winner with 3:31 left on a solo right wing dash on which he partially turned a defenseman and snapped a wrist shot past Zargaj to make it 5-2.Not that Central went quietly. Goals by John Bartlett and Robbins 38 seconds apart cut the lead to 5-4 with 2:12 to play, leading to some anxious moments before Prep closed it out.
?Our defense played well. Seth (Murray) is a converted forward and freshman Paul Edson stood out ? he handled himself well,” said Hanson.
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St. John?s lost to B.C. High in the semifinal round Saturday night, 4-3. Ted McNamara, Falter and Quartieri had the goals.
?This weekend gave us a better idea of where we are. To get a split was pretty satisfying. Today was such an important game ? we didn?t want to play tough and lose again. At some point you have to start winning those games,” Hanson said.
The championship game went to a shootout with Springfield Cathedral edging B.C. High, 3-2. For post-season tournament seeding, the outcome is a tie since the MIAA does not recognize regular-season overtime.
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The tournament honored 2003 Prep graduate and former baseball and hockey player Pete Frates, who went on to play baseball at Boston College. He was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig?s Disease) in 2012 and was the inspiration behind The Ice Bucket Challenge that swept the nation earlier this year.
?Our kids were motivated to do it for Pete. They knew this was someth