Coming off an emotional three-game semifinal series against St. Edmund Prep, which ended Saturday night, St. Peter’s coach Eddie Blackburn stressed the importance of a strong start in the opener of the CHSHL Class B championship series.
“I told my boys that they had to come out in the first period hard and they did,” Blackburn said. “We had 21 shots in the first period. A couple of them went in and their goalie played an awesome game. But just putting that much pressure on them in the beginning really made them sit back on their heels a bit and opened up the ice for guys like [Vin] Conanan and Travis Saladis.”
The Eagles set the tone early and had five different goal scorers in a 7-4 victory against Archbishop Stepinac at World Ice Arena in Flushing, Queens.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday night at the Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon. If necessary, Game 3 is Friday night at Abe Stark Rink on Coney Island.
Although Anthony Careccia gave Stepinac (14-5-1) the lead 2:10 into the first, St. Peter’s dominated the period. Palladino tied the game 78 seconds later and Kennedy tapped in a rebound with 1:27 left to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
After Conanan scored a power play goal midway through the second, Paul Saladis and Kennedy netted a pair of goals in a 48-second span to extend St. Peter’s lead to 5-1.
“It just takes the wind out of your sails,” Blackburn said. “You could really see them let down a little when we popped in those two goals. That comes from constant pressure.”
Trailing 6-2 late in the third, the Crusaders rallied as Andy Culpepper and Anthony Reagan scored 30 seconds apart to pull within 6-4 with 4:41 remaining in regulation.
However Anthony Bruno took a carom off Reagan’s skate and threw the puck and the net and managed to sneak it past Stepinac goalie Ray Guerriara (42 saves) with 3:32 left as St. Peter’s (12-6-2) extended its lead to 7-4.
“That really just put the icing on the cake for us,” Ryan Kennedy said.
Reagan also scored a power play goal with 49.8 seconds left in the second and hit the crossbar early in the third period.
“[Reagan] has a rocket,” Blackburn said. “The last seven minutes of the game all we did was shadow him so he wouldn’t touch the puck. We had to neutralize him.”
Despite the loss, Stepinac coach Mike Henderson said his team can take some confidence from a solid third period into Game 2.
“We gave it all we had,” Henderson said. “I couldn’t ask for a better third period. It gives us some hope going into the next game. If we take that third period and start applying it toward the first period, then it’s a different game.”