St. John’s steals game one from BC High

LOWELL – This comes as close to the definition of “stealing one” as there is.
St. John?s Prep rode the almost-impregnable goaltending of junior Kyle Martin until there were less than five minutes to go IN its game with BC High Sunday — the first of the MIAA Division 1A (Super 8) tournament. Then, The Prep shocked BC High with two quick goals to skate away with a 2-1 victory at the Tsongas Center.
Game 2 of the three-game preliminary-round series will be Thursday (8) at the Tsongas.
Martin was, by his own coach?s accounting, superb.
?He?s a great goalie,” said Kristian Hanson. “He?s really embraced the challenge of being our No. 1 goalie. Without him, we?re not where we are. Well, our whole team, really. But especially Kyle.”
St. John?s and BC High are Catholic Conference rivals, and played twice during the regular season, with the Prep losing both. It hadn?t scored on BC High since Dec. 27.
And that streak remained alive through the first two periods, as BC High seemed to get much the better of the action. BC High finally put one in at 4:47 of the second period while on the power play. Christian Simeone was there to gobble up the rebound of a Ryan Shea shot, with Tim Larocque also getting the assist.
Through the first two periods, Martin had to be sharp as BC High poured 20 shots on him. St. John?s could only respond with 11, none of them particularly difficult for BC High goalie Brandon Payzant to handle.
And while it may have looked as if the Prep was sluggish, Hanson said that might have been by design.
?BC High is a very good team,” he said. “We had to play our pace and our style, which was to slow down the game a little and hang in there.”
That?s what happened in the third period. St. John?s played it close to the vest and waited for its break. And that happened with 9:10 gone in the period, when the game changed on a dime. St. John?s, which hadn?t been too successful on the forecheck the whole game, finally managed to make a play that kept the puck in the BC High zone.
Jack Montesanto did the work, digging the puck out off the boards and firing one at Payzant. He made the initial save, but Mitch Shaheen was right there to collect the rebound. He had half the net to shoot at, and didn?t miss.
A little over a minute later, with 2:56 to go, St. John?s struck again, this time on an unassisted goal by senior captain Tyler Scearbo, who lofted one into the top corner to make it 2-1.
?We went into the third period just looking to keep things the way they were and hope to get one late, and then win it,” said Hanson. “A 1-0 lead is not insurmountable.”
The Prep had to play through a BC High power play with under 2:00 to go, and then had to sweat it out when BC High pulled Payzant for the extra skater.?You get into this tournament,” said BC High coach John Flaherty, “and everyone?s good. This is what happens when you don?t take advantage of your chances.”