By Dylan Butler
They’re baaaack!
Just when it looked like the Holy Cross hockey team would fade into oblivion — or at least out of playoff contention — the Knights scored the biggest win of the season, rallying from a pair of two-goal deficits to defeat St. Peter’s 6-4 Sunday at Abe Stark Rink on Coney Island.
“Never in the seven years of this program did I see a team show guts or heart the way they did tonight,” said Holy Cross coach Mike Mitchell. “They just didn’t quit.”
After going nearly two months between CHSHL wins, Holy Cross (5-3-3 CHSHL ‘B’) has reeled off two straight victories heading into Saturday’s clash with Molloy at the Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon at 8:05 p.m.
“The way the game was played by this team is the game I expected out of them all year,” Mitchell said. “It was non-stop digging, forechecking, backchecking, playing their positions. They played a complete game.”
P.J. LiConti and Joe Rigatti scored first-period goals for St. Peter’s. Holy Cross rallied to tie the game at 2 with a pair of goals 15 seconds apart midway through the second period by Chris Ryan and sophomore Will Gill, playing in his second game since being called up from JV.
Rigatti answered with a pair of goals to complete the hat trick, assisted by Ronald Tinao, to put St. Peter’s (6-3-2) ahead, 4-2.
“They could’ve shut it down [after the first two-goal deficit],” Mitchell said. “But they did it once and they knew they could do it again.”
They did.
Joe Temperini scored a power play goal with two seconds left in the second period, assisted by Ray Wilson and Ryan.
Wilson then tied the game on an unassisted goal with 6:03 left in the third period. With 1:51 remaining, Temperini scored the eventual game-winner, assisted by Wilson (4 assists) and Ryan. Ryan, the scoring leader in the ‘B’ division, capped the scoring with 11 seconds left with an empty netter for Holy Cross, which took just five penalties in the game.
Matt Cammarata was solid in goal for Holy Cross, stopping 19 shots to earn the win.
St. Edmund 4, Christ the King 2. Florin Carlin had a goal and an assist, and Mike Drexel scored for Christ the King (0-6-1 CHSHL ‘B’) at Abe Stark Rink Saturday.
The Royals play Kellenberg Saturday at 4:45 p.m. at the Ice Hutch in the second game of a quadruple-header. Christ the King then faces rival Molloy Tuesday at 9 a.m. at Murray Rink.
Holy Cross 5, Christ the King 3. Temperini netted a hat trick, Ryan had a goal and 3 assists and Wilson had a goal and an assist for Holy Cross at Murray Rink in Yonkers Thursday. John Del Rios scored 2 goals and Chris Keegan added 1 for the Royals, who were outshot 34-19.
Iona Prep 4, St. Francis Prep 3. Sophomore Peter Loeb had 2 goals, James Bertorelli added 3 assists and Mark Foris had 2 assists for St. Francis Prep (2-11-2), which led 3-2 before allowing 2 unanswered goals, including the game-winner by Jack Cawley (2 goals, 1 assist) with 5:54 left in the third period.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 1-718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
