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By MICHAEL PARENTE Sports writer WOONSOCKET – The Hawks nearly ran out of goalies Friday as Mount continued to score at will. Now they’re running out of time in their quest to catch the Mounties in the Division I standings.
Trailing by two goals at the end of the first period, Mount Saint Charles scored seven times in the second to highlight a 9-4 victory Friday over Bishop Hendricken at Adelard Arena, keeping its perfect record intact and all but wrapping up its first regular season boys’ hockey title in three years.
“It was just an outstanding period – one of the best periods of hockey I’ve seen in this building for years,” Mount assistant coach Dave Belisle said.
The Hawks entered Friday’s showdown determined to end a two-game losing streak against Mount and move into a first-place tie in D-I, but watched in horror as their 2-0 lead evaporated within the first 5 minutes, 57 seconds of the second period. Mount (11-0-1) scored five times during that stretch to break the game open and now leads Hendricken by four points with four games remaining after sweeping the season series against the two-time defending state champs. The Hawks (9-3-1) only have three games left, so they need to win out and hope Mount loses the rest of its games in order to win the division.
“To beat a great team like Hendricken three times now and sit there on top again – but not just to sit there on top, but to sit there on top playing well – we’re very excited,” Belisle said. “We’re just going to take it a shift at a time. We tell the kids, ‘One shift at a time. That’s all we need. Don’t look at the big picture. Just take it one shift at a time.’”
Mount will try to clinch the D-I title Thursday night against La Salle at The Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence. The Mounties have not won the regular season championship since 2005.
“This particular team really reminds me of teams of the winning past,” Belisle said. “We were down 2-0 and didn’t play well, but I was very patient with them and told them to play our game, which is forechecking – ‘Let’s get back to forechecking.’
“We didn’t forecheck much in the first period, but we started to open up and forecheck in the second and let them make their defense cough the puck up and we got some transition goals by attacking their defense. That’s our game – speed. We didn’t generate any speed in the first period because we didn’t get the puck. They took the play to us. We were patient and it paid off.”
Hendricken used two goalies Friday (freshman Shane Benjamin and junior Joe Lopes), but neither could stem the tide as Mount scored nine times in the final two periods to turn a close game into a rout. Benjamin allowed six goals on 21 shots before leaving the game with 6:28 to go in the second period. Lopes got beat with five seconds remaining in the second and then gave up another goal just 58 seconds into the third before finally settling down.
Jim Fuoroli, Trevor Plante and John Guay finished with two goals apiece for the Mounties. Asked what went wrong in the second period, Hendricken head coach Jim Creamer said, “I’d like to know.
“Seven goals in the second period, that’s tough to explain. It’s pretty obvious we had some major breakdowns. We had some players standing next to players and not doing their job. Then the puck goes in and it starts to snowball.”
The Hawks got off to a great start when Nick Mattiello scored a rebound just 23 seconds into the game. Peter Taylor took the initial shot from the face-off circle after gathering the puck along the boards. Jason San Antonio made the save, but couldn’t hold onto the loose puck, allowing Mattiello to crash the net.
The lead almost doubled later in the first, but Steve Mollo missed a wide open net on a rebound attempt after San Antonio deflected a hard slap shot from Stephen Buco. Less than a minute later, Fuoroli worked his way into the slot, but fired a wrist shot two feet over the net. The Hawks gathered the rebound and started a breakaway, ending with Michael Coscina’s goal on a brilliant feed from Mattiello to give Hendricken a 2-0 lead with 3:10 remaining.
Facing a rare, two-goal deficit, Mount exploded in the second period, scoring five goals within the first 5 minutes, 57 seconds on just five shots. Guay started the explosion when he scored on a feed from Fuoroli 2:02 into the period and then tied the game 11 seconds later on the ensuing face-off when he beat Benjamin top shelf on a hard slap shot.
Not to be outdone, Hendricken retook the lead at the 2:54 mark when Matt Salhany skated untouched into the slot and stretched across his body to flick a wrist shot past San Antonio.
Again, the Mounties stormed back, this time scoring twice in 13 seconds to regain control. Josh Fattore ignited the second wave when he found Fuoroli all alone in front of the net for an easy one-timer that tied the game with 10:21 remaining. Thirteen second later, the Mounties grabbed a 4-3 on the ensuing face-off when Plante scored off a feed from Tim Coffey.
“We can score in bunches,” Belisle said. “We did this last game against Toll Gate when we won, 10-1. It comes fast.”
The lead swelled to 5-3 on Peter DeAngelo’s goal at the 5:57 mark, courtesy of a great pass from Fuoroli on a 2-on-1, and increased to 6-3 with 6:28 to go in the second when Coffey scored on a scramble in front of the net after the Hawks failed to clear the puck out of their own end. Creamer immediately replaced Benjamin with Lopes followed Mount’s sixth goal.
“It certainly wasn’t his fault,” Creamer said of Benjamin. “We left guys off the back post unaccounted for. There’s not he much can do about that.”
Lopes didn’t fare much better, allowing a goal to sophomore forward Evan Hoffman with just five seconds remaining in the period, putting the finishing touches on Mount’s most prolific offensive outburst of the season.
The Mounties scored seven times in the second on just 12 shots, including five goals in the first 5:57 to turn a 2-0 deficit into a comfortable, 7-3 cushion entering the final period. Guay and Fuoroli combined for three goals and three assists in the second. Plante and Fuoroli capped the outburst by scoring within a minute of one another in the third.
“We’ve been practicing and practicing to keep a triangular offense to the net and give that option where you’ve got the slot man or you can go to the back door,” Belisle said. “Good puck movement is very difficult to follow for a goaltender, too. We had a few open net goals because the puck was moving so quick. These are the games for us – Hendricken, big rival, good crowd. They came and took it to us, but we responded. That’s the sign of a good team.”
***
Hendricken 2 1 1–4
Mount 0 7 2–9
First period – H, Nick Mattiello (Peter Taylor) 0:23; H, Michael Coscina (Taylor, Mattiello) 11:50. Penalties – none.
Second period – M, John Guay (Jim Fuoroli, Josh Fattore) 2:02; M, Guay (Peter DeAngelo, Shane Dunphy) 2:13; H, Matt Salhany (Buco, Mollo) 2:54; M, Fuoroli (Fattore) 4:39; M, Trevor Plante (Tim Coffey) 4:52; M, DeAngelo (Fuoroli, Guay) 5:57; M, Coffey (Plante, Fattore) 8:32; M, Evan Hoffman (Coffey, Dunphy) 14:55. Penalties – Hendricken, 1-2:00.
Third period – M, Plante (Coffey) 0:58; M, Fuoroli (Guay) PP 1:58; H, Buco (Noel Acciari, Teddy Pekalski) 4:45. Penalties – Hendricken, 2-4:00; Mount, 1-2:00.
Saves – H, Shane Benjamin 15; Joe Lopes 10; M, Jason San Antonio 21.
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