LYNN — Austin Prep clinched the Catholic Central League boys hockey title last night, rolling past reigning Div. 1 state champion St. Mary’s, 6-1 at Connery Rink in Lynn.
“It was good to see the kids respond to a big game,” said AP first year head coach Bill Pappas, “It’s good to see that they’ve got that in them.”
Austin Prep (11-6-1) broke the ice first when a streaking Nicholas Cafarelli (goal, 2 assists) snapped a wrister inside the far side post just 1:53 into the contest.
St. Mary’s (11-4-4) evened the score at 5:40 of the frame as Jaiden Moriello put home a rebound from the slot. The Cougars regained the lead for good on the power play with 3:02 to go in the first as Kevin Urquhart redirected a shot off the stick of Cafarelli to make it 2-1.
AP extended their lead 2:26 into the second frame when Matthew Sacco collected a rebound to the right of the Spartan goal. Just 2:26 into the third, Dylan Arnold stepped into a wrist shot from the top of the left circle and picked the far side to make it 4-1 Cougars.
With 5:52 remaining Richard Lyons got in on the scoring, whipping one home from the right face-off dot off a cross ice feed from Cafarelli. Evan Rago (goal, assist), capped the scoring off netting another rebound goal 10:38 into the third.
“We wanted to stick to our game plan, going hard to lose pucks,” Pappas said. “That means playing the body and moving the puck well…I think it was a great game overall for these guys.”
AUSTIN PREP 6, ST. MARY’S 1
Austin Prep (10-6-1) 2 1 3 — 6
St. Mary’s (11-3-4) 1 0 0 — 1
1st Period
AP — Nicholas Cafarelli (1:53), ast by Alexander Maffeo
SM — Jaiden Moriello (5:40), ast by Tommy Cash
AP — Kevin Urquhart (PPG, 11:52) ast by Cafarelli and Evan Rago
2nd Period
AP — Matthew Sacco (2:26), ast. by Sullivan Marino
3rd Period
AP — Dylan Arnold (2:26), unassisted
AP — Richard Lyons (9:08), ast. by Cafarelli
AP — Rago (10:38), ast. by Jake Thain
SAVES
AP — Robert Farrell (23)
SM — Kevin McMullen (22)
