MIDDLETON — After a 12-day layoff with only one practice held during that time, the St. John’s Prep hockey team returned to the ice Thursday afternoon to host Catholic Conference rival St. John’s (Shrewsbury) in the annual Pete Frates Winter Classic. But the rust was evident for the Eagles, who came out on the losing side of a 2-1 game at Essex Sports Center.
“We definitely looked like a team that hasn’t played in 12 days,” said St. John’s Prep coach Kristian Hanson. “We felt like we really built up some momentum after that Xaverian game (on Jan. 16), and we’ve been shut down ever since. Other teams are in that situation as well so there’s no excuse, that’s just the way it’s going to be. We certainly had our opportunities (Thursday), but we just didn’t make good decisions in those situations.”
This was the eighth annual Pete Frates Winter Classic, which is held in honor of the former St. John’s Prep football, hockey and baseball captain who died in 2019 at age 34 after an eight-and-a-half year battle with amyotrophic lateral disease (ALS). The Eagles wore special uniforms for the occasion, which were embroidered with the “Strike Out ALS” logo on the shoulders.
The lone goal in the loss for the Eagles was scored by senior forward Drew Fietze — his first career varsity goal. Juniors Tommy Sarni and Jeff Melanson each had an assist in the loss. Senior goalie Cam Smith made 23 saves.
Despite getting a number of chances to score throughout the game — putting 32 shots on net — the Eagles couldn’t find a way to get the puck past St. John’s (Shrewsbury) goalie Ryan Dailida, who finished the night with an impressive 31 saves.
“It’s no secret that success on offense is generated by getting bodies to the net and taking away the goalie’s eyes, and if you’re not doing that then you’re not going to put pucks in the net,” said Hanson. “We just need to do a better job of getting bodies out front. Our intent is to get two guys on every puck, and then when we get the puck we have to get everyone moving toward the net. There were too many times (Thursday) the puck would go low to high, our D-man would have an open lane to shoot and there would be no one in front of the net. The goalies are too good to get by playing like that on offense.”
The game — which was split into two halves as opposed to three periods — was a back-and-forth affair from start to finish. The Prep came out pretty strong in the early minutes and got a number of scoring chances, but couldn’t get anything past Dailida. Then, about eight minutes into the half, St. John’s (Shrewsbury) took advantage of an opportunity when Jacob Mrva hit Damon Myers in front of the net and Myers buried a wrist shot from the right circle to make it 1-0 Pioneers.
But the Eagles continued to push the pace, and eventually they were able to break through. About midway through the half, St. John’s Prep finally got on the board when Fietze cleaned up a puck in front of the net to tie the score at 1-1.
But one mistake early in the second half turned out to be a killer for the Eagles. Just over a minute into the second, some sloppy puck work in the defensive zone by the Prep led to a stolen pass by Will Arsenault, who got in all alone and buried a shot over Smith’s shoulder to give St. John’s (Shrewsbury) a 2-1 lead that it would hold on to for the rest of the game.
“That was the game-winning goal so it certainly was an important moment, but we also had a number of chances after that goal that we didn’t cash in on,” said Hanson. “When you make a mistake on one end and then you can’t put pucks in the net, you’re not going to win many games.”
St. John’s Prep (0-1-1) plays Catholic Conference foe Malden Catholic on the road Saturday evening (6:40).
“We’re taking it one day at a time at this point, that’s all we can do,” said Hanson. “It’s been a crazy season and you don’t know what to expect next, but right now the plan is to come out and practice for one day and then get back at it Saturday. There’s very little time to feel sorry for yourself after a loss, and you’ve just got to go back out and compete and win the next one.”
