By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

WOONSOCKET --- Woonsocket High may have celebrated its Senior Night two weeks ago, but that didn’t prevent two 12th graders from having a night to remember on Friday in the Novans’ Division III playoff opener at Adelard Arena.
Drew Jalette upped his seasonal goal total to 39 by netting a natural hat trick in the first period and ending up with four goals and goaltender Josh Sloan had arguably his finest game of the season by turning away 26 shots in a 6-0 quarterfinal-round win over the Johnston/North Providence co-op team.
The second-seeded Novans, who improve to 14-3-2, will try to sew up their best-of-three series with the seventh-seeded Panthers (10-9) tonight at 8:30 p.m. when the series continues at the Smithfield Ice Rink.
If Johnston/N.P. wins tonight’s game, then a third and deciding game will be held on Monday night back at Adelard at a time to be announced. 
“We have to come and play hard tomorrow night,” added Woonsocket coach Tony Ciresi. “We have to put Johnston away because you don’t want to give someone like that any life. They’re a very good team and I want to put them away tomorrow.”
Juniors Sean Mowry and Zach Viggiani also received credit for three assists, and seniors David Boucher and Colby Hedstrom notched third-period goals for the Novans, but the offensive star of the night was clearly the division’s scoring leader.
“Drew Jalette just snipes,” added Ciresi. “He has 39 goals and he has scored some beauties. There were some good ones tonight.”
Jalette got the Novans on the board 4:02 into the contest by reeling in a pass from Mowry and wristing a low shot under the stick of Johnston/N.P. goalie Matt Domaingue.
He then doubled the lead at 12:34, and with Woonsocket on a 5-on-3 power play, with a slap shot that whistled over Domaingue’s glove, hit the bottom of the crossbar, and landed in the back of the net.
With 10 seconds to go, Jalette finished his natural hat trick by one-timing a pass from Zach Viggiani that Domaingue had no chance at stopping. Several Villa Novans fans seated near the Novans’ bench celebrated the hat trick by tossing their caps and winter hats onto the ice.      
But Jalette wasn’t done. After a scoreless second period, he netted his fourth goal 2:09 into the third on a breakaway from blue line. He took a pass from Mowry, and with a defenseman draped on his back, skated in on Domaingue and backhanded a shot past his right pad.
The Novans then sealed the verdict in the final minutes on Boucher’s score off a rebound with 6:49 to play in the game and Hedstrom’s goal with 2:42 on the clock. Josh Renaud assisted on both scores.  
In between those goals, Sloan made another highlight save to preserve his shutout, when with 4:44 to play in the game, he made a right pad save on a breakaway by one of the Panthers’ top snipers, junior Damon Ascenzi.
While Ciresi was pleased with the victory, he wasn’t too fond of his team’s play in the middle period and he expressed his feelings when he opened his post-game remarks. 
“This was a little microcosm of our season,” offered Ciresi. “We didn’t play three periods. We dominated the first and third (periods), but we were awful in the second. It might sound a little picky, but what can I say?”
Even though the Villa Novans struggled with their play in that period, they benefited from two big saves from Sloan to keep the Panthers off the board, one of them with an incredible left pad save in traffic midway through the period. 
“Those were two unbelievable saves by Sloan,” added Ciresi. “I don’t know where his leg came from on that left pad save. That was his best save of the year, because if he doesn’t make that save, it probably could have changed the game.”
Ciresi also voiced his displeasure at the 15-minute periods in the playoffs, when during the regular season, Division III teams play 12-minute sessions.
“It’s so stupid that we play 15-minute periods in the playoffs,” added Ciresi. “It makes no sense. And when (you have to play) a team that ices the puck like they do with their slow-down style? It seemed like the first period went on forever. It just makes no sense.”
***
Johnston/N.P.        0 - 0 - 0 -- 0
Woonsocket            3 - 0 - 3 -- 6
First period: W -- Drew Jalette (Sean Mowry), 4:02; W -- Drew Jalette (Zach Viggiani), power play, 12:34; W -- Drew Jalette (Zach Viggiani, Sean Mowry), 14:50.
Second period: No scoring.
Third period: W -- Drew Jalette (Sean Mowry), 2:09. W -- David Boucher (Josh Renaud, Zach Viggiani), 8:11; W -- Colby Hedstrom (Drew Jalette, Josh Renaud), 12:18.
Shots on goal: Johnston/N.P. 26, Woonsocket 34. Goalie saves: J/N.P. -- Matt Domaingue (28 saves); W -- Joshua Sloan (26 saves).