By Matt Williams
staff writer
December 31, 2008 03:37 pm WILMINGTON — One thing to remember when you past get the initial shock that the St. John's Prep hockey team finished the 2008 portion of its winter slate without a win: like Tom Petty sang, these Eagles are still learning to fly. Visiting Catholic Memorial scored four unanswered goals to emerge with a 5-1 triumph over their Catholic Conference rivals from Danvers yesterday afternoon at Ristuccia Arena, ensuring the Prep (0-3-1) would remain winless until after the New Year. The Knights (2-2) scored on their first shot of all three periods and held the Prep to nary an offensive opportunity despite an undisciplined afternoon that led to 11 minor penalties and eight Eagle power plays. "St. John's is very young, but they have 20 hockey players," said CM coach Bill Hanson. "I've got an experienced team that, right now, has the luxury of when they're playing undisciplined — because they've been there and done that — of getting it done against a younger team." The Eagles were a disappointing 1-for-8 with the man advantage, a problem compounded by the fact that they conceded a shorthanded bid in the second. The tally, a back-door marker by CM's Derek Colucci, made it 3-1 and proved to be the backbreaker. "The story of the year so far has been our struggles offensively, both even strength and on the power play," said St. John's coach Kristian Hanson, whose club has scored only seven times in four contests (four on the power play, three even strength). Skating underclassmen who are still learning how to generate offense at the varsity level is no excuse in Hanson's eyes, though. "Maybe we need things to come in time — but we want to win now," the second-year Prep coach said. "I don't want to worry about the future, and we won't call it a rebuilding year. There's enough talent here to win now." Time after time yesterday, the Prep would create an odd-man rush or win possession in the offensive zone, only to see a shot or pass blocked by the tenacious Knight defenders. "No one has really stepped up and shown that they can be a finisher," said Kristian Hanson. "Our goals need to come from rebounds or garbage-type goals, and right now we're not tough enough in front of the net to put those in. Until guys buy into that, we're not going to score." T.J. O'Brien put the Eagles behind the 8-ball just 22 seconds into the first, wheeling around Colin Blackwell and wristing a snapshot into the net. CM had a 10-1 shots edge midway through the period, but Eagle goalie Jon Siderewicz (20 saves) weathered the storm to keep them in it. Early in the second, Jon Sokolski knotted the score with a power play tally, and the Prep had suddenly come to life. The home team's momentum proved short-lived. The Knights first shot the middle frame lit the lamp, with Colucci going top shelf at 3:55. Minutes later, Colucci's shorty deflated the hosts. "We had taken four or five penalties in a row, which was very disconcerting for my club," said Bill Hanson. "More than a third of the hockey game we were shorthanded, so to get a goal there was big." The Knights made sure the Eagles had no illusions of a comeback with two quick goals to start the third. O'Brien scored on the man advantage on CM's first shot of the frame, and Colucci completed his hat trick at 2:30. "We held them to six shots in the third and eight shots in the second. We kept their shot total down, but not their goal total," Kristian Hanson noted. A ferocious forecheck and simple hustle by the Knights made sure the Prep didn't get a sniff at another goal, despite a pair of 5-on-3 chances in the third.
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