Mount Sweeps Hendricken, Takes Division 1 Title

Mount St. Charles scored a pair of goals in the first period, two more in the second and three in the third, to defeat the second-seeded Hendricken Hawks, 7-2, Saturday, March 19 and secure the Academy’s 42^nd state championship.

The No. 1 Mounties swept the best-of-three series, outscoring Bishop Hendricken, 12-6, in two games at Schneider Arena. Zach Samborsky helped MSC to a Game One victory with three points Friday, including the game-winning goal in the waning minutes of regulation.

The senior captain also added two assists in Game One, and he picked up three points Saturday to earn recognition as the Mounties’ M.V.P.

“This team is one of a kind, definitely,” Samborsky said. “We have a lot of seniors. We’ve got a couple of younger kids that look up to us and it’s just good showing them how to be.”

Seniors Alex Erban, Trevor Plante and Ben Heroux also provided for the Mounties offensively Saturday, and Senior goaltender Dan Foster made 11 saves to clinch MSC’s fourth consecutive Division I title.

“I know it’s been four years and we’ve done really well the past four years, but it’s really just year by year,” Samborsky said. “You’ve just got to take it as it comes, try to do your best and if a streak ends up developing, then that’s great, but we’ve just got to take it year by year.”

MSC took down Hendricken in 2008 and 2009 to win back-to-back championships, and the Mounties dismissed LaSalle to capture a third straight title in 2010.

The Mounties fell once to the Rams this year, but MSC took the season series from LSA, 3-1, including a semifinal sweep last week. The Mounties also cruised past eighth-seeded North Smithfield after finishing the regular season 16-1-1-0 in league play.

“They accomplished everything. They won the division, they went undefeated in their non-league schedule, they won their tournament, they won the states and only one blemish,” said Dave Belisle, head coach of the Mounties. “This is one of the best teams I’ve coached, certainly in the last 15-20 years.”

The Mounties outscored their Division I opponents by more than 100 goals during the regular season, and they were led offensively by Samborsky and Plante, with 45 points apiece. Both potted a pair of goals Saturday, and Plante handed out two assists as well.

Samborsky scored the Mounties’ second goal of Game Two, but it was the work of Brian Campbell that got MSC on the board. Trailing, 1-0, with time winding down in the first period the junior forward dragged the puck toward the slot from the left wing. His shot produced a rebound that Erban pushed in for the equalizer, and Samborsky scored shortly thereafter to give MSC a 2-1 lead heading into second.

Freshman Dominic Rovero stretched the margin with a blast from the right point, set up by Samborsky and Mike Magerman, and the Mounties led 4-1, after Samborsky and Plante hooked up for the second time prior to intermission.

MSC out-shot Hendricken, 22-10, during the first two periods, and the Mounties outscored the Hawks, 3-1, during the third.

Hendricken’s Shane Kavanaugh temporarily cut the Hawks’ deficit down to a pair with his shot from the right face-off circle, but Plante responded with a bid from just above the goal-line that slipped through the pads of Hendricken’s Bill Palmer to give MSC a 5-2 lead.

The Hawks’ sophomore goaltender made 26 saves Saturday, but he could not deny Heroux and Plante late in the third as MSC pulled away.

“I’m really excited,” Samborsky said. “This is an indescribable feeling. I wish everyone could feel how we feel right now.”

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