The St. Mary’s boys hockey team entered the New Year with some trophies Wednesday night after defeating Franklin in the Serino Classic Tournament Championship 2-1. Tournament MVP Anthony Palmer (27 saves) put in a stellar performance to lead the Spartans to victory.
It was a matchup between size and speed. Franklin stood tall with its physicality, while St. Mary’s relied on its speed and agility.
Early on, St. Mary’s did a good job keeping the puck in Franklin’s zone. However, the early possession didn’t last long as Franklin found its groove and started to tilt the ice. The Panthers struck first with a goal on a scramble in front of the net to go up 1-0.
Though Franklin controlled the majority of possession, St. Mary’s had multiple fastbreak opportunities. St. Mary’s best chance of equalizing in the period was when Maddox Jacobsen found space in front of the net, but his shot was blocked.
Halfway through the second period, the Spartans were on a penalty kill after a tripping penalty. The penalty kill soon turned to an even four-on-four as a Franklin player was hit with charging.
After the Spartans served their penalty, they had one minute of powerplay time to equalize. With nine seconds left on it, freshman forward Aidan Fitzpatrick rifled in a slap shot past the Franklin goalie to tie things 1-1.
The remaining six minutes of the second period belonged to Palmer. Save after save, the Spartans’ goalie refused to be beaten again. He cleaned up two massive Spartans errors where, at one point, Franklin had a three-on-zero fast break before being stopped by Palmer.
It wasn’t the last time the Spartans called upon Palmer. The Spartans were short-handed in the final two minutes of the period and Palmer welcomed the challenge, blocking every shot Franklin sent his way.
The Spartans found the game-winning goal in the third period through senior Brady Bullock. Palmer saved 12 shots in the final period to make sure the Spartans didn’t leave empty-handed.
Now champions of the Serino Classic, St. Mary’s is back in action Wednesday when the Spartans host Arlington Catholic at 5 p.m. at Connery Rink.
