By Alex Grondin '22 and Jason Stellakis ‘23
It was a low-scoring affair when the St. John's Prep Eagles faced off against the Eagles of Boston College High in the MIAA Division I State Semifinals for ice hockey. Both student sections were packed and exchanged plenty of "Let's go Eagles!" chants. After the puck was dropped, it got off to a physical and offensively dull game. The Prep ended the period with 10 shots on net and the BCH Eagles finished with six.
Heading into the second period, intensity was high and the crowds remained loud. BC High dominated this period by controlling possession and having much more time in the offensive zone. They were rewarded for their hard work, as just about six minutes into the period, BC High netted a greasy one as Payton Palladino could not find the loose puck. The period ended 1-0 in favor of BC High and both teams exchanged shots on net with four a piece.
The third was do or die for the Prep, and especially the seniors. The period went by at lightning speed and before you knew it, the fans were questioning when the Prep netminder Payton Palladino would be pulled. Both teams could not string many passes together and their offense was lack-luster. Around 1:10 left, Palladino got the nod from head coachoach Kristian Hanson and skated to the Prep bench. This set up the Prep for a 6-on-5, which was the only man-advantage they got, considering BC High committed no penalties according to the refs. Despite the fact that BC High had not allowed a goal in eight periods—it was close to nineit was Aidan Holland who was able to find the equalizer and end the streak. When Alex spoke with Holland after the game about the goal and how it went in, Holland said, "I just got the puck, and at the end of the game I had to put it on net, and it found its way in." With under 50 seconds left the Prep finally found the goal they had been searching for. Regulation was over and the score was 1-1. This meant overtime.
When Alex spoke with Holland after the game about finding their rhythm, Holland said, “Eventually we just found a way, I thought the first two periods we were struggling a little bit, but in between the second and third we turned it around and got it together.”
Heading into overtime it was sudden death, 4-on-4. The Prep dominated the whole period, and they were given the chance of a lifetime as a BC High defender covered the puck with his hand, which resulted in a penalty shot. Will Van Sicklin stepped up to take it. The crowd was dead silent and everyone took out their phones to try to record potential history. Unfortunately, the BC High netminder stopped Van Sicklin at the side of the net. The first overtime period ended with a winner still undecided.
The second period of overtime started and this time it was 3-on-3. The Eagles continued to dominate the play. Eventually senior capitan Tommy Sarni took the puck behind the net and found a streaking Christian Rosa who netted his fourth of the postseason and game-winning goal to send the Prep to TD Garden to face their rivals, the Xaverian Hawks.
After the game Jason spoke with the game-winning goal scorer, and here is what he had to say about the goal: “Sarni saw the puck, turned around and saw me wide open, fed it to me, and I fed it in the 5-hole and got the win.” Jason went on to ask him how they were able to dig deep and grind out the game, Rosa replied, “This game is all about heart at the end. Skill only gets you so far. You gotta bear down and be willing to win the game.” Finally Jason asked Rosa if he felt throughout the whole game, even when down by one with less than 45 seconds on the clock, that they had the game. The confident Rosa said, “I honestly knew we had it in us the whole time. We are a great team. We work too hard not to go this far. We need one more and we are going to win it.”
The Prep is set to play the Xaverian Hawks for the MIAA Division One Final on Sunday, March 20, 2022.