MIDDLETON — The St. John’s Prep hockey team had to earn every bit of its Division 1 quarterfinal round victory Thursday night, as the No. 1 Eagles were pushed to the brink by No. 9 Braintree before hanging on to notch a 3-2 win at home at Essex Sports Center.
The Prep got one goal each from Cole Blaeser, Johnny Tighe and Tommy Sarni in the victory, while Pierce Blaeser had one assist. Payton Palladino earned the win between the pipes for St. John’s.
The Eagles jumped right out to an early lead in this one, as Pierce Blaeser picked the puck out of the corner and lofted a shot toward the net. His brother swooped in and cleaned things up from there, giving the Prep a 1-0 lead.
Tighe added his third goal of the season to double up the lead at 2-0 and looked to be en route to another big victory. But Braintree held tough and never stopped pushing, and in the end the Wamps were rewarded with a goal of their own to make it a 2-1 game after one period.
Despite the Prep outshooting Braintree 16-8 in the second period, neither team could make any inroads and the score remained 2-1 Eagles.
The third period saw Braintree push harder than ever for the tying goal, and the Wamps came close a couple of times. But each time, Palladino stood tall and delivered clutch saves to keep Braintree off the board and hold the lead for his team.
Sarni took it from there, delivering the all-important insurance goal with 3:26 to play in the game to make it a 3-1 game and effectively seal the win for the Eagles. Even after Braintree responded one minute later, the Eagles kept their composure and skated to the victory.
St. John’s Prep (20-3-0) now moves on to the Div. 1 semifinal round, where the Eagles will take on either No. 5 Austin Prep or No. 13 BC High early next week at a time, date and location to be determined.
