By MICHAEL PARENTE

Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE – As he turned to face the crowd standing behind the bench at Schnieder Arena, Bill Belisle triumphantly raised the championship trophy high above his head.

Whispering the words, “I love you!” to the parents and alumni who stuck around to join the celebration, Belisle basked in the aura of Mount Saint Charles’ first boys’ hockey title in four years, while his son, Dave, stood beside him in what will forever be remembered as one of the most stirring moments in the program’s storied history.

“I’ve been coaching with my dad for 30 years and there’s no question getting it back is a lot tougher than keeping the streak going,” Dave Belisle said Tuesday night after the Mounties rallied to beat Hendricken, 4-3, in Game 2 of the Division I finals to sweep the best-of-three series.

“Credit to coach Belisle. We all worked so hard, especially myself, because I wanted people to know that he is the best coach in the United States, not, ‘He was.’ When you see them in a couple of years taking his rink down, and making a movie about him, and they write a book saying, ‘It’s time for him to leave,’ well, he proved tonight it’s not. He’s still got it, and that’s why it was so emotional. He brings a lot of energy and the kids feed off it.”

The Mounties trailed 2-0 in the first period and 3-2 at the intermission before scoring twice in the third to finish off the Hawks, who entered the series as the two-time defending state champs. Leo Levesque scored the winning goal with 8:16 remaining and Jason SanAntonio stopped 19 shots as Mount won its 27^th state title in 31 years, including 26 in a row from 1978 to 2003. The Mounties finished 14-0-2 in the regular season and swept back-to-back series in the playoffs.

“Just to get it back for Mount, and win it for coach Belisle this year, it’s unbelievable,” said senior forward Jim Fuoroli, who scored twice in Game 2. “Coach always said it’s not about whether you win, but how you play, but deep down inside, we knew we wanted to get it back this year – especially for our senior year.”

No one enjoyed the victory more than Belisle, who showed as much energy on Tuesday night at the age of 78 as he did 33 years ago when he began his illustrious career at Mount. He hugged each player one-by-one as they skated off the ice and even grabbed a stick to bang along the side of the boards as senior captain John Guay accepted his Most Valuable Player award.

“He enjoys it just as much as I do,” said Guay, who finished the series with two goals and three assists. “There are a lot of dads sitting in the stands whose kids are on the Mount team as well. It’s generations of Mount pride that leads to championships.”

The Mounties got off to an inauspicious start when Peter DeAngelo picked up a 10-minute misconduct penalty for hitting from behind just 23 seconds into the game. A minute later, Josh Fattore got whistled for hooking, setting up Hendricken with a two-man advantage for 38 seconds.

The Hawks capitalized as Stephen Buco scored on the power play at the 2:17 mark, sneaking a wrist shot past SanAntonio’s shoulder that nestled into the upper left-hand corner of the net.

Since the Mounties were down two skaters, Hendricken still had a minute left on its original power play following Buco’s goal. Michael Coscina took advantage, scoring on a rebound 3:09 into the period after SanAntonio swatted away Thomas Powers’ wraparound attempt. DeAngelo served an additional two minutes on top of his 10-minute misconduct and did not return to the ice until the 12:23 mark.

Hendricken had momentum on its side, but also had a hard time staying out of the box. The Hawks picked up three penalties in the final 12 minutes of the opening period, and Mount finally scored on the power play when Fuoroli crashed the net on a slap shot by Guay and beat Shane Benjamin on the rebound to cut Hendricken’s lead in half with 2:30 remaining.

The action picked up in the second period as the two sides cut down on the penalties. Mount tied the game on a beautiful feed from Guay to Fuoroli, who scored the neutralizer on a breakaway with 2:18 remaining. With momentum slipping away, the Hawks struck back immediately, retaking the lead on Powers’ unassisted goal with 27 seconds to go. Powers stole the puck in Mount’s zone, weaved his way through traffic, and then beat SanAntonio glove side to give Hendricken a 3-2 edge heading into the break.

“We knew it wasn’t a goal they really worked hard for,” Fuoroli said. “They got a lucky break and put it in, so we went in the locker room knowing we were out-playing them and out-shooting them. We just had to come out there and play as hard as we possibly could to get this one.”

After missing a golden opportunity on a power play early in the third period when Guay hit the post in front of an open net, the Mounties finally connected at the 2:25 mark to tie the game. Fuoroli fired a slap shot from the blue line that cut through the defense and whistled past Benjamin’s left shoulder. Benjamin didn’t see the puck until it had already passed him.

Mount took its first lead moments later on a fortuitous bounce in front of the net. Robert VanWinter started a breakaway with a pass to Evan Hoffman, but Hoffman’s wrist shot ricocheted off a pair of Hendricken defenders. The puck bounced back into the slot, where Levesque uncorked an awkward wrist shot that fluttered past Benjamin into the upper left-hand corner of the net with 8:16 remaining. Benjamin came out of his crouch to make the save, but couldn’t get a read on the puck as it wobbled through the air.

“They were so composed,” Belisle said. “Basically, we had to settle everybody down about the penalties, but once we settled down, John Guay especially, said, ‘Listen, let’s just play. Our best period has always been the third period.’ Sure enough, we got one late on that power play and, after that, it was our game.”

Second-seeded Hendricken finished the season 14-5-1, including the playoffs, with all five losses coming against Mount.

“We’re disappointed we had leads on both nights we couldn’t hold onto, but when a team beats you five times in one year, it’s a pretty good indication of things,” Hawks head coach Jim Creamer said. “We’re proud of our effort. We have nothing to be ashamed of.”