MIDDLETON, Mass. — St. John’s Prep blanked Malden Catholic in the regular-season finale for both teams on Monday afternoon at Essex Sports Center.
With the 3-0 win, St. John’s Prep secured the two seed in the upcoming Catholic Conference playoffs. It was the second consecutive shutout win for Kristian Hanson’s team. Sophomore right wing Ben McGilvray, sophomore defenseman Aidan Holland and senior right wing Zach McKennelley were the goal scorers and senior Cam Smith earned the shutout.
Malden Catholic struggled to get much going throughout the entire game. The Lancers will be the sixth seed in the playoffs and travel to face BC High on Wednesday afternoon in a first-round matchup.
Scoring summary
1-0 SJP: Right after killing off a Malden Catholic power play, the Eagles got on the board. Just inside his own blue line, Jake DiNapoli flipped a puck out into the neutral zone. Coming off the bench, replacing the man out of the penalty box, McGilvray won a race to the loose puck. He came into the offensive zone down the right side and snapped a shot past the blocker of the MC goaltender.
2-0 SJP: Holland extended his team’s lead not too long after the first goal. He stepped in and blasted a shot into the net from a few strides inside the blue line. The score came right after the initial rush into the zone, but on a broken play. Jake Vana and Christian Rosa picked up the helpers. Vana was the puck carrier on the zone entry.
3-0 SJP: The Eagles took the three-goal lead a few moments later. Pierce Blaeser won an offensive-zone draw. McKennelley swooped in and shot the puck into the back of the net.
Prospect notes
Three freshmen stood out as the undisputed top college hockey prospects in the game. There were some other good high school hockey players, but the trio evaluated below are a cut above the rest.
Owen Keefe
Malden Catholic, 3/26/06, D, left shot, 5-10/150
Keefe is a solid two-way defenseman who plays a mature game at both ends of the ice. He made a couple of notable plays with the puck on his stick. One was when he jumped into the rush, carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Skating up the middle, he gave a nice feed to the left wing, who wasn’t able to finish. Another was from the left point. He showed poise and an ability to walk the blue line before sidestepping an opposing wing and getting a shot through and on net. Keefe played with jam and showed that a few times by clearing his net front. The Saugus, Mass., native is one of the top ’06 defensemen in the country, who likely will be moving on to prep school or Mount Saint Charles for next season.
Christian Rosa
St. John’s Prep, 12/1/05, C, right shot, 5-9/145
Rosa had an assist on his team’s second goal, but his play was noted numerous shifts during the game. From Lynnfield, Mass., Rosa skates well, can stickhandle and make plays in traffic, and has an ability to create on the rush.
Jake Vana
St. John’s Prep, 9/1/05, RW, right shot, 5-11/185
Vana also assisted on his team’s first goal. He’s a good-sized winger who plays a heavy game. As he has done in every viewing of SJP this winter, he won a lot of battles below the goal line and kept possession while cycling down low. He forced a couple of turnovers by being heavy on pucks and competing hard. The one area of his game that needs improvement is his skating, but his compete and ability to be heavy on pucks are at a high level.
St. John’s Prep lines
C. Blaeser - Rosa - Vana
Fietzke - P. Blaeser - McKennelley
Atkinson - Ayers - DiNapoli
O’Brian - Tighe - McGilvray
Vetere - Shyjan
Bishop - Haggerty
Dirks - Holland
Smith
Malden Catholic lines
Condon - Zizza - Bazile
Gaffney - Julian - Foskett
Delvalle - Fosdick
Merryman - Chute
Keefe - Ohannesian
Montecalvo - Ghergurovich
Rich
Zinck
