WALTHAM – Up until last night, most had Central Catholic’s hockey program becoming the first to complete the undefeated campaign since Catholic Memorial did so two decades ago in 1998.
Those who did will have to wait one more year now.
Waltham poached that potential honor from the collective grasp of the Raiders Thursday, pulling off the unprecedented upset in a 1-0 stunner at Veterans Memorial Rink.
“They came into our building, we were undefeated here,” said Hawks' senior Kyle Penton, who turned aside 31 shots. “We knew what we could do. We knew what they had brought. We had already played them once. We knew we could beat them.”
In a contest that had seemingly endless scoring chances, it only took one to make the difference.
With just over eight minutes remaining in regulation, Hawks senior Brian Pescatore executed a simple dump pass off the glass. Then, when he saw a Raiders defender lose his footing, sophomore Connor Blanchard made his opportunity count. The forward corralled the loose puck, before breaking free for an open look at the Central Catholic net. Blanchard would go top-shelf on an epic finish, sending the home crowd into a tizzy with 8:01 to go.
The win was Waltham's fourth straight dating back to January 2y. The victory would prove to be sweet revenge for the Hawks (12-3-2) after they dropped their prior game with Central Catholic (16-1-0), 5-2, back on January 10.
“I knew I had something right away,” Blanchard said. “Just went in, and shot it. Can’t even think about it. Just a crazy feeling. Best feeling by far in my life.”
While they may have been on the fringe of the Super 8 conversation going into the night, it may be time to start watching the Hawks. Especially given the fact they put the whole Massachusetts hockey community on alert Thursday.
“That’s just a huge win for us,” Waltham coach John Maguire said after. “We’re excited. You can hear the noise in the locker room. Hopefully we can regroup, and play well down the stretch here.”
