Eagles Defeat Trojans in Regular Season Finale

By: Jason Stellakis

St. John’s Prep defeated Bridgewater-Raynham, 4-1 on Wednesday February 23rd 2022. The Eagles record improved and finalized to 17-3-0, and they are projected to be the number-one seed going into the Super-8 tournament. 


The Eagles played this game without key players like Sophomore Forward, Jake Vana, Junior Forward, Ben McGilvray, and Senior Goalie, Payton Palladino. Vana and McGilvray sat due to them nursing minor injuries, while Palladino was a healthy scratch. But nevertheless the Eagles were still the more dominant team. Freshman Luke Quinn got the nod to start in the crease.


The first period of this contest ended up with one goal from the Prep’s Senior Captain, Tommy Sarni, from a pass by Junior Forward, Will Van Sicklin. The Prep had 11 shots on goal in the first, while B-R only had three. It comes to no surprise that the Prep dominated the first period.


The Prep in the second period would have another 11 shots on goal, but this period the Prep got three in the net. Goals were scored by Will Van Sicklin, Cam Umlah, and Tommy Sarni again. On the other hand, B-R had just five shots, only one resulting in a goal. Overall a very successful period for the Prep, as it would essentially seal the game as there were no goals by either side in the third and a combined nine shots in the period. 


But work is not done just yet. Even though St. John’s Prep is projected to be the tournament’s best seed, there is still room for improvement. One of the Prep’s biggest problems that lingered throughout the season was staying out of the penalty box. The Prep has been better in staying out of the penalty box in recent games, but they can always do a better job. Senior Defenseman Tommy Tilas acknowledged this problem in an interview after the game.


“Hopefully we don’t take a lot of penalties in the postseason,” Tilas explained. “But right now if we keep it up we will be pretty good.”


Another improvement that was addressed in an interview with Tilas were scoring opportunities. As mentioned above, the Prep had 11 shots on goal in the first and only one resulted in a goal. Out of the 29 shots that were taken by the Eagles, only four ended up in the back of the net. 


“We gotta put in a lot more work, because we aren’t scoring enough,” Tilas acknowledged. “We only scored four goals off of many chances. We gotta work on our scoring.”


Junior Forward Will Van Sicklin was also interviewed after the game. He addressed the slow starts his team was having in the first periods of games. He also acknowledged that it is going to be crucial that they start off strong since they are going up against better teams. 


“We gotta play better against the better teams.” Van Sicklin said. “We need to come to the rink better prepared. We have tended to come out slow in the first period lately. Going into the tournament we gotta’ come in ready and be able to be ready to go.”


As Van Sicklin and Tilas stated, the Prep needs to be better in scoring opportunities. High School hockey is all about momentum, and is less dependent on who the better team is. If the Prep can score early and capitalize on opportunities, they are going to be in great shape. 


Another factor that is essential is the mental game. There have been many moments where it seemed like the Prep has been too comfortable with their lead, like against Franklin, where they had a 3-1 lead for a good chunk of the game (Franklin would tie it 3-3 and the Prep would end up winning 4-3). The mentality should be that the game is not over until it is actually over. If the Prep can improve this part of their game (which is very possible to say the least), expect them to make a deep run in the tournament.


The Prep’s first game of the tournament is TBD, but it will most likely be played at the Essex Sports Center. 

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