FILE PHOTO
St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee is hoping for a better result this year as the Spartans prepare for Sunday’s final against Framingham.
By STEVE KRAUSE
Last March 20, early in the second overtime of a blistering back-and-forth game, Franklin’s Luke Downie’s wrist shot zipped past St. Mary’s goalie Andrew LoRusso.
As the stunned Spartans skated off the ice after seeing their Division 1 state hockey title dreams vanish, they vowed that their only goal was to get back to the TD Garden in 2017.
Well, here they are. The St. Mary’s boys hockey team will be going for the state title that eluded them a year ago when they face off against Framingham (5:45) Sunday.
“From the minute we lost last year, this has been our goal,” said senior Dante Maribito, who scored two goals against Arlington Catholic to help the Spartans make it to the North final.
“Most of us who are playing now were on the ice when that goal was scored,” he said.
One of them, LoRusso, has provided a powerful backstop for the Spartans this season. The senior goalie has a 1.91 goals-against average, and is coming off what could be his most impressive performance of the season — a 27-save shutout over Andover in a 2-0 win in the North final.
The Spartans entered the tournament with a 13-7-2 record, and swept past Reading, Triton, AC and Andover.
Maribito is one of two 30-plus point scorers for St. Mary’s, the other being Mike Zampanti.
Maribito, despite missing a month due to illness, finished with 12-19-31 while Zampanti was 11-21-32.
Other offensive standouts for the Spartans are Colin Reddy (14-10-24), and Anthony Bono (20-11-34).
Other contributors are Damon Maribito (Dante’s younger brother), who has lit the lamp seven times and has 14 points. Nick Napolitano has 15 points.
Marc Zampanti, Mike’s twin brother, helps man the blue line and has scored nine points as well.
Andrew Kreamer and Kyle Ouellette have contributed on the blue line as well.
Framingham is led by two 30-plus point scorers: Scott Swennes (19-14-33) and Ben Stefanini (8-22-30).
Junior goaltender Alex Moore carries a 2.25 goals-against average into the game.
The Flyers are a young team, with only seven seniors on the roster.
St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee has been behind the Spartans’ bench since the 1986-87 season, and reached the 400-win plateau in February of 2016.
He took over a Division 3 team and raised to to the elite Division 1 level. A win Sunday would give Lee his first-ever state championship at any level.