LOWELL — The No. 8 seed St. John’s Prep hockey team stayed resilient Thursday night, battling through an early one-goal deficit and a bad bounce later in the game to defeat No. 4 Andover 4-2 in the the Division 1 North semifinal at UMass Lowell’s Tsongas Center.
Momentum looked like it might swing with just over five minutes remaining in the game when the Eagles saw a one-goal lead disappear when a puck took a bad bounce off an officials’ skate to set up an Andover goal.
“It was a bad bounce obviously,” Eagles coach Kristian Hanson said. “The puck goes right on their guys’ stick and he makes a real nice move to beat Jackson (Irving) for the tying goal. It was a huge goal for them.”
But the Eagles kept fighting and Ryan Hart added the game-winner just few minutes later.
“You would expect momentum to go their way at that point but our boys dug deep,” Hanson said. “We went right back out there and kept at it and got the next one. It shows the resiliency of the team and that’s what it takes to win this time of year.”
Eagles goaltender Jackson Irving continued his phenomenal postseason with 24 saves, 16 of which came in the second period.
“I expected that Andover would come out in the second period,” Hanson said. “We are kind of like mirror images the two teams. They’re young and we’re young. They’re strong offensively and we can be too. I expected a big push in the second and Jackson made some incredible saves. There was one sequence where he made a save on the near post and then there was a rebound and he got his foot over there again. He’s playing real well right now.”
The Eagles got started quickly, controlling possession for a majority of the first period and coming away with several shots on net, but Alex Trottier (27 saves) was solid in net for the Golden Warriors.
With 4:30 to go in the first it appeared as though Ryan Bradley had a great shooting opportunity in the slot but Shane Lachance made a quick defensive play to steal the puck and get up ice. Lachance dished a pass to Samuel Murray in the Eagles zone and he found Anthony Previte who ripped a high shot that beat Irving and put the Golden Warriors ahead 1-0.
The Eagles controlled possession again in the final minutes but, despite outshooting Andover 11-4, found themselves trailing after one.
Things shifted for the Golden Warriors in the second period, with Andover ripping 16 total shots. But Irving had a perfect period, including a stop on a breakaway by Lachance.
Midway through the period St. John’s cashed in on a three-man rush up ice. Ned Malolepszy slid a pass over to Ryan Webb who finished the play to tie the game at 1-1 with 7:31 remaining in the second.
Late in the second, Bradley made a great play after chipping the puck past two defenders to set up a two-on-none rush for the Eagles. Bradley slid a pass over to Zach McKenelley but Trottier slid to his left to make a phenomenal save and keep the game tied.
Early in the third period the same line created a scoring chance for the Eagles. This time McKennelly dished a pass from behind the net out front to Bradley who ripped a low shot that beat Trottier to his right and put St. John’s ahead 2-1.
The Golden Warriors got their lucky bounce midway through the third. A defensive chip down low by the Eagles bounced off an officials’ skate and went directly out front of the Eagles’ net. Evan Arpin was there to collect the loose puck and beat Irving to tie the game at 2-2.
The Eagles responded right away and Hart made the play of the night a few minutes later. The junior forward skated the puck end to end, flying past a defender and beating Trottier through the five hole to put the Eagles back on top.
“We were trying to push the puck North all night,” Hanson said. “Hart is one of our faster skaters. We wanted to push the puck North, make their defense work and go to the net with it. In that case (Hart) made a great play to push to the net and get the goal. That’s what our team is all about.”
The Golden Warriors pulled Trottier with 1:23 to go. Patrick Moran iced the game with an empty netter to send St. John’s to the sectional final.
The Eagles will take on No. 3 Winchester Monday (7:30) at the Tsongas Center.
“You always hope your best hockey is still to come,” Hanson said. “You never want to be satisfied. I told the boys after every win all it does is give a chance to play one more game. We have to be better Monday night or we won’t win. Winchester is a great team. I have a lot of respect for them they’ve had a solid year and we will be back at it Friday at practice.”
