MIDDLETON — St. John’s Prep (13-3) hosted St. Mary’s (9-8-1) in a Division I boys hockey matchup Wednesday evening. The ever-so-explosive Eagles, thanks to a four-goal second period, got back to their winning ways with a 6-0 victory after dropping two straight.
In the first period, although St. John’s Prep outshot St. Mary’s, 21-4, the Spartans were organized and disciplined, keeping things scoreless by the first intermission.
Spartans’ coach Matt Smith said it was a “learning lesson” for his young side, but he was happy with how his boys played after the first 17 minutes.
“We’re really young. We just need to learn to play more physically and tougher – and maintain it throughout the game,” Smith said. “We had a really good first period. They outplayed us, but we kept everything to the outside.”
Unfortunately for the Spartans, the Eagles found their scoring touch in the second period. Just 39 seconds into the frame, Jack Doherty found Christian Rosa at the back post for a tap-in to open the scoring.
A few moments later, Prep’s Johnny Tighe was quickest to react to a rebound before poking it home (2-0).
It didn’t stop there. Playing like the powerhouse they are, the Eagles doubled their lead with goals from Brady Plaza and Rosa.
“We kind of let them have their way in the second period. I thought our team played hard in the third, which was a good response,” Smith said.
Despite a stronger third period from St. Mary’s, the Eagles added two more insurance goals from Doherty and Tighe.
Prep finished the game with 53 shots. Smith said he was proud of his son and starting goalie Matt Smith Jr.
“They had around 60 shots on net, so that’s a pretty good performance,” Smith said.
The Spartans don’t have a senior forward skating for them this year, and Smith believes a game like Wednesday’s will help down the line.
“These learning experiences mean a lot,” Smith said. “We’re young and this is a big game for them to learn from.”
With the loss in the rearview mirror, Smith said he looks forward to Saturday when St. Mary’s hosts Malden Catholic at 7 p.m.
“We have Malden Catholic on Saturday. We’ll have our senior goaltender Patrick Babineau start that game. It’ll be good and, hopefully, we’ll build around that,” Smith said.
The Eagles host Hines on Saturday at 2:20 p.m.
