By Dylan Butler
And the junior forward from Bayside helped lead the Knights to within a game of that becoming a reality, scoring a pair of goals to lift Holy Cross to a 2-1 win over St. Peter's in the opening game of the CHSHL 'B' best-of-three championship series Tuesday night at the Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon.Holy Cross (15-2-2), which lost in the finals to rival Molloy in three games last year, can win the championship in a game scheduled for Wednesday night at the Ice Hutch. Should St. Peter's win and force a decisive Game Three, it would be played Saturday at Abe Stark Rink on Coney Island.Mazzorra scored two power play goals – including the eventual game-winner with 6:26 left in the third period – and Matt Cammarata made sure the result held up. The senior goalie made 19 saves, none bigger than the lunging stop he made on a rebound with 1:13 left in the game, robbing St. Peter's Joseph Somma.”I thought that was going in and he just bounced up and saved it,” Mazzorra said of Cammarata's clutch save. “If we would have gone to overtime, they would have had the momentum and it would have been a different game.”Added Holy Cross coach Mike Mitchell: “That's the biggest save he's made in four years at this school.”With the referees calling the game tightly, both teams had ample power play opportunities. The two teams combined for 17 minor penalties, but St. Peter's couldn't capitalize, going 0-for-7 with the man advantage. Holy Cross had nine power plays – including three in the final 4:42 of the third period – but scored two goals.Neither of Mazzorra's goals were things of beauty. His soft shot that never left the ice found its way through traffic and past St. Peter's goalie Mike McCauley with 5:10 left in the first period and he then turned between the circles with the intention of just dumping the puck on net late in the third. But it took a deflection and found its way past McCauley, who made 25 saves.”You take the puck and you shoot it from anywhere because you don't know what's going to happen,” Cammarata said. “My freshman year our game-winning goal was a little dump in from the blue line and it went in.”St. Peter's (9-8-3) tied the game at 1 when Ron Triano beat hulking Holy Cross defender Cosmin Sofletea to a loose puck and centered it front where Richard Rollins sent a one-timer past Cammarata with 10:57 left in the second period.Holy Cross 6, Christ the King 3. Mazzorra and Anthony Pagano scored two goals apiece to lead Holy Cross to a semifinal series sweep of Christ the King Friday at Abe Stark Rink. Joey Finocchiaro scored a pair of goals for the Royals.Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
