By Dylan Butler
For two periods the Molloy hockey team followed the same script Tuesday at Iceland in New Hyde Park as it did in its 9-5 loss to Christ the King in the teams’ last meeting.
For two periods the Stanners’ defensemen again didn’t take the body and allowed Royals’ forwards open shots at net and trailed CK, 4-2.
But in the third period Molloy came alive and thanks to two goals by John DiGregorio, ended the game in a 4-4 stalemate.
“A tie is better than a loss,” said Molloy head coach Richie Rodgers. “We have the inability to get out of our own end. We have to work on getting clearer shots on net.”
While Molloy was pleased with the come-from-behind draw, the Royals were left to lament one that got away.
“I know we should have won,” said Christ the King head coach Pat Boller. “We did work hard and deserve to win, but we didn’t stay within our system.”
Molloy (5-5-1 CHSHL ‘A’) actually jumped ahead 16 seconds into the game on a goal by Chris Edele but the Royals answered back with 6:45 left in the first when defenseman Jakub Kubrak skated unscathed inside the Stanners’ blue line and beat Molloy goaltender Adrian Podpirka on a wrist shot high to the stick side.
After the Stanners went up 2-1 2 1/2 minutes later on Nicky Wilk’s rebound, Kubrak scored his second of the period when his open slap shot from the point trickled past Podpirka with 3:38 left in the first period.
Mike Brugess and Steve Weber scored 1:25 apart early in the second to give Christ the King (3-4-3) a two-goal lead, but then DiGregorio struck, first on a breakaway late in the second and then off a rebound in front on the power play with just 3:34 left in the third to tie the score.
“It was a shot from the point and there was confusion in front,” DiGregorio said. “I just managed to get my stick on it and throw it towards the net.”
Christ the King takes on St. Edmund’s at Murray Rink in Yonkers Thursday at 7 p.m. while Molloy faces St. Peter’s Friday at 10 p.m. at Abe Stark Arena on Coney Island.
St. Joseph by the Sea 4, Holy Cross 0. The Vikings (4-8-2 CHSHL ‘A’) broke open a scoreless game with three goals in a 54-second span in the second period to defeat Holy Cross (1-8) Friday night at Abe Stark Arena. The Knights return to the ice Tuesday to face undefeated Kellenberg (9-0-1) at Iceland in New Hyde Park. Face-off is at 3:15 p.m.
CHSHL on the web: The Catholic High School Hockey League’s standings, scoring leaders and schedule can now be found on the web at www.newyorkrangers.com/fanzone/chsaa. The information is updated weekly.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
