On Thursday January 18th, the St. Anthony’s varsity hockey team defeated the Chaminade Flyers 8-1. Coming into the game, the Friars led the season series 1-0-1, after two tightly contested games. The game was set to be close because captain Ryan Haight served the first of his three game suspension; the Friars aggression, however, led to a statement win for the 2017-18 season.
The notables on offense for the Friars were #5 Connor Szambel totaling 4 points with a goal and three assists, # 43 Nick Cozzi with two goals, #17 Matt Tullo with a goal and one assist and #9 Ryan Fitzmaurice with a goal and one assist.
The Friars opened what would become a scoring onslaught with a goal by Ryan Fitzmaurice. The Friars scored again at the 11-minute mark on a goal by Nick Cozzi, as well as two more goals within a 3-minute span. The Friars pushed to a commanding 4-0 at the end of the first period.
The only tally in the second period came from #18 Christian Cabal of the Friars making the score 5-0 after two periods. In the third, defenseman Connor Szambel continued his impressive game by adding a goal and two assists on goals by Nick Cozzi and Matt Tullo closing out the Friars offensive barrage.
Late in the third period, Chaminade managed to sneak a shot past goaltender Matt Walsh breaking up his shutout. Matt played great with 15 saves on 16 shots by the Flyers; he received the “hat” for player of the game. After the game, Walsh explained that the win means that “St. Anthony’s is the best, no one can beat us.”
Head coach Bob Lund explained that his strategy going into the game was “to come out of the box fast.” The team’s first period, explained Lund, was their slowest period of the season headed into the game; they made a concerted effort to come out in the first period like they have during third period play. Coach Lund also had high praise for his top line of Cozzi, Tullo, and Coronato: “The line has scored about 60% of the team goals and the line is hard to stop when they try to key in one guy.” Coach also praised the defensive effort as they rallied around Ryan’s absence and put in extra effort in the game.
The Friars won the season series against Chaminade 2-0-1 while outscoring them 15-6. The Friars hold a 9-0-1 record with two regular season games remaining on the schedule against Monsignor Farrell on January 29th and Iona Prep on January 30th. They will be looking to finishing strong in preparation of the playoffs.
The final regular season of the game against Iona Prep game will be played Tuesday, Jan. 30th at Superior Ice Rink, Kings Park, at 4:30pm. Be sure to come out and support the team.
About The Author:
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Alex Rocco Alex Rocco is a sophomore at St. Anthony’s High School, writing for his second year with Friar Scoreboard. He hopes to have a career in Sports Management one day. He is also a member of Friar Faithful, PBJ Club and Special Needs Ministry. |
