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Michael Brothers made 31 saves to lead Central Catholic to a 2-1 victory over Pope Francis in the Pete Frates Invitational. Michael Dinges and Matt Lajoie each scored a goal for the Raiders, who will next face BC High in the Frates championship game on Saturday (2 p.m.)

NORTH BILLERICA — A postseason that began with so much promise ended in disappointment for Central Catholic on Saturday night. 

The No. 1 seed Raiders fell behind early in the second quarter, and could not recover against an aggressive No. 7 Pope Francis attack, falling 4-1 in the Super 8 loser’s bracket at the Chelmsford Forum.

Eric Lester scored twice as No. 1 Central Catholic boys hockey took down No. 5 Pope Francis, 3-1. It was the second time this season the Raiders took down the Catholic West power.

Central Catholic, the No. 1 ranked team in EMass by the Boston Globe, beat Pope Francis, the No. 2 ranked team, 3-1 in the semifinals of the Pete Frates Holiday Classic. Will Winship, Noah Jankoswki and Steve Birch were the goal-scorers for the Raiders (3-0), and goalie Matt Pasquale had another terrific game despite allowing his first goal of the season with 1.7 seconds left in regulation.

BILLERICA — For a few moments, the celebration was timid.

There were a few high-fives and pats on the back for goalie Matt Pasquale. But initially, Central Catholic held back its jubilation.

LOWELL — The challenge facing Central Catholic was daunting, to say the least.

The Raiders skated into the opening game of the Super 8 tournament to face a Pope Francis team that had already beaten them twice this season, including a convincing three-goal victory just 10 days prior in each team’s regular season finale.

Shakira Nurrell had 14 kills and 13 service points as Greater Lawrence clipped Cathedral 3-1 in volleyball.

Central Catholic's boys hockey team outshot the state's top-ranked team, Springfield Cathedral but you'd never know it by the score. The Raiders (10-4-1) fell to Cathedral (12-0-2) by a 10-1 count. Billy Stahley scored the lone goal for Central.

HAVERHILL — After arriving to Haverhill Stadium only about 10 minutes before the scheduled game time, Cathedral High of Boston went through an abbreviated warm-up and received the opening kickoff. it didn’t matter, though. The Panthers and Georgetown played to a 6-6 tie in the first half before the visitors turned it on for a 31-6 win. Both teams struggled to snap the ball on their opening possession. Cathedral went three-and-out after a snap over quarterback Jermal Brevard-Jackson’s head lost 19 yards. Georgetown gave the ball back on the very next play on a fumble during the transfer from center to quarterback. The Royals fumbled away each of their first two possessions. After falling behind 6-0 early, new Royals head coach Justin Spurr got tricky in the second quarter. Running back Cooper Martens took a handoff to the outside and found a receiver all alone in the end zone. The 23-yard halfback pass to Robert Dimento made it 6-6, but the two-point conversion failed after a penalty pushed the Royals back five yards. The Georgetown defense stayed strong in the first half after surrendering a touchdown on Cathedral’s second drive. “We played really well on defense for most of the game,” Spurr said. “Defense was definitely a strong point for us.” But Georgetown could not sustain its strong defense in the last 22 minutes. After Justice Turner took the Royals’ third fumble for six points to make it 12-6 early in the second half, Brevard-Jackson took control. The senior captain connected on a pair of touchdown passes and ran for a third. Georgetown did show some life on offense down the stretch, but could not get in the end zone. Martens, who shared the quarterback duty with sophomore Jimmy Sherman, completed the Royals’ longest play of the day, a 40-yard pass to Nick DePasquale, who had a stellar all-around game. Georgetown is at Greater Lawrence Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Central Catholic's hockey team took it to Springfield Cathedral, the No. 1-ranked team in the state early and then had to rally back for an impressive 3-3 tie.

Central took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Alex Lester while outshooting Cathedral 15-3. "We were flying out there," said Central coach Mike Jankowski, whose club improved to 8-2-2.