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Mount sweeps into state finals |
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 |
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By MICHAEL PARENTE Sports writer CRANSTON – Nicholas Candelmo didn’t get the chance to show off again on Saturday night. He was gone after just 15 minutes.
Shaking off the rust from a slow start in Friday’s series’ opener, Mount Saint Charles wasted no time asserting its authority Saturday against Moses Brown, scoring four goals in the opening period en route to a 7-0 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-three Division I boys’ hockey semifinals at the Cranston Veteran’s Memorial Rink.
Candelmo, the Quakers’ senior goaltender who stopped 68 shots in Friday’s overtime loss, allowed four goals on only 13 shots in Game 2 and was replaced by Ryan Fullerton at the end of the first period. The undefeated Mounties swept the series to advance to next weekend’s finals, where they’ll face No. 2 seed Bishop Hendricken High School for the third consecutive season.
“We let the goalie get hot (Friday) night,” said Mount co-captain John Guay, who scored the first goal of the night. “I thought the team prepared well all week, then we just came out a little flat.
“Our intensity was down and we gave them an opportunity to stay in the game. Tonight, everyone was focused. We knew what we had to do. First period, we brought it right to them.”
Evan Hoffman and Tim Coffey each scored twice for Mount, which is now 16-0-2 against league competition heading into the finals. The Mounties benefited from playing ahead Saturday night, as opposed to Friday’s series’ opener in which they trailed by two at the end of the first period and also had to rally from a 4-3 deficit with six minutes remaining to send the game into overtime.
“We’ve been struggling in the first period all year long,” Mount assistant coach Dave Belisle said. “We’ve had a great season, but the first period seems to be our iffy period. We made a conscious effort to get on this kid, who was unbelievable (Friday) night, early so he doesn’t carry it on.
“If he got by the period without us scoring on him, it was going to be a long night for us.”
The fifth-seeded Quakers coughed up the lead in Game 1 on Friday and lost when Kyle Beauchamp scored with 33 seconds left in overtime. They never recovered, falling behind early on Guay’s first goal at the 4:29 mark. Beauchamp scored moments later to make it 2-0 and Hoffman and Coffey added goals in the closing minutes to give Mount an insurmountable 4-0 lead at the end of the period.
“I think we were spent from (Friday) night,” Moses Brown head coach Larry Tremblay said. “We’re only playing 10 guys and it makes such a difference, plus we didn’t cover. We let them get a couple of quick ones and that turns the game around because we start pressing. They’re a better club and they did what they had to do.
“(Friday) night just took a lot out of us.”
Fullerton replaced Candelmo at the end of the first and pitched a shutout in the second period before the Mounties put together one final surge to break the game open. Leo Levesque scored at the 6:28 mark of the third to make it 5-0 and Hoffman followed with his second goal of the game at 7:48 courtesy of a brilliant feed from Robert VanWinter in front of the net.
Coffey put the final nail in Moses Brown’s coffin with 57 seconds remaining, stealing the puck from Ross Scherma in the neutral zone and scoring short-handed on a breakaway for his second goal of the night. The Mounties got goals from all three lines in a well-balanced performance.
“We’re that type of team,” Belisle said. “We don’t count on one line, which is been the key to our success. We’re pretty well-balanced. We certainly have John Guay and (Jim) Fuoroli, who’ve carried us offensively, but overall we’ve been very, very fortunate to have three solid lines that can score at any time.”
The Mounties came out more relaxed Saturday after escaping with a victory in Game 1 and it showed from the opening face-off. Mount dominated in the neutral zone and also finished its checks more efficiently, limiting the Quakers’ breakaway attempts against goaltender Jason San Antonio, who needed to make only 20 saves to earn the shutout in the series’ clincher.
“As soon as we scored the overtime goal (Friday) night, there seemed to be a relief,” added Belisle. “The last four years, there’s always been something that seems to go wrong at the most critical of times. It looked like this was going to be that moment again, but when they scored, it seemed to relieve a little more pressure. It allowed them to come out and play their game without that added pressure.”
Now the Mounties will get another shot at dethroning Hendricken, which has won the last two state titles. Mount swept the season series against the Hawks, including a 9-4 victory at Adelard Arena on Feb. 8.
“It’s important to be excited, yet composed,” Guay said. “We have a good |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 March 2008 )
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