The Prep's Sophomore Superstars Help Defeat the Warriors, 3-1, in Round 1 Victory
The St. John’s Prep ice hockey team defeated the King Phillip Warriors, 3-1 on Thursday, March 3rd, 2022. The Eagles earned their first win of the tournament and advanced to the next round.
Like many other wins this season, the Prep was easily the more dominant team. They had 33 shots on the opposing goal in all three periods, compared to King Phillip’s seven shots on goal.
The first period got off to a strong start, as just over two minutes and thirty seconds into the game sophomore forward Christian Rosa found the net from a pass by fellow sophomore forward, Jake Vana. Later that period, sophomore forward Johnny Tighe finds the top-right corner of the net on a rebound. The score at the end of the first period was 2-0. The Prep had 11 shots on goal in the first period, while KP did not have a single shot on goal.
Both teams scored only one goal each in the second period. Christian Rosa found the net again for his second goal of the day. KP would get one in with about four minutes remaining in the second period. The score after two periods was 3-1. The Prep yet again dominated this period, having 14 shots on goal, while KP had only five.
The goalies on both ends were superb in the 3rd period, as they did not allow a single shot past them in the 3rd period alone. There were only a combined ten shots that whole period, the Prep had eight and KP only had two.
Similar to the past two games, the Prep has had the opportunities to score more goals. Only scoring three goals on 33 shots is a little disappointing. But considering this was a playoff game, you rarely see blowouts.
Speaking of playoff games, this was the first time in just over two years that the nest (the Prep student section) was full of students.
But this only proved to be a motivator. After the game I had the chance to speak to sophomore forward Johnny Tighe. I asked him about what it felt like to play in front of a big crowd like the nest.
“It was awesome. They had a lot of energy for the boys. We all really appreciate it,” Tighe responded. “It adds a lot of energy to our game. It gets us going when we walk on the ice.”
Out of the three goals that were scored, two came off of rebounds. The Prep has done a good job when it comes to finding loose pucks near the net. This is one of the factors that has shaped this team over the course of the past three months. I asked Tighe if he thought his team was a play-to-the-whistle team. He agreed with me and addressed the strength of the team.
“A lot of our guys love to get those gritty goals. We always play to the whistle,” Tighe said. “If we see a puck loose everyone is going after it, that’s the team we are.”
Like every game in any sport, there are always improvements that can be made after any game. This is even true after a huge playoff victory. With this in mind, I asked Tighe what he and the team intends to improve upon before the next round of the playoffs.
“We need to tighten down the D-zone a little bit and finish the opportunities we have,” Tighe addressed. “We’ve had a lot of pucks that are right there, but we have to finish a lot of those goals.”
I believe that the Prep needs to capitalize on the opportunities they are given. There were a few instances where the Prep had a great opportunity to score but they could not get the job done. Scoring has been their specialty all season, and it is something that needs to be worked on before the next round of the playoffs. If they are going to beat really good teams, they need to work on finishing the job.
On the plus side, the Prep did a great job in every other aspect of the game. The penalties were a little bit high (committing four penalties), but this is something the Prep does a good job of working on after a game with numerous penalties.
The Prep plays Winchester High School in the round of 16 on Monday, March 7th, 2022 at 5:30 PM at the Essex Sports Center.