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MSC-Hendricken III faces off tonight |
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Friday, 20 February 2009 |
By BRENDAN McGAIR
Sports writer
The regular season is rapidly drawing to a close (this weekend and next are all that are left!), but questions still remain. Teams involved in the playoff chatter are using the home stretch to jockey for playoff seeding, opening round byes and the all-important home ice advantage in the semi and quarterfinal rounds.
Expect the action unfolding over the next few days to shed some major light on who finishes where, beginning with the Game of the Weekend taking place this evening at Warwick’s Thayer Arena. That’s the site for Round III between state powers Mount St. Charles and Bishop Hendricken. The season-series is deadlocked at a game apiece, each side posting wins at Adelard Arena.
“Nice to see such a big game this late in the season,” MSC assistant coach Dave Belisle was saying on Thursday. “The kids are really excited.”
The Mounties are still dealing with some health concerns. Belisle said playmaker Evan Hoffman is rounding into form after battling the flu, which kept him out of the Jan. 31 contest with the Hawks. Sophomore Zachary Samborsky returned to practice yesterday but John Lace is still a tad under the weather.
The defensive corps of the Mounties has taken a hit lately. With Dustin Picard lost for the season (concussion) and Lace unsure if he’ll be able to go, MSC has had no choice but to search for solutions internally. Belisle reports that freshman Nick Bennett and junior Scott Potter have done an admirable job filling in.
In terms of the goaltending situation, Mount has been switching off between Jason San Antonio and Zach Leduc. While Belisle stopped short of calling the present situation an on-ice competition, he hopes someone can emerge and establish himself as the clear-cut No. 1 with the playoffs around the bend.
“Both have played well, both have had their moments, both will continue to get opportunities,” said Belisle. “As far as the state goes, they have to be considered 1-2.”
In terms of who receives the start tonight, Belisle refused to tip his hand. “Gametime decision.”
They’ll be bragging rights going to the team that breaks the ice on the rubber match. A quick perusal of the standings shows there’s more at stake. With 26 points, the Hawks hold a two-point edge over the defending champ Mounties (Hendricken has played 15 league games while MSC 13).
Thanks to last weekend’s loss to Moses Brown, Hendricken (13-2) has one more defeat to its name than the Mount (12-1). Tonight should all but wrap up who gets the top seed and who becomes No. 2, though it should be noted that the Quakers with 21 points and a 10-5 record, could also have a say regarding who finishes where.
This evening marks Hendricken’s third game in as many days. The Hawks spent the last two days facing Cathedral High of Springfield, Mass. Cathedral checks in at No. 9 in this week’s Boston.com’s top-20 poll. Tonight is the beginning of a three-game weekend for MSC, which hosts East Greenwich tomorrow and heads to Cranston Veterans Rink for a rare Sunday afternoon contest with Cranston West.
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The race for the top seed in Division II has been over for some time now. Don’t expect, however, Smithfield, the lone unbeaten in the league (15-0-0), to grow stale over its final three games. Head coach Rob Jackson expects his Sentinels to get tested against a North Kingstown squad trying to break free from a four-team cluster that’s separated by six points.
With 21 points, NK joins Cumberland (25) and St. Raphael (22) and Portsmouth (19) in a mad dash to see who can finish runner-up to Smithfield. Whoever the silver medalist is will also receive a reprieve from the one-game playoff contest those teams that don’t finish 1-2 in standings will have to sweat out.
The hottest team amongst the hopefuls is SRA, which carries a six-game winning streak into tonight’s clash with Pilgrim at Lynch Arena. Cumberland, which is coming off a 5-3 loss to St. Raphael, closes out the regular season tomorrow night against last-place Tolman at Adelard Arena.
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Winners of four straight that enabled it to slide into first place in Division I-A, Burrillville seeks to keep the good times flowing heading into tonight’s crossover encounter with La Salle at Levy Rink. Preceding the 9 o’clock face-off is Lincoln (6-10-1) against Barrington.
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Owners of the top record in Division III-North, North Smithfield (13-2-2, 28 points) appears to have a lock on the second seed – behind unbeaten Narragansett – in next month’s playoffs. The Northmen have the weekend off. Woonsocket, which is parked behind NS, heads to URI’s Boss Arena tonight to meet Prout before returning northward tomorrow at the Smithfield Rink to play North Providence. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 March 2009 )
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