Crusaders Ice Avengers 4-2

KINGSTON—The Prout School made it two wins in a row Wednesday with its 4-2 victory over East Greenwich High at Bradford R. Boss Ice Arena.

“The goal was to come in here and play well all three periods, and take it one shift at a time,” Prout head coach John Gaffney said.  “The defense played well tonight, and we’re really happy with the win.”

After a strong first period from the Crusaders in which junior James Underhill scored in the final minute to give Prout a 1-0 lead, the Avengers responded with a strong start to the second period.

“That’s the thing, I’m thinking that maybe we can get it rolling from there,” East Greenwich head coach Len Kiernan said.  “We jump up and get into that offensive mode for a second, but you’ve got to stay up.”

East Greenwich junior Kevin Mason tied the game 1:52 into the period, and then sophomore Jack Trutza put the Avengers ahead 24 seconds later.

To the Crusaders credit, however, they did not fold and tied the game on a goal from senior Thomas Williams four minutes later. 

“We have some good characters in the locker room there, and we know that we can put pucks in the net when we need to,” Gaffney said.  “There was no sense of defeat.”

Underhill was then able to put in what would prove to be the game-winning goal with 1:50 left in the period on a pretty score that struck the top of the net.

“He played a little bit better than we’ve been anticipating him playing, he’s got the potential,” Gaffney said.  “In practice we’re all over him, because he scores these phenomenal goals like that one where he hit the water bottle right up under the crossbar.”

In the third period the Prout defense held tough, and were able to hold on for the win behind some key stops from junior Zane Morgan.  The Crusaders put the game away with an empty-netter from Williams in the final minute.

“He just came up big, he stayed strong, he stayed big and the puck found him,” Gaffney said.  “That’s kind of the season he’s been having, the puck’s been able to find him and he doesn’t let up too many rebounds, his rebound control is very good.”

The Avengers fall to 5-7-0 in Division-II Central (5-8-0 overall) with the loss, and will look to rebound when they fact St. Raphael Academy Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the West Warwick Civic Center.

“They’re all tight games, we’re staying close, but now we’ve got a real long shot,” Kiernan said.  “We just have to try to see the other side so we can hopefully make that last push.”

Prout improves to 8-4-0 in D-II South (9-5-0 overall), and will take on D-II North leading Cumberland High Saturday at 9 p.m. at Mount St. Charles Academy Arena.

“We haven’t had any real stretch other than in the beginning of the season when we rolled off three or four wins,” Gaffney said.  “It’s going to be tough, so I hope we can ride the momentum, but we just have to take care of Saturday night’s business.”

BOYS ICE HOCKEY

Prout 4,East Greenwich 2

                                                1^st           2^nd        3^rd—Final

Prout                                             1                    2                     1—4

East Greenwich                           0                    2                     0—2

First Period Scoring: P, Underhill (Barlowe) 14:17. Penalties: none.

Second Period Scoring: P, Williams (Peacock) 6:23, Underhill (Deady, Fontaine) 13:10; E, Mason (Villaneuve, Fontaine) 1:52, Trutza (Peduto) 2:16.  Penalties: P 1-2:00.

Third Period Scoring: P, Williams (empty net) 14:14.  Penalties: P 1-2:00; E, 1-2:00.

Shots: P 15-13.  Saves: P, Morgan 11; E, Finn 11.