By Dylan Butler
Suddenly surging Christ the King scored three goals in the opening four minutes and cruised to an important 7-2 victory. The Royals, which defeated regular season champion Holy Cross 5-1 two days before, have moved up to third place in the CHSHL 'B' division while St. Francis Prep, which was coming off an impressive win, remained in last place, three points behind McClancy.Heading into the final week of the regular season, it appears only a miracle will keep the Terriers from finishing in last place and thereby being relegated to the 'C' division.”It's rough,” McCloskey said. “It's a hard loss.”Joe Finocchiaro set the tone for Christ the King (6-5-2), scoring two goals in a 43 second span to give the Royals a 2-0 lead 2:18 into the game. Cory McGrath added a third goal less than two minutes later.”I think when you jump out on a team you know you have to beat, they get demoralized,” Finocchiaro said. “You have to take it to them. You have to jump on them really quick.”St. Francis Prep (3-9-2) got on the scoreboard when Peter Loeb stuffed in his own rebound with 9:13 left in the second period. Two minutes later Joe Gauthier put Christ the King ahead, 4-1.But St. Francis Prep just wouldn't go away and again got within two goals when Rob Schuler got the puck past Christ the King goalie Kevin Kaufman with 3:52 left in the second period.The Terriers kept the pressure on, but the Royals scored the back-breaking goal against the run of play when Ryan Keegan scored on a rebound in front with 43 seconds left in the second period.”They had really good pressure in front of the net,” McCloskey said. “They just picked up garbage goals. But garbage goals are still goals.”It was a carbon copy of the other Christ the King goals. St. Francis Prep goalie Greg Siroky, who was spectacular despite the lopsided result, made the first save but the Royals crashed the net and pounded home the rebound.”We were trying to stress that in practice, drive to the net, drive to the net,” Christ the King coach Chris Duffy said. “Most of the goaltenders in the league are really good goaltenders. They make the first save and if the defense is not there to help them, hopefully we can put one home.”Joe Kosek and Greg Kubrak added third period goals for Christ the King, which takes on St. Peter's in a big game Friday night after playing St. Joseph by the Sea Thursday night. The Royals conclude the regular season against St. Edmund Saturday night.St. Francis Prep wraps up a disappointing season against St. Peter's Thursday and St. Joseph Friday night.Holy Cross 4, St. Joseph by the Sea 3. Chris Anastasio had 2 goals and an assist, Reny Mazorra had a goal and an assist and Frank Leonardo added a goal for Holy Cross (12-2-2) Saturday night at Abe Stark Rink on Coney Island. Joe DiGangi, Luigi Tirro and Steve Welsome scored for St. Joe's (6-5-1).Christ the King 5, Holy Cross 1. Finocchiaro and McGrath each had 2 goals and Nico Siragusa added a goal for the Royals Friday night at the Ice Hutch. Marcus Brito scored the lone goal for Holy Cross.Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
