PEABODY — The Bishop Fenwick boys hockey team battled back and forth against Catholic Central League foe Austin Prep Saturday evening, but in the end the Crusaders couldn’t quite get over the top in a 3-0 loss at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink.
Jack Vieira played well in net for Fenwick, keeping the Crusaders in the game the whole way.
“Jack really played well in net, he stepped up for us when we got outshot 24-9,” said Fenwick coach Jim Quinlan. “He kept us in the game, we just couldn’t get any offense going in front of him.”
The game was a 0-0 tie through two and a half periods before Austin Prep scored the eventual game winner with eight minutes to play. From there Fenwick pulled its goalie and tried to score on the other end, but Austin Prep scored two empty-net goals to seal the win.
“I’m proud of the way the guys battled until the end, and they really outworked (Austin Prep) for the entire game,” Quinlan said. “That’s going to really build some confidence for them. We really played as a team and the guys did everything they were asked. It was a solid team effort all around.”
Quinlan pointed to the fact that the Crusaders were able to get a number of practices under their belt prior to Saturday’s game, something that allowed them to work on the mistakes they made in their season-opening loss to St. Mary’s.
“Getting four or five practices in before the game was a huge factor in how well we played (Saturday),” said Quinlan. “We were able to take away some lessons from the St. Mary’s game and work on them in practice. Plus, the guys were able to get more comfortable with each other out there on the ice.”
Fenwick (0-2) was set to take on Austin Prep Wednesday night, but now that the school is moving to remote learning until Thursday, the Crusaders will be off until then. Fenwick’s next game will be Saturday (6) against St. Mary’s at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink.
“It hurts a bit because we really felt like we had some momentum coming out of this game and now we’re down for a few days,” said Quinlan. “But at the same time, we have to adapt. What we’re going to do is come back Thursday, practice Thursday and Friday and then go take on St. Mary’s Saturday. We’ll be ready to go.”