MC Nets Comeback Win, Advances to Super 8 Final Four

The top-seeded Malden Catholic hockey team completed a perfect run through the round-robin stage of the Super 8 Tournament with a 5-4 win over No. 4 Weymouth on Sunday night at the Tsongas Center at UMass-Lowell.

Sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald scored a pair of goals--including the game-winner, with 1:21 left in the third, as the Lancers turned in their shakiest performance of the tournament, but still managed to escape with the win.

Fitzgerald found himself on the receiving end of a perfect pass from Brendan Collier, and blasted a one-timer past Wildcats' goalie Brian Brady to give MC the lead.

“I just got up in the play, and (Brendan) Collier was just doing some good work down low,” said the Boston College-bound sophomore. “I don’t even know he got it in to me ... I just put it on net, and it went in.”

While always pleased to put another notch in the “w” column, Lancers head coach Chris Serino was far from pleased with his team’s performance--especially on the defensive end of the ice.

“We didn’t play close to our best,” said Serino. “I don’t think we played very well at all. We were horrendous defensively ... but the positive part is that we did find a way to win, so you’ve got to be happy with that.” 

Malden Catholic (19-2-2) didn’t enjoy its customarily large advantage in terms of shots on goal, and was actually outshot by the Wildcats 16-10 in the first period.

“They got 30-something shots in on net against us,” said Serino. “That’s a total lack of commitment to defense.”

Both teams earned a place in the crossover round of the Super 8, but following the game, there was some confusion as to whether the Wildcats would move on, or if Central Catholic--who beat Weymouth (18-5-2) earlier in the tourney--would advance thanks to owning the head-to-head advantage.

After losing to MC, Weymouth wound up tied with Hingham and Central Catholic at 1-2.

“Somebody said it was goal differential, and then it goes to head-to-head, but that’s not the case,” said Weymouth head coach Matt Cataldo of the tie-breaker situation. “I thought it was goal quotient, and it turns out it was.”

Goal quotient is goals for, divided by goals against.

The Wildcats advance to play St. John's Prep, the winners of Bracket Two, while MC will face that bracket’s runner-up, BC High, in the crossover round at Merrimack College’s Lawler Arena on Wednesday.

“I thought from start to finish, we played one of our finest games of the year,” said Cataldo. “Our mentality was just to come in and win the hockey game. We came in with a game plan and the kids executed it very well.

“We made a couple of small mistakes, with a team like Malden Catholic, they’re going to bury you.”

The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead 8:18 into the first period when sophomore Ian Sheridan cleaned up the rebound created by Bob Ganley’s initial offering. Ganley was sprung through the middle by a great pass from Sean Murphy, and put the puck on Lancers’ goaltender Pat Young, who parried the shot, but ended up out of position, and Sheridan stuffed the puck in the top left corner of the net, giving Weymouth a 1-0 advantage.

Weymouth added to its lead just over 5 minutes later, when Corey Tuplin fired a shot in on Young, and senior Tyler Piacentini--the Wildcats leading scorer--had little trouble sending the puck into the undefended goal, giving them a 2-0 lead and putting Malden Catholic into a somewhat strange and uncomfortable position, down multiple goals.  

“We just didn’t compete in the first period,” said Serino. “We got beat on every one-on-one battle. We were out of position, we quit on the back check, I could go on and on.”

The second period would see the momentum the Wildcats built up in the opener largely erased, as the Lancers took advantage of several miscues by their opponents.

With 10:07 left to play in the second, the Lancers got on the board, when Brady went to clear the puck away from the net, but sent it off the boards behind the goal straight to Mike Iovanna, who was easily able to send the puck past the out of position net minder, cutting Weymouth’s lead to a single tally.

“I think after the first period we kind of woke up a little bit, and realized that we had to kick it up a notch,” said Fitzgerald. 

A few minutes later, following a delayed penalty call, Colin MacGillvray sent a low bullet along the playing surface on goal that slid right between the feet of Brady. The Wildcats’ goalie appeared to have been under the impression that play had been stopped, as the shot looked like it only required a fairly routine save, but nonetheless, the Lancers had pulled even. Iovanna assisted on then score.

Fitzgerald opened his account on the game in typical fashion. After lifting the puck from James Simmons in the closing moments of the second, near the blue line, the sophomore center found himself one-on-one with Brady, and as any follower of Malden Catholic hockey can attest, the son of former Bruin and 17-year NHL veteran Tom Fitzgerald rarely squanders such opportunities. Fitzgerald coolly slotted home past Brady, and MC took a  3-2 lead into the final frame.

“I thought (in the second) we did a better job of neutralizing them, and taking the puck to the offense,” said Serino. “We held them to four shots on goal, that’s more like the way we play.”

With 12:14 to play, Tuplin tied the score for Weymouth, and with 8:26 to go, Piacentini skated in on Young and went to shoot, but whiffed on the shot, but recovered and centered to Trevor King who was able to chip a shot over the Lancers’ goaltender and into the net to take a 4-3 lead. 

It would be a short lived celebration.

Nick Roberto would level the game with 3:54 to play, as he knocked Garrett White's centering pass into the Weymouth goal, and just a few minutes later, Fitzgerald would put them ahead.

For the Lancers’ coach, there is no mystery to how they managed to pull this one out.

“We played with a sense of urgency,” Serino said of MC’s third period comeback. “I think once we went down a goal, we started playing again with a sense of urgency.

“It’s about competing,” he added. “We’re talented; we’re probably more talented than the team we are playing, but if you don’t compete, you bring that talent level down.”