MIDDLETON — In a battle of top-10-ranked teams at Essex Sports Center, the St. John’s Prep hockey team put together an up-and-down effort that resulted in a 5-3 loss to BC High in the opening round of the 9th annual Pete Frates Winter Classic Wednesday afternoon.
“BC High played better than us and deserved to win the game, and that’s pretty much what it comes down to,” said Prep coach Kristian Hanson, whose team was down seven players due to injury and illness. “We don’t want to make any excuses because every team has to deal with injuries and illness. We had some moments where we played well and it was nice to see that we didn’t quit when we were down 4-1, but overall we’re going to need to play better out there.”
Pierce Blaeser had one goal and one assist to lead the way for St. John’s Prep, while Jimmy Ayers and Lynnfield native Tommy Sarni each scored one goal. Zack Raposa and Ben McGilvry each had one assist, while freshman goalie Luke Quinn made 20 saves in the loss.
“I think the big thing it shows is that everyone needs to be ready to step up at any moment,” said Hanson, who has started two different goalies in the team’s first two games this year. “Credit to Luke for going out and playing a solid game as a freshman who just joined our program. He’s only going to get better from here.”
The Eagles came out hot and controlled the pace of play for the first few minutes of the opening period. That strong play paid off quickly, as Raposa won a battle for a loose puck behind the BC High net and sent a perfect pass out front to Ayers, who buried the shot for a 1-0 Prep lead.
But the goal only seemed to fire up BC High, which responded with two goals in the final seven minutes of play — one each from Aidan McDonnell and James Marshall — to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
The second period didn’t start off much better for the prep, as BC High opened the period with some strong play and netted two more goals to jump ahead 4-1. Luckily for the Prep, a pair of BC High penalties in the final two minutes of the period led to a number of opportunities. With 1:05 to go in the period, the Eagles were able to get one back when Blaeser stuffed in a loose puck that trickled in front of the net, making it 4-2 BC High after two periods.
That momentum continued into the start of the third period for the Eagles, as Sarni got the Prep to within one, when he cleaned up a loose puck in front of the net to make it 4-3 with 14 minutes to play.
But, although St. John’s Prep dominated much of the period, BC High was able to deliver the decisive blow with about seven minutes to play, when Dave Williams found the back of the net to make it a 5-3 game.
St. John’s Prep (1-1-0) will play Central Catholic in the consolation game of the Pete Frates Winter Classic Thursday afternoon (1) back at Essex Sports Center.
“Unfortunately we don’t have any nights off in terms of who we play,” said Hanson. “We started with Hingham the other day and then BC High (Wednesday) with another tough game (Thursday). And then when you get into our conference schedule, there’s a lot of nights like this. It obviously helps prepare you for later in the season when the games mean a bit more, but it’s a battle every night to try to get a win.”