#8 seed WA Boys’ Hockey suffered a 1-0 loss on the road against #14 seed Central Catholic in a battle between two top-15 teams in Massachusetts on Saturday, Jan. 27, falling to a record of 10-2-1 on the season.
From the opening faceoff, Central Catholic took matters into their own hands to avenge their 4-0 loss to WA earlier in the season. Central Catholic initiated the majority of the offense early on, maintaining consistent control of the puck.
Multiple turnovers from WA allowed Central Catholic to have several shots on goal in early stages of the game, but senior captain Tyler Frazee made some saves in net to keep the score tied 0-0 early on.
However, Central Catholic threw the first punch of the game, as senior Charlie Winship snuck a wrist shot past Frazee to help the Raiders jump out to a 1-0 lead with 9:36 left in the first period.
After going down 1-0 early, WA settled into their rhythm and had some shots on goal of their own, with juniors Nick Burns and Jack Donovan initiating most of WA’s offense.
Midway through the first period, WA was called for a penalty to put Central Catholic on the 2 minute power play. However, they failed to capitalize due to WA successfully icing the puck down the rink several times.
Burns and Donovan had opportunities to score with the first period winding down, as Donovan had an open shot on goal with 4:00 left and Burns had a shot after the puck trickled out in front of the net with 1:00 left. However, Central Catholic’s senior goalie Jake McLean made great saves to keep Central Catholic in front 1-0 after the first period.
Coming out of the break, WA quickly went on a one-man disadvantage when senior Tommy Rose picked up a penalty just one minute into the frame, sending Central Catholic back onto the power play for the third time of the game. WA’s defense held strong again, stopping Central Catholic’s power play for the third time.
WA proceeded to have their own offensive chances, with junior Bryan Fitzgerald having a shot on goal and then Burns having a great chance from the left wing, but McLean stopped everything that came his way for the Raiders.
The rest of the period was plagued with penalties, with both teams committing penalties that resulted in each team having a 5-on-3 advantage of their own, but neither team could capitalize. Both Frazee and McLean continued their impressive days in net by stopping everything that came their way, keeping the score 1-0 after two periods.
Down 1-0 going into the third period, WA tried to get some consistent offensive flow, but other than a strong shot on goal by senior Matt Mulhern, the Ghosts failed to get anything going.
Great efforts by Frazee, including a cross body save with three minutes left in the game, kept WA’s chances alive down the stretch. Central Catholic picked up a penalty with 1:13 remaining to put WA on the power play for the rest of the game, bringing some nervous tension into the building. WA controlled possession of the puck throughout their power play, but could not get any shots past McLean in net. After a final failed attempt in the closing seconds, the buzzer sounded with Central Catholic coming out on top 1-0.
Overall, it was a tough loss for the Ghosts against a fast and physically strong Central Catholic team. The moments of disconnect for WA early in the game proved to be the deciding factor in the 1-0 loss.
“Going into the game, we knew it was going to be a battle,” Frazee said. “We played hard but everyone knew that we could have gotten a better start.”
Despite the loss, WA is turning their attention towards the rest of the games on their schedule in an attempt to stay a top 10 team in the state throughout the second half of the season.
“Being in the back half of our season every game is going to be a grind, not only to stay in the front of the state rankings but also in our league standings,” Frazee said.
WA returns to the ice at home against Lincoln-Sudbury for Liv4Liv Night at 7:45 on Wednesday, January 31.
