The St. Anthony’s Friars played their last regular season game against Iona Prep Gaels on Tuesday February 5th at the Dix Hills Ice Rink. The Friars were looking to continue their recent strong play and close out the season on an unbeaten streak. Heading into tonight’s action, the Friars where 7-3-4 standing in 3rd place. A win against Iona would move them into 2nd place heading into the playoffs and give them home ice advantage against Xavier.
The Friars jumped out to a quick lead with a goal from DJ Walsh in the opening minutes. John Blair made an outstanding sprawling save with 5:30 remaining in the period to keep the Gaels off the board. After two penalties by the Gaels giving the Friars a 5 on 3 advantage, Peter Campisi scored a power play goal assisted by James Penzavecchia to put the Friars up 2-0 after one period.
The game remained tight until the midway point of the second period when the Friars scored on a short-handed goal from Pat Allen assisted by Campisi to put the Friars up 3-0. Blair continued to dominate and made a huge stop on a breakaway attempt with a minute remaining in the period to keeping the Gaels scoreless.
The Friars offense erupted in the third period when Nicholas Vertucci scored on a deflection putting the Friars up 4-0. With 6:42 remaining, Ryan Onderdonk assisted by Richard McGuigan scored making it 5-0 Friars. Three minutes later, Bobby Lane scored on a nice setup from Bryan Klein and Anthony Iglio making it 6-0 Friars. With 5 seconds remaining, McGuigan scored to close out the game with a 7-0 Friars victory. Blair, backed by a solid defensive effort, recorded the shutout.
The Friars finished the regular season with an 8-3-4 record and on a 4-0-2 roll to lock up the 2nd seed. Coach Lund stated, “With a new team, it took over half the season to gel, but the boys have come together at the right time.” Coach stated, “In order to beat Xavier, we must manage the puck, get more pucks on net and limit our mistakes.”
The Friars will host Xavier in the playoffs as they begin the quest for another hockey championship. Campisi stated, “We need to play harder and have mental toughness to win.” Blair said, “He expects Xavier to come out very strong and physical, and put many shots on net. We need to play solid defense and have strong goaltending and if we do we can beat anyone.”
Playoffs start tonight February 6th at 7:10pm at the Dix Hills Ice Rink!!
Alex Rocco is a junior at St. Anthony’s High School, writing for his third year with the Friar Scoreboard. He hopes to have a career in Sports Management and Media one day. He is also a member NHS, SALT, Friar Faithful, Special Needs Ministry and Franciscan Youth Ministry.
