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WEST ROXBURY, Mass. – Jack Sharrio had never experienced anything quite like it before. Last week, the St. John’s Prep senior attackman was driving his car when he realized he couldn’t see quite as well as usual. It turned out he was suffering an allergic reaction to the eye drops he’d been taking.

Thankfully, Sharrio was fine, but it forced him to miss the Eagles’ Saturday game against Division 2 power Hingham – a game they lost, 9-5.

On Monday, he made his return to the Prep lineup and put on a show, leading the No. 9 Eagles with a four-goal, five-point performance in their 14-10 win over Catholic Conference rival No. 19 Catholic Memorial.

“His presence was missed [on Saturday],” Prep head coach John Roy said. “So tonight I think there was a little bit of wanting to step up and it showed. He was aggressive all night.”

The Eagles (8-3) halted a two-game losing steak with a renewed emphasis on ball movement, while sending the Knights (6-7) to their third straight defeat – all coming against Catholic Conference competition.

Shawn Waldon compiled a four-point game (3 G, 1 A) while Andrew Gallahue (2 G, 1 A) and Ben Anthony (1 G, 2 A) each had three points. Princeton-bound midfielder Drew O’Connell also dished out two key assists on fourth-quarter goals, providing the Eagles some insurance.

“When we started to cut, Drew O’Connell had his head up and was making the looks,” Roy said. “For us, that’s something that we’ve been looking for.”

While Prep’s streak of games not having allowed a man-up goal was broken on Monday — with CM cashing in on three man-advantages in the first half — the Eagles closed the game with authority, holding while down two men in the final two minutes of the game. Eagles goaltender Tom Casale made two of his seven saves on the game during that man-down situation, snuffing out any thought of a comeback bid.

Derek Osbahr and Anthony Merullo also were instrumental in the victory in their support on faceoffs, winning a combined 16 ground balls.

A FULL DECK
Sharrio, who quarterbacked the Eagles football team to an Eastern Mass. Super Bowl championship in the fall, has been a key cog to the lacrosse team in each of his four years.

However, this is the first year he’s shifted up to attack. And while Prep has been averaging more than 10 goals a game, they struggled offensively against Hingham.

With a full complement of players, including Sharrio, the Eagles were able to get back to what’s made them effective.

“We were dodging pretty well, trying to find the open man,” Sharrio said. “There were sometimes we could’ve caught and scored a little bit better than we did, but that’s something we can work on. I think it just shows that if we keep this up in the future we’ll be alright.”

WESTWOOD, Mass. – As Catholic Conference rivals BC High and Xaverian traded goals like dueling banjos through three quarters of Tuesday’s game, you could find a parallel for this season. With four teams in the initial ESPN Boston MIAA Top 25 poll, the conference figures to be among the state’s most competitive and deep this season.

But through the first couple of week of the season, as in Tuesday’s action, the No. 8 Hawks have emerged from the pack.

Xaverian ran its league record to 3-0 in the early going with a 9-7 win over the No. 11 Eagles at the Hawk Bowl.

“Being three-and-oh in the conference means everything to us right now,” Hawks head coach Tim Gardner said. “You have to treat every one of these league games as championship game.”

Xaverian attackman Jake Cox paced the Hawks (3-1, 3-0) with a four-goal performance.

The Hawks trailed 5-4 at the half, but tied it heading into the fourth on Cox’s third of the game. Xaverian pole Chris Ciolfi gathered a ground ball near midfield and went the distance, regaining the lead for the Hawks with 9:42 to play.

BC High (1-2) again responded about two minutes with a goal from Billy Breen.

But the Hawks retained the lead for good a minute later with Harry Walsh’s rip from about 15 yards out. Ryan McClellan added another less than a minute later for a two-goal cushion.

Alex O’Brien claimed BC High’s seventh tally, but the Eagles were shut out down the stretch as the Hawks saved their most effective possession effort of the game for its most critical stage.

Cox added his fourth of the game — on the man-up — during the final minute.

“Our weakness today is that we didn’t possess the ball as much as we should have in the second half,” Eagles head coach Tim Kelly said. “We played a lot of defense and, if you give a team like Xaverian those chances, they’re going to put the ball away.”

SHIFT AND A SLIDE
Gardner wasn’t overly pleased with the Hawks offensive effort – citing too many unforced errors against the Eagles. However, Xaverian was able to cash in during crunch time in the face of a staunch BC High defense led by Duke commit Ian Yanulis.

“It’s all ball movement,” Gardner said. “But when you have unforced errors, it takes you out of your momentum. It’s hard to running against the guys that they have. It’s a good defense and a solid scheme. You just have to move the ball quicker. When we were able to keep possession, we were able to work for good shots.”

FAR FROM OVER
While the Hawks are perched atop the conference standings in the early going, Kelly – a longtime BC High assistant in his first year as head coach – believes the race is far from over.

“You know they’re always going to be tight, I’ve been around it enough to see it. We lost in overtime to [Catholic Memorial], we lose by two here. Three-and-oh is a lot of breathing room early in the season, but it’s a long way.

“You know things are going to tighten up because we play each other so well and so often.”

FRANKLIN, Mass. – The proceedings at the annual Super 8 hockey tournament seeding meeting are usually rife with drama.

While many teams remained on the bubble entering the final week of the season, this year’s meeting, held Saturday morning at MIAA headquarters in Franklin, went down with relatively little agitation.

Nine teams selected for the 10-team field flew through the initial vote (click HERE for full field), nominated with unanimous votes. Only Hingham had to sweat it out to the second round with a 6-1 vote in the first round.

Although the meeting went down swimmingly, here are a couple of thoughts from this morning and the look ahead:

BATTLE FOR SIX
In the Super 8 game, the magic number is six. At No. 6, you’re safe and don’t have to tread the win-or-go-home play-in games.

The No. 6 seed also provided the greatest debate on Saturday, with two Catholic Conference rivals battling head-to-head in the court of public opinion.

Catholic Memorial (12-5-2 for MIAA purposes, 3-5-0 Catholic Conference) and two-time defending tournament champion Malden Catholic (11-6-3, 1-5-2) were the two teams in question after St. John’s Prep, Springfield Cathedral, BC High, Austin Prep and Reading settled into the Top 5 seeds.

At that point, Knights head coach Bill Hanson and MC bench boss John McLean took to the stand to advocate for their teams. Both made compelling arguments.

Yet, went the issue went to a second vote, CM prevailed with a 4-3 decision, with the deciding vote casted by former Knights athletic director Jim O’Connor.

While the Lancers might have been the hottest team in the state during the final two weeks of the season, pitching shutouts in four of their final six tilts and a six-game winning streak, Hanson pointed to his team’s hot play of late.

“If we don’t win that game yesterday against Xaverian, that’s huge,” he said. “Then, we wouldn’t have finished in third [in the Catholic Conference], which I think contributed to us ending up where we did.”

Meanwhile, McLean took a different perspective, with the Lancers’ chance to parlay their momentum directly into postseason play.

“I want to play Monday,” said McLean, who guided the Lancers to their second Super 8 title in his first season behind the bench last year. “I want to keep going, so I’m OK with the decision. I don’t think sitting a week helps us. The kids are hot, they’re hungry.”

MC enters Monday night’s play-in game against Catholic Central Large champion Archbishop Williams (8 p.m., Stoneham Arena) as the No. 10 seed.

However, should the Lancers advance past the Bishops, they might just be the most dangerous team in the field.

“Do I think that’s our team that finished that way in the final six games? Yeah,” McLean said. “I think we became a team after Central Catholic [a 4-0 win]. I think they all figured out that they had to work. Nothing was going to be given to us.”

The Knights gaining the sixth seed also added another wrinkle to the Super 8’s first-round matchups. CM will face archrival BC High in the first round of the tournament, adding to the buzz.

When the tournament rules were adjusted to feature a best-of-three, Hockey East-style tournament for the first time this season, such a must-see TV appointment is another reason why the state’s premiere tournament just got that much better.

SECOND LIFE
On the flip side of the teams who are entering the tournament on a tear, there is the case of No. 9 seed Hingham.

The Harbormen, perennial Super 8 entrants, experienced three long bus rides from Falmouth last week, striking out in the ‘W’ column in three crucial games at the Cape Cod Classic. And, as a consequence, Hingham had to sit and wonder if they could still back into the 10-team field.

“The last several games we didn’t finish well,” Harbormen head coach Tony Messina said Saturday. “I think the kids were pressing. I think they were thinking that this is the game we make a statement, and the games kept going by, and it became frustrating.”

Hingham took its frustrations out against South Shore rival Marshfield in their season finale Friday in a 10-1 thrashing before anxiously awaiting their fate at the meeting.

However, things were fairly elementary for the Harbormen making the field. Even though they failed to gain entry on the preliminary nomination vote (there was one vote against Hingham), only two other teams were brought up for consideration at the table. Duxbury, which tied and then beat Hingham in a shootout on Cape Cod, went down in a 1-6 vote against. Bay State champion Braintree didn’t fare much better, with a 2-5 decision.

After no other teams were entered into consideration, Hingham was in.

“We almost have a second life here to show what we can do,” Messina said. “We had a great game against Marshfield yesterday, I guess the goals came a little bit late, but you could just sense a relief.”

Now, the Harbormen can refocus on what comes next.

“We’re looking forward to try to do something in the tournament,” Messina added. “The goal isn’t just to get here, it’s to win the games.”

Hingham plays DCL/MVC champion Central Catholic in the first play-in game in Stoneham on Monday. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

As advertised, here’s our final Super 8 hockey tournament 10-team projection ahead of Saturday morning's selection committee meeting.

Of course, we’d like to hear your input, and feel free to give us your 10-team field below in the Comments field or via Twitter (@espnbostonhs).

1. St. John’s Prep (17-2-1)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 2

Goal Differential: +63

Why they’re in this spot: Last time out, we slotted the Eagles behind No. 1 Springfield Cathedral. While the teams skated to a 1-1 tie last Saturday, Prep vastly outshot the Panthers, who needed a late third-period goal to come away with a point. Emerging from a 2-1 loss against Central Catholic on Dec. 26, the Catholic Conference champions have been a complete, balanced team deserving of the top billing.

2. Springfield Cathedral (16-1-4)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 1

Goal Differential: +69

Why they’re in this spot: The Panthers were ticketed for the top spot until the last week of the season. Is there a cause for concern that they dropped three of an available six points during the last week of the season? Well, it’s not time to hit the panic button, but perhaps they’ve lost some momentum. Or, perhaps not having to play to the burden of entering the tournament with an unbeaten record will help them in the long run.

3. Austin Prep (13-1-6)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 7

Goal Differential: +42

Why they’re in this spot: No team did more to bolster their resume in the season’s final week than the Cougars. AP claimed wins over fellow Super 8 hopefuls Hingham and BC High before walloping Falmouth 9-0 in the Cape Cod Classic championship game – a truly impressive display. The fact that they failed to claim the Catholic Central Large title cannot hurt them at this juncture.

4. BC High (13-3-3)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 3

Goal Differential: +28

Why they’re in this spot: Truth be told, the Eagles’ loss to AP on the Cape may have cost them the No. 3 seed. What’s more surprising was the manner in which BC High lost that tilt. A typically sound defensive squad was found running around some in the third period. They’ll be sure to tighten up for the playoffs, as they’ve been among the statewide leaders in GAA all year.

5. Reading (16-1-5)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 4

Goal Differential: +55

Why they’re in this spot: The Rockets move down a spot from the last projection, on an account of AP’s RPI boost from the Cape Cod Classic. That could actually help Reading in the fact that they played potential first-round opponent BC High during the regular season. While the Eagles skated away with a 2-0 victory in the teams’ Dec. 29 meeting, the fact that Rockets skated with them and have a familiarity with BC High’s style of play could improve their prospects at getting through in a three-game series.

6. Catholic Memorial (12-6-2)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 9

Goal Differential: +40

Why they’re in this spot: The Knights had a mid-season dry spell, but closed with authority with a trifecta of wins over Super 8 Watch List teams in the final week against Braintree, Central Catholic and Xaverian, improving their RPI standing and moving them out of the dreaded win-or-go-home play-in round. Most impressive of all was the Knights’ 4-3 win over Connecticut powerhouse Fairfield Prep in Bridgeport. It might not look as familiar to the committee voters as the aforementioned opponents, but it should be considered A-No. 1 of their marquee wins on the season.

(Play-in seeds, determined by team records):

7. Archbishop Williams (12-4-4)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 5

Goal Differential: +44

Why they’re in this spot: The Bishops move down into the play-in group on the heels of a performance on Cape Cod that wasn’t what they wanted, only to be deemed by a win over Hingham on the final day of their season – a must have. Archies still shows some lacking in the marquee win department (Chelmsford?), but are propelled by their CCL title and a gut-check win over the Harbormen on the most important day of the year.

8. Central Catholic (13-5-3)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 8

Goal Differential: +35

Why they’re in this spot: I believe the Raiders are free and clear as the DCL/MVC Division 1 champions. Count their emphatic wins over runner-up Chelmsford as their raison d'être. Still, the committee will have to get over a troubling lack of goal-scoring in the last week, when they scored just two goals in three games, as well as being shut out in back-to-back season-ending losses to rival Andover and Catholic Memorial.

9. Hingham (13-7-2)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 6

Goal Differential: +40

Why they’re in this spot: Let’s kick off this pick with a preamble.

I’m a devotee of the Showtime drama “Dexter”. For those of you who need an introduction, the main fulcrum on which the story of protagonist Dexter Morgan – a forensics examiner for Miami Metro homicide who is himself a serial killer – works is something he describes as his “Code.” To that notion, I’m going to go ahead and break my own “Code” while making this final bold selection for the Super 8 field. There is nothing that should lead me to pick the Harbormen ahead of their South Shore rivals from Duxbury. The Dragons hold advantages in all the key categories: record, RPI, goal differential and, perhaps most importantly, the marquee win category. Hingham’s stunning lack of a true marquee win against a Super 8-ready team is implausible. Meanwhile, Duxbury can point to an early win against Xaverian. But in truth, the teams are quite even; we witnessed as much in the Cape Cod Classic when the teams played to a 1-1 tie (in the eyes of the MIAA), although the Dragons claimed a victory in the shootout (for tournament purposes only).

So why Hingham? Well, like many of the passion plays told through the eyes of Dexter’s extreme form of Code of Hammurabi justice, I’m going with instinct, or what you might call gut feeling (for those who believe in such things). I’m ignoring what is logical and going with what I’ve witnessed. In not so many words, Hingham should be in. This pick isn’t who could be here, or who will be here – again, I’m breaking my self-imposed code. Perhaps I’m playing into history. After all, the Hingham hockey name carries weight, as does Duxbury for that matter. I think we’ve seen in recent years who the ghost of Super 8 Past can influence things at the table (Needham last year, anyone?). And so I’m breaking my code. I think that Saturday’s tournament selection meeting will play out with a Hingham vs. Duxbury quandary as its focal point – a la last year’s Marshfield vs. St. John’s (Shrewsbury) predicament.

The question now remains whether the selection committee will break its own “code.”

10. Malden Catholic (11-6-3)

Seeding in Version 1.0 Projection: 10

Goal Differential: +20

Why they’re in this spot: A tenth-seed in title only. You can make the case for the Lancers to move into the Top 6 after handing Springfield Cathedral its only loss of the season in their season finale. My take is coming from the perspective that a team’s entire resume should be considered. Also, points in the Catholic Conference should count for something, with Catholic Memorial finishing third in the league standings; I’m going to go with the Lancers as the final representative from the MIAA’s toughest hockey league. Of the teams that precede them in the play-in games, they’re the only shoo-in. Added benefit for hockey watcher’s everywhere: how about a Prep vs. MC first-round matchup in a three-game series? Not too shabby.

CANTON, Mass. -- A third-place finish in one of the toughest conferences in hockey today may see Catholic Memorial with a bye in the Super 8 next week.

The No. 7 Knights helped boost their post season stock and solidified the third-seed in the Catholic Conference with a season-ending 4-2 afternoon victory over No. 13 Xaverian at Canton SportsPlex.

“We are getting much more shot production from the defensemen, which is allowing the dirty goals,” Catholic Memorial head coach Bill Hanson said. “The last four games we needed to play well against real good teams to be considered for the Super 8. According to the criteria (of) who is playing well at the end, of strength of schedule, and other factors, we have more than met that.”

Two goals in the second period helped the Knights pull ahead for good on way to their fourth consecutive victory.

Catholic Memorial's Jack O'Hear used a 3-on-2 break to set up fellow senior Liam Coughlin at 6:03 in the second period for a 2-1 Knights' lead. Coughlin caught the back-pass above the face-off circle then finished with a low bullet to the right post for the tally at 6:03 of the second period.

Eight minutes later, O'Hear picked up his second helper of the game, slipping a shot under the keeper. Kevin Hock was there to bang the puck home for a two-goal CM advantage.

“I took it wide and Liam [Coughlin] did a nice job of [moving] into the slot,” O'Hear said of his first assist. “The second assist was a loose puck and I threw it towards the net. Getting pucks to the net and having guys drive wide.”

Xaverian (8-7-5, 1-5-2) threatened late when Tim Sweeney (1 G, 1 A) threw the puck across the crease for Jake Farrell at the 12-minute mark of the third to cut the deficit to one.

“Two to three guys on the puck,” Xaverian head coach David Spinale said. “[You to make] them have to fish one out then take it to the net.”

“I knew Jake [Farrell] is always out front, so I just spun a little and got it out front,” Sweeney added.

Knights senior John Maher grabbed a neutral-zone steal and tapped in an open-net tally to seal the game with 1:09 remaining.

“We play with a lot of energy,” Hanson said. “We had five or six kids who scored in double figures for us [this season]."

Xaverian came out strong by forcing six of their first seven shots-on-target, but allowed the initial score at 4:09 in the first period. CM senior Dennis Medeiros ripped a screened slap shot into the four-hole for a 1-0 lead.

Sweeney caught the goalie offset on the equalizer, when a shot by freshman teammate Jon Beniers rolled over the keeper's shoulder and onto Sweeney's stick at 1:56 in the first.

“Timmy [Sweeney], Jon [Beniers] and Jake [Farrell] that was our best line today," Spinale added.

CM (12-6-2,3-5) controlled possession in the second period with a 15-7 shots-on-goal advantage. Knights freshman goalie Brandon Collett made 26 saves, while his opponent, junior Matt Michals, knocked away 25 shots.

“The difference between this year and last year, Number One is the goaltending,” Hanson commented on Collett. “A goal gets scored on him [and] he does not let it bother him. He learns from his mistakes.”

As advertised, here’s our initial Super 8 hockey tournament, 10-team projection.

We still have a pivotal week ahead for the teams looking to qualify, including some must-see holiday week tournaments, so there could be plenty of movement on this list.

We’ll have Version 2.0 to you next Friday, following the completion of the remaining games of note and before Saturday’s Super 8 selection committee meetings.

Of course, we’d like to hear your input, and feel free to give us your 10-team field below in the Comments field or via Twitter (@espnbostonhs).

1. Springfield Cathedral (15-0-3)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 1

Why they’re in: No matter what happens this weekend and at their host holiday tournament next week, carrying an undefeated record into final week of the season and playing a schedule that includes nearly all the teams that will be mentioned in this piece there’s no question about the Panthers’ resume. The question is where they’ll end up and it most assuredly will be in the top six.

Why they’re in this spot: For now, they hold the poll position as the lone Super 8 Watch List team without a loss to date. But Saturday’s test against No. 2 St. John’s Prep will open the debate.

2. St. John’s Prep (15-2-0)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 2

Why they’re in: The Eagles captured their first Catholic Conference championship since 1994, going 7-1-0 in the state’s elite league, so they’re a shoo-in. They are perhaps the state’s deepest team from the goal out.

Why they’re in this spot: Prep has been perhaps the state’s most consistent team and enters Saturday’s pivotal matchup at Cathedral with a 10-game winning streak in tow. The No. 1 spot is in sight.

3. BC High (11-2-3)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 3

Why they’re in: The Catholic Conference runners-up led the state in RPI ranking in terms of strength of schedule with their only losses of the season coming against the two aforementioned teams.

Why they’re in this spot: Again, there’s nobody ahead of them that hasn’t beat them and there’s nobody behind them they haven’t beat.

4. Reading (14-1-5)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 4

Why they’re in: The Rockets claimed the Middlesex Liberty (Large) Division title, compiling one of the state’s best goals scored to goals allowed ratio (77-25). While Reading’s strength of schedule might not compare to some of the parochial schools making this list, as the top team in the state’s best public school conference, that’s reason enough for automatic entry into The 8.

Why they’re in this spot: The Rockets skated with No. 3 BC High (a 2-0 loss at UMass-Boston) in a competitive December game. That’s why they should be right there with them in seeding. However, they do have some unfinished business with a Middlesex League matchup against fellow Watch List team Wilmington.

5. Archbishop Williams (11-2-4)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 9

Why they’re in: The Bishops earned the Catholic Central Large championship with Wednesday’s 4-4 tie against Austin Prep, their first outright league title since 1997. While Archies (7-0-3 in CCL) claimed the title over AP (6-0-4) by just one point, laying claim to the title all but assures the Bishops a seat at the Super 8 table.

Why they’re in this spot: The Bishops have just one “quality win” over a fellow Super 8 watch list opponent (Barnstable on Jan. 9), so putting them much higher than here would be a stretch. However, Archies will have at least one shot at another Watch List-er at the Cape Cod Classic this week. A victory in such a game should all but do it for the Bishops.

6. Hingham (12-5-1)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 6

Why they’re in: Because we couldn’t feasibly have Super 8 tournament without the Harbormen, right? On this week’s podcast (LISTEN HERE), Bruce Lerch and I discussed Hingham’s troubling lack of a marquee win to date. I think the Harbormen will emerge with at least one of those in the upcoming Cape Cod Classic. But, even still, going it alone, playing as an independent, Hingham takes on all the best the state (and other states) have to offer. They’re in; it’s just a matter of where.

Why they’re in this spot: Again, the lack of a marquee win prohibits them from moving much higher than here (at least for now), but again, I’d like to see at least one quality win from the Harbormen in the final week to feel safe about this pick.

(Play-in seeds, determined by team records):

7. Austin Prep (10-1-6)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 5

Why they’re in: A 2-2 tie against Matignon last week cost the Cougars a share of the CCL title, and it could cost them a top-six spot. I still believe the Cougars will carry a second CCL selection into the tournament. After all, it would be mighty hard to shut out a team with one loss on the season. Yet again, I’d group AP in with the teams that would be greatly advantaged by a win in Falmouth in the final week because they’re just a tad shy (to date) in the marquee win category.

8. Central Catholic (13-3-3)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 10

Why they’re in: The DCL/MVC champions (11-0-0 in league play) will almost assuredly be the conference’s lone representative, having swept the season series from fellow Watch List-er and league rival Chelmsford. While it happened at the beginning of the season, the Raiders hold one of the more impressive wins on their resume of all Super 8-considered teams – a 2-1 victory over St. John’s Prep in December. Still, there will be many sets of eyes on Central’s Monday matinee matchup with Catholic Memorial at Walter Brown.

9. Catholic Memorial (8-6-2)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 7

Why they’re in: Once again, the Knights find themselves near the end of their schedule and haven’t yet clinched a postseason tournament berth. I think that will occur early next week, but CM would be woe to head into Friday’s Catholic Conference finale with Xaverian having not done so. Again, as it has been in the last two seasons when the Knights have failed to qualify, if they qualify, they’re in. Yet, CM would do well to run the table in its remaining four games against fellow Watch List-ers Braintree, Central Catholic and Xaverian, in addition to Connecticut power Fairfield Prep.

10. Malden Catholic (8-6-3)

Current ESPN Boston Top 25 ranking: 8

Why they’re in: As in CM’s circumstance, if the Lancers qualify, they’re in. The two-time defending Super 8 champions have been hovering around .500 for most of the season and fighting for their playoff lives. Last week’s emphatic 4-0 win over Central Catholic was a huge shot in the arm. But again, the Lancers are looking at winning out (remaining schedule: Mount St. Charles, St. Mary’s of Lynn, and Springfield Cathedral/ Needham at Cathedral tournament) as their best chance at making it in. Just imagine the disgust of a potential No. 1 seed that could be staring at an opening-round, three-game series against this group. No thanks.

WILMINGTON, Mass. -- Jimmy Currier had scored but one goal all season for St. John's Prep entering Saturday's Catholic Conference showdown with league-leading BC High.

It's safe to say Currier is officially "off the schneide."

The junior delivered a pair of highlight reel goals in the second period, one to tie the game, the other serving as the eventual game-winner as the third-ranked Prep claimed a 3-2 victory over No. 2 BC High at in the Fifth Annual 1st Lt. Derek Hines Memorial Game at Ristuccia Arena.

"Jimmy's capable of that and we've felt that way all year," praised Prep coach Kristian Hanson. "He's a really talented offensive player. I see it in practice and sometimes it takes one out there to give a kid confidence to go out and do it again. After he got that first one today, you could see it in him - he was confident handling the puck. It was a beautiful shot on that third goal. Jimmy had a great offensive day today."

The victory pulls the Prep (11-2-0 overall; 5-1-0 CC) into a tie with BC High (9-2-2; 4-1-2) atop the league standings with ten points apiece with a game in hand. Thanks to Malden Catholic's 4-3 victory over Catholic Memorial Saturday evening, St. John's can clinch its first league title since 1994 outright with wins over the Knights and Xaverian next week.

Currier's work on both tallies was a thing of beauty. Just one minute after BC High took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Tom Besinger, Currier went end-to-end, weaving around a pair of defenders like pylons before switching back to his forehand just in time to stuff the puck inside the far post at 6:12.

"When I was coming down, I had my feet moving a lot and after I cut to the middle I saw [linemate Andrew] Brandano and I was like, 'I should have gave it to him' and I just ended up going around him and putting it in," Currier described.

Just under five minutes later, Currier found himself with the puck in the right wing corner deep in the BC High zone. He floated out high and left, all the way over the top of the circle and fired a wrist shot through traffic back to the right side to give his club a 3-2 lead it would not relinquish.

"When I come out of the corner there it brings up so many options," the junior recalled. "I was coming across, moving left to right and the goalie was moving left to right. I just shot it far side and he didn't see the shot because there was a screen in front."

The Prep scored the game's first goal in equally spectacular fashion. Sprung loose up the right wing by one of his defensemen, Cam Shaheen worked his through the BC High zone, pushed the puck between the skates of his defender, then whirled around him and fired a wrist shot while dropping to one knee at 6:49 of the first.

BC High responded just over two minutes later as freshman defenseman Ryan Shea unleashed a rocket from the point for a power-play marker. BC High grabbed its first lead at 5:12 of the second when Besinger swooped in and buried the rebound of a shot by Sam Topham.

"They are a very good team and we knew that coming in and we skated with them," BC High head coach John Flaherty said. "They're a junior-senior team and they are very good. Brian Pinho, Jack McCarthy, Tyler Bird - those kids are as good as any kid around."

"You know they're coming at you and you know you've got to hang in there for the ride," he continued. "The fact that we skated with them for three periods and we were able to hang around and almost have a chance to tie the game at the end, that's a positive. It's an emotional game for them. A tribute to one of their all-time good players at St. John's Prep so its an emotional game for them. We knew that coming in and I'm proud of my guys for hanging in there for three periods and giving ourselves a chance at the end."

BOSTON -- No. 2 BC High had plenty ahead of it entering Wednesday night’s Catholic Conference duel with No. 17 Xaverian. Aside from keeping pace in league play, the Eagles had the opportunity to wrap up an early tournament berth

The Eagles did all of the above while remaining unbeaten in the Catholic Conference with a 4-2 win over the Hawks at UMass-Boston.

“It was a qualifying game for us so we wanted to win it, plus it’s a big two points for us in the Conference,” BC High head coach John Flaherty said. “You have to take those opportunities when they come.”

The Eagles (9-1-2, 4-0-2) reestablished a two-point lead over St. John’s Prep atop the Conference standings, leading into Saturday’s duel at Ristuccia Arena.

But BC High had its hands full with the physical Hawks (4-5-3, 0-3-2), who jumped out to 1-0 first period lead on Brian Cahalane’s power-play goal at 12:06. Cahalane cut across the goal line to stuff in backhander to the short side of Eagles goaltender Peter Cronin.

However, BC High struck for the equalizer before the period was out. Seconds after an Eagles power play expired, Chris LaLiberte wristed home a shot with 29 seconds remaining in the period, with assists from Michael Brooks and John Stillman.

Neither team was able to generate much offense in the second period, despite sharing three power-play opportunities. The Eagles held a slim 14-9 lead in shots on goal through 30 minutes.

BC High claimed its first lead of the game at 7:11 of the third period with Brooks tallying his second point of the game, sneaking one past Matt Michals (19 saves) off a broken play.

Xaverian fired back less than a minute later with its second power play goal of the game. Eddie Pratt blasted a slap shot, working the blue line on the man-up unit, from the point off a feed from Jake Farrell.

The momentum shifted back to the Eagles moments later when Pat Kramer scored what would prove to be the game-winner at 9:34. Kramer’s wristshot from the right wing circle was set up by an expert drop pass from Eagles junior captain Tom Besinger.

“[Besinger] is able to draw attention to himself and when Pat [Kramer] saw that, he put himself in position to receive a pass,” Flaherty said.

BC High closed out the victory with Brooks tallying his second goal of the game and third point of the contest with an empty-netter.

COMMITMENT TO D
Despite having nothing to show for it in the standings, the Hawks were effective on specialty teams, going 2-for-5 on the power play and shutting out BC High on four power play chances.

In addition to their keen defense on the man-down, Xaverian was consistently able to bottle up the Eagles coming through the neutral zone. It limited BC High’s scoring chances, particularly in the first two periods, and helped to bog down the Eagles’ fleet-footed forwards.

“We’ve been trying to clog the middle up a little bit more,” Hawks head coach Dave Spinale said. “You have [the first forward] take the pass away, then the [second and third forward] fill the middle and try to make them go cross-ice instead of up the middle. I thought we were pretty effective there and that’s a big part of their game.”

DEAD AHEAD
The Eagles could control their own destiny, in terms of claiming the Catholic Conference title, if they can sweep the season series from Prep on Saturday.

It’s one of the goals BC High’s leaders set at the start of the season.

“We set a goal to win the Catholic Conference,” said Brooks, a senior captain. “We haven’t won it, but it’s another step closer. This is the earliest we’ve ever qualified [for the tournament] and that’s a good feeling. I’ve been here four years, so it’s a good feeling.”

MALDEN, Mass. – When hockey coaches talk about rolling four lines, there’s usually an assigned order that comes with such a statement. The top six forwards are called upon to score, and the third and fourth lines are supposed to bring the grit and, at times, shoulder the responsibilities of shutting down the other team’s top offensive threats.

Yet, St. John’s Prep head coach Kristian Hanson views his four lines not as ranked No. 1 through No. 4. Instead, they bear colors. The Eagles’ “Green Line” of Paul Crehan, Justin Longo and Cam Shaheen might not be viewed as Prep’s top offensive line by opposing teams, but they were the difference in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Catholic Conference rival Malden Catholic.

“The Green Line played really well for us tonight, that’s the line of [Justin] Longo, [Paul] Crehan and [Cam] Shaheen, they were possibly our best offensive line through the first couple of periods. Obviously, Paul getting that goal in the third period was really big for us.”

Crehan scored what proved to the game-winning goal, igniting a three-goal outburst in the third period.

The teams skated 2-2 after two periods, but the Eagles (10-2-0, 4-1-0) ran out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring on two of their first three shots on goal.

Despite the early deficit, MC (4-5-3, 0-4-2) controlled the possession game in the first period, outshooting Prep, 12-5. Eagles goaltender Billy Price stood tall in face of the Lancers’ first period onslaught, highlighted by a string of three straight point-blank chances on the power play.

Derek Osbahr had Prep to a 1-0 lead at 1:53 of the first, scoring on a partial breakaway. It was the Eagles’ first shot on goal. Shaheen increased the lead to two goals at the 12-minute mark of the first, breaking in off the left wing and going stickside with the wrist shot.

The Lancers rallied to draw even, scoring their first in the final minute of the first on Ara Nazarian’s power play goal and then on Matt Filipe’s equalizer at 11:12 of the second.

“It’s always a big game when we play MC,” Shaheen said. “We’ve had such a big rivalry with them the last three years we’ve played them. We know they’re a third-period team, so we said in the locker room, before we came out … We needed to be the team that stepped up and made plays in the third period. That’s what we did. We made big plays and that’s why we won the game.”

Crehan gave Prep the lead for good, knocking in a rebound while driving the net, scoring on the backhand while going tumbling into the end wall.

Tyler Bird closed out the victory two goals later in the third, his first coming on a tip attempt on the power play.

The Lancers earned two misconduct penalties in the game’s final minutes, including a game misconduct.

GOING THE DISTANCE
With Tuesday’s victory, Prep tied BC High atop the Catholic Conference standings with their eighth point. BC High is in action again Wednesday night against Xaverian and Saturday’s featured bout is the second round of Eagles vs. Eagles.

“Every point is important,” Hanson said. “Whether it’s Malden Catholic, or Xaverian, whatever team it is you have to bring your best effort.”

The Eagles know what’s ahead of them, and they’ll need to bring their best effort to erase a 2-0 loss to BC High on Jan. 9. But Prep also has the goal of winning its first Catholic Conference title since 1994 on the horizon.

“We have a lot of seniors on this team, we all have the same goals,” Shaheen said. “We want to make it far as we can in the playoffs and we’re on the road right now. We just want to make it to our best potential.”

BOSTON – Expect the unexpected.

When a rivalry game of the gravitas of a BC High versus Catholic Memorial hockey occurs, all bets are off.

“With BC High and CM, conventional wisdom goes out the window,” Eagles head coach John Flaherty said after Wednesday night’s Catholic Conference duel at UMass-Boston. “You can prepare all you want and something goes differently.”

So why should anyone have been surprised when the Clark Center’s Zamboni ran out of water mid-scrape, causing about a 15-minute delay between the first and second periods.

When the teams finally returned, No. 2 BC High nearly melted the ice, using a four-goal outburst in the second in a string of five straight goals in a 5-1 win over the No. 4 Knights.

CM (8-3-0, 2-2-0 Catholic Conference) jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 11 seconds in on an Aaron Clancy’s seventh goal of the season.

The lead would be short-lived as the Eagles (7-1-2, 2-0-2) tied the game less than a minute later on Tim Larocque’s first of two goals on the evening.

The teams retired to their rooms tied after the first, but the second would be much different.

“[Flaherty] said we needed to just keep on being physical and get everything to the net,” Larocque said. “We came out flying and we were able to get some lucky bounces.”

The Eagles outshot CM 14-7 in the second period, in addition to outhustling and outhchecking the Knights while wining just about every one-on-one battle there was to be in the stanza.

Michael Brooks broke the stalemate at 4:21 of the second. It was the first of two BC High goals within a minute, 13-second span, including Jake Lemanski’s boomer of a Tom Besinger offensive zone face-off win. The Eagles notched their fourth short-handed as Steve DeForge broke in after a neutral zone turnover.

Larocque capped scoring with his second of the game with an assist from Connor Noonan at 12:41 of the second.

“Noonan was skating in and he lost it,” Larocque said. “I happened to be right behind him and I took a took a quick shot and saw it go in.”

The pressure applied by the Eagles in the second was simply unrelenting.

“Every one of their goals, they forced the issue,” Knights head coach Bill Hanson said. “It was a mistake forced by them with aggressive play. Nonetheless, you can’t make mistakes when they’re going after you.”

A SILENT CONTRIBUTION
It’s not often that perhaps the most dominant player on the ice doesn’t figure prominently on the scoresheet.

Besinger, the Eagles’ junior captain and center, was downright dominant taking the draws against CM’s top pivots. He also showcased his speed and shiftiness in a flurry of scoring chances at the tail end of the second period. In both instances, with less than two minutes to play, Besinger turned transition into quality scoring chances.

Even though both of those opportunities went by the boards, his efforts were not lost on his coach.

“Tommy Besinger wasn’t on the scoring sheet other than that assist tonight, but he owned the faceoff circle tonight,” Flaherty said. “He was beating, in my mind, two very, very good centers in Liam Coughlin and Jacky O’Hear.”

He continued, “The little things he does translates into victory today.”

THE FLIP SIDE
While there wasn’t much to like about the Knights’ efforts in the second period, Hanson put a positive spin on things after his team endured perhaps its toughest stretch of the season.

During the last two-plus weeks, the Knights have played a string of five straight ESPN Boston Top 25 ranked teams, including four tilts against each of their Catholic Conference opponents and a Super 8-caliber challenge against Hingham.

“I look at it like this,” Hanson said. “It’s been a tough five-game stretch, we’re two and two in the league and we got six out of 10 points against five real good teams. So that’s what we take out of it.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With only three seconds remaining in the second period, St. John’s Prep senior forward Brian Pinho pounced on a Xaverian turnover and wristed a shot under the crossbar that broke open a game that, at least on the scoreboard, was still close.

That goal gave Prep a 3-0 lead heading into the final period and clearly deflated the Hawks, which had hoped to go into the third still within a couple of goals.

“To give that one up with three seconds was a real poor mistake that we made,” Xaverian head coach Dave Spinale said. “That gave them that life and it deflated us a little. That’s something we have to correct down the road.”

He added, “We come out and make it 2-1 and it’s a whole new ballgame. We hurt ourselves tonight.”

The goal was the first of two for Pinho, who had a hand in each of the Eagles’ tallies in a 5-0 rout of their Catholic Conference rival on Wednesday night at the Foxborough Sports Center. Pinho finished the game with two goals and three assists.

Xaverian (4-4-2, 0-2-2 Catholic Conference) just could not contain Prep’s captain.

“Brian, in my opinion, you could argue is the best player in the state,” said Eagles coach Kristian Hanson. “It’s not all about goal-scoring. He creates opportunities for other guys, he draws a lot of attention to himself, he can dish the puck, he can play defense…we utilize him in every aspect of the game.”

No. 3 Prep (8-2-0, 3-1-0) dominated the action from the opening whistle. Junior forward Jack McCarthy scored a power play goal just 2:30 into the game to give the Eagles an early lead and Xaverian spent much of the opening 15 minutes defending deep in their own zone. The Hawks were back on their heels and made a number of blocks and deflections to protect goalie Matt Michaels (19 saves).

Hanson felt his team was fully prepared for the game and, despite a long bus ride to Foxboro, was the team with the most energy to start the game.

“We definitely looked like we were prepared to play tonight,” Hanson said. “We talked about the game a lot the past couple of days. We know that Xaverian is the type of team that can beat anyone. It’s always tough to get on the bus and come down to Foxborough, so we’re pleased with the final result.”

The second period was more even with both teams struggling to create clear-cut scoring opportunities. The best chance for Xaverian was created by junior forward Brian Cahalane. He slid the puck through the crease while falling towards the boards and it caromed off the skate of a Prep defender and agonizingly wide of the far post.

With 3:11 remaining in the second period, Pinho fired a defense splitting pass across two lines and hit Nic Gianelli in stride. The senior drove at Michaels and finished with a backhand that slipped through the 5-hole to make it 2-0.

Spinale was not impressed with his team’s effort in an important conference game and was blunt about what he thought of the performance.

“I thought we were unfortunately flat all night,” he remarked. “That’s probably our worst effort of the year and it came at a bad time. They were better in all three zones. They were faster, more skilled, they were just better all the way around.”

The Hawks had an opportunity on the power play early in the third period, which might have gotten them back in the game. Instead, Prep turned it into a goal of its own when Gianelli returned the favor with a quick outlet pass to Pinho, who held off the defender and dragged the puck across goal to score.

Gianelli and Pinho combined to set up linemate Andrew Brandano with little more than four minutes remaining in the game to complete the scoring. Prep goalie Billy Price (20 saves) kept out a late Hawks flurry for the shutout.

Prep will face No. 6 Austin Prep in Stoneham on Saturday night, while Xaverian travels to face No. 18 Chelmsford on Monday.

 

Editor Scott Barboza was once again joined by correspondent Bruce Lerch for another hockey edition of the ESPN Boston High Schools podcast.

They were also joined by St. John's Prep head coach Kristian Hanson, who broke down the Catholic Conference and the Eagles' momentous win over former No. 1 Malden Catholic last weekend. There was also a discussion of whether a Div. 2 squad -- a la Beverly or Wilmington -- could have a seat at the Super 8 table this season and

BOSTON — After being outplayed in the first period, St. John’s Prep took control of the game and rallied its way past Catholic Memorial in a potential Super 8 match preview, 4-1, Saturday at Walter Brown Arena.

St. John’s Prep (6-2-0, 2-1-0 Catholic Conference) couldn’t buy a scoring chance in the first as Catholic Memorial and Liam Coughlin made easy work of the Eagles. Coughlin led the first period charge for the Knights as he gave Catholic Memorial the early, 1-0 lead. The Knights outshout St. John’s Prep by an 8-1 margin during the first period.

“We only generated one shot in the first period, and [our struggles] kind of carried over from Wednesday against BC High,” St. John’s Prep head coach Kristian Hanson said.”

Luckily for the Eagles, their goalie, Billy Price (29 saves) was doing his best impression of Tim Thomas; Price tries to model his own play after the former Vezina Trophy winner.

“Billy has been playing well all year, and he played well tonight,” Hanson said. “He did a great job keeping his composure, especially late in the game because they put a ton of pressure on him.”

St. John’s was outshot, 30-19, but the Eagles were able to keep Catholic Memorial on the perimeter and outside on most of their shot attempts.

“Our defense this season has been great,” Prep defenseman Ean Mendeszoon said. “We are always getting pucks away from net and blocking shots. We’re just doing our job and that’s not really too much. We also try to keep our opponents to the outside and perimeter so they can’t get good quality chances down low.”

In the second period, Prep came to life in all aspects of the game. Coughlin was not getting the looks he was in the first as the Eagles keyed in on the Knights' star scorer.

“Catholic Memorial is a very talented team with kids like Coughlin on it,” Hanson said. “We are paying attention to whom their [top] players are, so that we can limit their opportunities.”

St. John’s finally broke through late in the second period as Nic Gianelli flipped a backhander by Catholic Memorial goalie, Brandon Collett (15 saves), on a breakaway.

Before the end of the period, the Eagles were able to take the lead as Justin Longo rifled a rebound shot to the back of the net with Collett down and out.

“The rebound just came right over to me, and I got a little lucky because I just was able to put it in.”

In the third, it only took 13 seconds for Andrew Brandano to bang home a rebound goal, which came off of a two-on-one rush with Tyler Bird.

With 2:59 remaining in the third, Catholic Memorial (8-2-0, 2-1-0) went to the power play with Gianelli in the sin bin. Unfortunately for the Knights, Price stood tall, and the St. John’s penalty kill never let the Knights get a quality opportunity.

“Our guys did an excellent job tonight by getting in the shooting lanes, forcing them to the perimeter, and preventing the back door chance,” Hanson said.

Catholic Memorial was not done making a last minute push though as Collett sprinted to the bench for an extra attacker. The Knights were looking for their fourth comeback win of the season.

“We have been behind a number of games this year, and have been able to come back,” CM head coach Bill Hanson said.

The Knights had some late pressure on Price, but once again the St. John’s net-minder was not giving in. Price turned away several shots from in the slot and through traffic before Bird iced the game with an empty netter.

BOSTON -- A popular phrase around the high school hockey barns this winter has been 'compete level' and it's been applied to both teams and individuals.

Wednesday night, BC High junior captain Tom Besinger earned the tag. Despite routinely drawing the attention of opposing defensive gameplans, Besinger came up with a number of hustle plays that helped set up a 2-0 victory for the top-ranked Eagles (6-0-2) over No. 4 St. John's Prep (5-2-0) at Clark Athletic Center.

Five minutes into the second period, freshman defenseman Billy Roche chipped the puck off the side boards to Besinger, who stretched far enough to get to it before a pair of Prep skaters could beat him to it. He got just enough on it to poke it forward to teammate Patrick Kramer, who corralled the puck with one hand on his stick, split a pair of blue-liners and managed to push the puck through to the stick side of Prep goalie Billy Price.

"Tommy made a good play, he brought it over the blue line and it just bounced," Kramer said. "I kept my feet moving, it was a good bounce, goal. It was a good play by Tommy to get the puck over the line."

Then with 4:05 left in the middle frame, Roche disrupted a clearing attempt at center ice. Besinger changed direction quickly and danced around one defender to get the puck, then took a pair of short strides before slipping it through a pair of sticks to Jake Lemanski for a quick wrist shot through another defender to the short side.

"Tommy gets attacked, he gets draped on and his compete level is second to none," praised BC High head coach John Flaherty. "As I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, he may not be the biggest kid on the ice but he competes as hard as anybody. He had a couple guys draped on him and he still kept his feet moving and made a nice pass to Jake Lemanski who didn’t hesitate and just put it right back by him. That was a nice job by Tommy and a nice job by Jake to keep his stick on the ice and fire it."

For his part, Besinger intimated that he was just sticking with the team's game plan.

"We were just attacking the zone with speed," he explained. "We got a lot of pucks in deep and we were finding guys back door and we were just trying to get behind their defense and work the puck in along their goal line because we knew we could beat them back door and try to get shots from the slot."

A KNACK FOR THE NET
Besinger was marked in the preseason by most observers as the player to watch, and he has more than done his part, leading the Eagles with 2-9-11 totals. What may come as something of a surprise is the player who leads the state's number one team in goal scoring.

Just a sophomore, Kramer's second-period tally was his team-leading sixth of the season. And a lot of them are the "dirty goals" that coaches love because they come from right around the crease.

"He’s putting pucks away for us, Flaherty said of Kramer. "He competes hard, he’s a big body and I think all of his goals have come right from where that one was, all around the net. He has a nice knack for when he gets in that circle around the net, he puts pucks away."

YOUNG DEFENSE MAKING STRIDES
Among the six defensemen listed on the BC High roster, there are two juniors, a sophomore and three freshmen. While having an elite goaltender such as Peter Cronin (20-save shutout against the Prep) backing them certainly helps, this young blue line corps continues to make positive strides.

"We’re young on the blue line and those guys are getting better every day," Flaherty said. "I think they’ve improved and I think today was another big step forward. [St. John's Prep's] Brian Pinho can fly. He's a legit division one college player, his future is very bright so for our defensemen to at least make his life a little difficult is a big step forward to us. He’s scary when he touches the puck and he can make things happen so we did a pretty good job of at least limiting some of his chances."

STUCK IN NEUTRAL
Coming off a big victory against Malden Catholic last Saturday, you could almost excuse St. John's Prep for suffering something of a letdown last night.

The Eagles struggled to put passes together and struggled to find quality scoring chances through the first 30 minutes of play. Even in the third, when SJP finally began to control the tempo somewhat, they still seemed unable to get themselves into any kind of groove despite outshooting their counterparts.

"There was no flow. We just looked out of sorts the entire night and couldn't get anything going," Prep coach Kristian Hanson admitted. "Systematically we were off. It just seemed like we were fighting every stride that we took tonight, like we were skating in quicksand."

"Scoring opportunity-wise we had some but we didn't do anything outstanding tonight where I felt we had our chances and just couldn't put anything away," Hanson continued. "That's our fault. We just did not play well. Those things happen. We’ve got a good group of kids in there and we’ve had a pretty good year up to this point so we’ll hope to turn things around on Saturday."

MALDEN, Mass. – Things couldn’t be anymore different for Catholic Memorial hockey this season. After missing out on the postseason for a second straight season in 2012, the No. 2 Knights left their bad habits behind.

For example, the early two-goal deficit CM faced in Tuesday night’s Catholic Conference game against No. 5 Malden Catholic would’ve been enough to bury the Knights in previous seasons. That’s mainly because CM struggled to score goals during that time.

That is no longer the case and the Knights flexed their offensive muscle, pulling away in the third period for a 7-4 win over the Lancers.

“This team, last year and the year before, once we were down two goals, it would’ve been game over,” Knight head coach Bill Hanson said. “We got that first goal and the tying goal and, like I’ve said before, they have no fear. They’re not cocky, they’re not arrogant, they just really focus on doing their job. They’re wonderful to coach.”

CM (8-1-0, 2-0-0 Catholic Conference) found itself in a 2-0 hole within the first five minutes of play after goals from Ara Nazarian and Pat Wrenn.

Two minutes later, the Knights began their ascent with a goal from Beau Starrett. And CM would tie it up before the first intermission with its first of four goals (4-for-6) on the power play.

The goal was also the first of four goals from freshman Kevin Hock. The winger scored the next two CM goals for the hat trick and again drew the Knights even at 4-4 at 11:52 of the second period. Hock later added his fourth of the game – the Knights’ sixth – in the third period, also a power-play goal.

Hock was the beneficiary from the continued All-State-caliber effort of center Liam Coughlin.

Coughlin — who capped the Knights’ victory with a goal, his 20th in nine games—continued his otherworldly play with a five-point game, picking up assists on each of Hock’s tallies.

CM senior defenseman Dennis Medeiros also had a strong game, adding three assists.

Not to be overshadowed, Lancers captain Mike Iovanna also put in a four-point game, scoring MC’s third goal in addition to dishing out three assists and setting up each of Nazarian’s two goals.

The difference proved to be CM’s potent man-up unit, however, torching the Lancers’ penalty kill for four goals, including the eventual game-winner, scored by senior defenseman Sean Heelan before the second period was out.

“[MC] took a lot of penalties in their last couple of games, so we knew coming into this game that they’d take a lot of penalties and we had to bury and finish our opportunities,” Hock said. “Coach [Hanson] designed the power play yesterday and it worked out well today.”

IRON IS HOT
Coughlin’s early season scoring bonanza has raised the tide across the Knights’ ranks.

For a team that struggled to score big goals during the last couple of seasons, CM has been downright prodigious in the first half of the 2012-13 season, averaging more than five goals a game.

“It’s awesome,” Coughlin said. “Last year, we had 39 goals and I think we have more than that now, way more. It’s awesome. The team’s happier, Coach is happier. I think that’s why we’re playing so well, we want it more.”

A-GAME
With 31 points through nine games, Coughlin has emerged as a serious Mr. Hockey Award contender. And while his hot hand has been appreciated, Hanson heaped even more praise on his senior captain after Tuesday’s victory for his unselfish approach to the game.

“I thought Liam had his best game of the year tonight,” Hanson said of Coughlin. “He was on the puck, he was pressing the issue, creating a lot of space and it works hand-in-hand with Kevin’s goals.”

GAME-CHANGER
With so many snipes at either end of the ice sheet, it wasn’t a great night to be in net overall. But Knights freshman goaltender Brandon Collett continued to make his presence felt in a big way in the pivotal third period.

While CM clung to a one-goal lead, MC (3-2-2, 0-2-1) completed its first successful penalty kill early in the third period after a Casey Fitzgerald penalty. As Fitzgerald finished his time in the bin, he flew out the door and snuck behind the Knights defense for a breakaway chance in on Collett. The ice-cool first-year goaltender made a stop on Fitzgerald’s wristshot bid and then made a second stop, with the Boston College commit trying to go upstairs on the backhand.

After Collett’s momentum-shifting stop, CM scored on its next power play chance and shut out the Lancers’ vaunted offense.

“The thing that changed the whole game is when Fitzgerald went down and our freshman [Collett] stoned him, twice,” Hanson said. “If they score on that play, it’s a whole different ballgame.”