STONEHAM — A disastrous first period spelled doom for the No. 4 St. John’s Prep hockey team in a 3-1 loss to top-seeded Arlington Sunday in a Division 1A “Super 8” non-elimination game at Stoneham Arena.
The Spy Ponders knocked in three first period goals and, although the Eagles outplayed Arlington for most of the night afterwards, that was enough to skate to victory.
St. John’s outshot Arlington 36-18.
“They didn’t limit our shots and we got great opportunities,” Eagles coach Kris Hanson said. “We got over 30 shots on goal and when you’re doing that you’re doing something right. But we dug a hole early. Arlington is a disciplined team and it’s difficult to comeback when you do that.”
Ned Malolepzy scored St. John’s lone goal, a power-play tally coming in the second period.
Just about anything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Eagles in the last six minutes of the first.
Tyler Callahan ripped a shot from the point that St. John’s goalie Noah Dorsey-Sorofman (15 saves) saved, but Brendan Pigott got to the rebound and knocked it in to put Arlington out front 1-0.
Just over two minutes later James Santagati scooped up a loose puck in the Eagles zone before turning and firing a shot that found the back of the net to stretch the lead to 2-0.
St. John’s was called for a five-minute major penalty in the final minutes of the period and Brendan Jones took full advantage, lighting the lamp to give the Spy Ponders a 3-0 lead before the first intermission.
It was a game of ketchup from there and the Eagles certainly tested Arlington goalkeeper Nathan Brennan (35 saves).
Early on in the period the Eagles went on the power play and John Riley’s slap shot trickled by Brennan but he recovered and flipped around to cover up the puck before it crossed the goal line.
Later in the second St. John’s capitalized on another power play chance. Malolepszy grabbed a loose puck behind the Arlington goal, skating out front and ripping a shot that cut the Spy Ponders lead to 3-1.
That ended up being it for St. John’s but it wasn’t for a lack of chances. The Eagles went on the power play again midway through the third and Jack Gilligan’s slap shot hit the post. Malolepszy knocked the rebound in, but the goal was waved off.
“There were plenty of rebounds there all night,” Hanson said. “We were always just a second too late to capitalize on them. We had that one that hit the post and sat there, we banged it in and the ref believed it was covered. That one hurts, but we didn’t put enough pucks in the net to win the game and that’s the bottom line.”
St. John’s had a few more power plays, including a brief six-second 5-on-3 advantage, but couldn’t beat Brennan to mount a comeback.
“I thought we played well enough to win (Sunday),” Hanson said. “I think we deserved a better fate. I feel like if we continue to play the same way we’ll be successful. Someone had to lose (Sunday) and the team that did I wouldn’t expect them to consider their season over. It’s a double elimination tournament and we’re just focusing on our next game. Nothing ended (Sunday).”
The Eagles move to the loser bracket where they will take on No. 6 Catholic Memorial Wednesday (TBA). The Eagles finished 0-1-1 in two games against the Knights this season.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Hanson said. “We know CM well, they know us well. They’re coming off a victory so they got a little momentum on their side. The tournament is double elimination for a reason. It gives teams an opportunity to come back and allows the best teams to win. If we want to prove we’re the best we got to go win.”
