Marlboro, Mass.—Springfield Cathedral improved to 9-0-2 and set a season high in goals with 12 in its latest blowout win, 12-1 over St. John’s of Shrewsbury.
The Panthers had tallied 11 twice previously, each occurrence within the last two weeks vs. Matignon on Jan. 3 and Falmouth on Jan. 10. Including “only” six goals against Bridgewater-Raynham on Jan. 8, that’s 40 goals for Cathedral in its last four games. On the season, they’re outscoring opponents 78-10. Only four other teams in Division 1 have even 40 goals: Newburyport (43), Matignon (41) Central Catholic (41) and Franklin (40).
(For what it’s worth, Cathedral shutout CC, 6-0, in the Pete Frates Winter Classic on Dec. 27 and tied Franklin, 3-3, on Dec. 18).
“We’ve been getting some good bounces, the pucks been going in the net for us,” said Panthers coach Brian Foley following the game. “We know it’s not always going to be this easy, we just got to keep working. Kids are working hard in practice, and that’s the biggest thing. They’re playing unselfishly and moving the puck.”
Riley Pratson had a hat trick, Pete Crinella and Johnny Leonard had two goals apiece, and Cam Peritz, Devon Tongue, Joe Brosseau, DJ Petruzelli and Sal Kacoyannakis all had one for the Panthers.
The Pioneers (3-8-1, 1-1 Catholic West), to their credit, hung around into the second period before Cathedral pulled away. A pair of special teams goals was all the Panthers could muster in the first: a power play goal for Crinella at 8:17, followed by Leonard shorthanded at 10:18.
But it didn’t take long in the second for the onslaught to begin, starting with Leonard’s second goal 2:07 in.
SJS made it 5-1 at 8:51 of the second, on assistant captain Brendan Doherty’s tally. But Cathedral tacked on seven unanswered over the remainder of the game for the 12-1 final.
It’s a testament to the depth of the Panthers that even when the third and fourth lines get double shifted in the third period, opposing teams still can’t manage.
“Those guys are getting better because they’re playing a lot,” said Foley. “They’re scoring. They’re getting confident, and they’re getting a lot of ice time, and that’s basically what we try to do in the third period.”
Believe it or not, Cathedral is currently ranked just third (tied with BC High) in My Hockey Live’s version of RPI (calculated using 25% of a team’s winning percentage, plus 21% of the winning percentage of their opponents, plus 54% of the winning percentage of their opponents' opponents). They’ll have plenty of opportunities to improve upon it, beginning this Saturday with out-of-state opponent Bishop Hendricken (R.I.) at the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield.
“Hendricken’s a great program, they’re always tough,” said Foley. “I expect a real close game on Saturday, looking forward to that.”
Among some other notable games the Panthers still have on their schedule: vs. Central Catholic on Jan. 24, at Mount St. Charles (R.I.) on Jan. 31, a rematch with BC High, at Beacon Ice Arena, on Feb. 4.
Springfield Cathedral and St. John’s of Shrewsbury will play again on Jan. 29 in West Springfield.