By Dylan Butler
St. Francis Prep finally got that chance Sunday night at Abe Stark Arena on Coney Island and the Terriers showed right away how hungry they were, scoring four first period goals – three in a span of 1:55 – to cruise to a 6-0 win over Salesian. Goaltender Jason Black made 18 saves to earn the shutout.
“We were very hungry, we couldn't wait,” said sophomore James Bertorelli, who had two goals and an assist. “We lost some of that game experience, but we ran every Monday, we worked really hard. Everybody wanted to get back on the ice.”
The Terriers jumped on the Eagles right away, as Luke Desmond scored 1:35 into the game when he took Kevin McMenamin's centering pass and beat Salesian goalie Chris Cardone low.
John Leistman gave St. Francis Prep (2-0 CHSHL B) a two-goal lead 14 seconds later when he scored on a slap shot from just outside the left face-off circle. Ken D'Andrea assisted on the goal.
Dan McCloskey, who looked especially pleased to be back on the ice, followed suit and, off a nice lead pass by D'Andrea, beat Cardone from in front of the net to give the Terriers a commanding 3-0 lead with 11:46 left in the first period. Bertorelli also assisted on the goal.
Bertorelli capped the first period barrage when he skated around a Salesian defender and walked in alone on Cardone, beating him with a wrist shot high to the glove side. Adam Discepolo assisted on the goal with 5:04 left in the first period.
“That's what we talked about in the locker room before the game, jumping on them right away,” Discepolo said. “It is a big lift to win back-to-back games and to allow just one goal in two games.”
Bertorelli and Discepolo teamed up to score Prep's fifth goal when Bertorelli slid a pass from the corner boards in front to Discepolo, whose one-timer beat Cardone.
Not only were the Terriers beating Salesian (3-2 CHSHL B) on the scoreboard, they were physically beating them too. Led by the likes of the scrappy McCloskey and Pat Chatterton, St. Francis Prep hit often and hit hard.
The combination frustrated the Eagles and those frustrations boiled over on the ice and on the Salesian bench. With 3:14 left in the second period, Salesian's Philip Costa and Bertorelli were whistled for cross-checking minors each. Tommy Hensler from Salesian got involved in the minor fracas and was penalized for a minor misconduct and a 10-minute misconduct.
Salesian head coach Al Marcello was tossed from the game 4:38 into the third period when he complained about what he perceived to be a lack of penalties called against St. Francis Prep. Marcello was hit with a bench minor and a game misconduct. He tossed a water bottle on the ice before he left the bench.
Discepolo capped the scoring with 1:41 left in the third period when he stuffed in a rebound off of Mark Foris' slap shot to give the Terriers a 6-0 lead.
“We finally started playing aggressively,” said St. Francis Prep head coach Billy Turner. “We drove the cage and got some early goals.”
St. Joseph by the Sea 5, Holy Cross 1. Bryan Benini scored the lone goal for Holy Cross (2-3, 1-3 CHSHL A) Friday at Abe Stark Arena. The Knights take on undefeated Kellenberg Friday at Newbridge Road Rink in Bellmore Friday at 6 p.m.
Molloy 4, Mount St. Michael 2. John DiGregorio, Paul LiVecchi, Nicky Wilk and Alex Kalaf all scored and Chris Pisarski and Chris Edele had two assists apiece scored for the Stanners Friday at Rye Playland. Molloy (3-2 CHSHL A) returns to the ice Tuesday against St. Edmund's at the Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon. Face-off is at 6:45 p.m.
Salesian 11, McClancy 7. Kevin Moran, John Mascetti and Chris Knipe scored for McClancy in a barn-burner last Thursday at E.J. Murray Rink in Yonkers. After a Tuesday afternoon game against St. Francis Prep, The Crusaders face-off against Cardinal Spellman at Rye Playland Friday at 5:15 p.m.
