St. Anthony’s James Mazza advances the puck in the victory. (Denis Gostev)
St. Joseph by the Sea had played mighty St. Anthony’s to a standstill, played them even through 11:30 of hockey. The Vikings, arguably, even got the better of the action.
Then Chris Wallace scored on a wrist shot from between the circles, his first of three tallies. Two minutes and thirty seven seconds later, the Friars suddenly held a three-goal lead and would cruise to a 6-1 victory in the opener of the CHSHL Class A best-of-three championship series at Flushing’s World Ice Arena on Monday night.
“That’s how quickly St. Anthony’s can turn it around on you,” Sea coach Anthony Larca said. “The first period we made some mental errors and against a team like that, they’re gonna capitalize on errors.”
For much of the first period, Sea followed Larca’s game plan to a tee. It stayed with St. Anthony’s speedy wingers, made sure to protect goaltender Rob Palumbo in front of the net and cleared the puck out of its own end on every opportunity. After Wallace’s goal, the Vikings let down. St. Anthony’s began cycling the puck from one shift to another and on the two latter goals – on tap-ins in front by Ryan Calandra and Joe Loiacono – Sea was unable to clear the zone.
St. Anthony’s coach Jeff Stelmok was wary of the Vikings, despite three regular season victories over them by a combined 19-4. In fact, he said, they were the one team he didn’t want to see because of their toughness, grit and cohesion. One win didn’t change his mind – if anything, Sea will come out hungrier for Game 2 on Sunday in Coney Island.
“They’ll be playing for their lives,” Stelmok said. “Even if they’re wounded, wounded animals are always dangerous.”
After falling behind 4-0, Sea had momentum entering the third period, following Matt Manfredi’s power-play goal with 1:09 left in the period. The Staten Island school, in its first ‘A’ championship series in program history, opened the third period on the man advantage, but after failing to capitalize, Wallace scored mere seconds after the power play was killed off.
“That was a killer,” Larca said.
Wallace has made a habit this postseason of finding the back of the net. In three matches, he now has five goals.
“He’s been one of the best players on this team for three years and it just manifests itself game after game after game,” Stelmok said. “He just goes out there and does his thing. It’s obvious he’s a superior talent, head and shoulders above most of the players in this league.”
It was a physical affair throughout, the two teams combined for 14 penalty minutes, seven aside. Late in the third period, Palumbo met Thomas McGregor outside the crease and gave the forward an extra shove. In the post-game handshake line, Palumbo exchanged words with a few Friars.
Sea (9-9-2) felt St. Anthony’s was taking liberties with its goaltender after the whistle while the Friars described the post-whistle extracurricular activities as actions of frustration.
“Some of our guys were a little frustrated,” Larca said. “I’d like to think I teach my boys a little better than that. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and it didn’t go any further than that.”
St. Anthony’s (20-1-0) is back to playing its style of hockey after a non-league loss to Portledge cost the Friars their dream of a perfect season. Since the setback, they have won their last four contests by an aggregate 26-2.
“It was a wakeup call for us,” Wallace said. “Ever since then we’ve been back on track.”
The victory moves St. Anthony’s ever closer to its third straight league title and a berth in the state championship game. It will be held this year at Nassau Coliseum — where the Friars have played during the regular season each of the last two years — home to the New York Islanders, against the Buffalo winner on March 4.
“I would love it,” Wallace said. “It’s a great experience all-around.”
