RallyNorth.net

Forrest plays stopper for Bishop Fenwick

Tuesday, January, 22 By Jean DePlacido
Staff writer

Craig Forrest had been struggling lately in net for Bishop Fenwick, but he stopped every puck Swampscott shot at him to lead the Crusaders to a 6-0 victory yesterday morning at Peabody's McVann-O'Keefe Rink.

Forrest made 44 saves to record his first shutout this season and second of his career, including 19 stops in the second period alone. The Big Blue had six power play chances, including a five-on-three advantage at the end of the second period that carried over into the third, but couldn't get anything past the junior netminder.

"I really didn't have much confidence coming into this game, especially after not playing well against Matignon (a 7-1 loss) the other night," said Forrest. "I have been struggling the last few games, but I tried to see each shot and I had good defense in front of me. I was seeing the puck well right from the start. This was a very big game for us. It's a chance to turn things around."

Swampscott coach Gino Faia gave Forrest all the credit for keeping the Big Blue off the board.

"He was really hot today | it's tough when you run into a goalie who is playing like that. I thought we were doing all the things we needed to until the third period when it got away from us," said Faia. "But we couldn't put the puck in the net. We had our opportunities, especially on the power play. But (Forrest) was outstanding all game and kept frustrating out kids."

Swampscott dominated the first period but had nothing to show for it because Forrest made several key stops, including a gem with just over a minute remaining when he robbed Danny Rakoc with a pad save on a shot from the high slot.

It took a rare penalty shot to swing all the momentum Fenwick's way. The game remained scoreless until midway through the middle period when Fenwick's Louie Williams was tripped on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. He fired a rising shot that beat sophomore goalie Tyler Gallagher and a minute and a half later Pat Doliber gave Fenwick a 2-0 lead. Fenwick had come out a little sluggish but picked it up at that point.

That first line of Doliber at center (two goals, two assists), left wing Dale Crispin (a goal and two assists), and right wing Mark Sparaco (two assists) did the bulk of damage for the Crusaders.

"We got a couple of quick goals that switched momentum," said Doliber. "No question about it, the penalty shot got us going. We were motivated after the Matignon loss, Craig made some incredible saves and our penalty killing was great. The job Sparaco did out there was unreal. Toward the end of the game nobody said a word about shutout, but we worked harder to make sure Craig got it."

Crusader coach Bo Tierney calls this one of the biggest wins for his team in the last two years | coming on the heels of one of the worst losses in the past two seasons.

"If we had lost this game we would have dropped to .500, but now we're 5-3-1," said Tierney. "We did a lot of little things well, blocked shots and played the body. We tell the kids to do those things before every game. They went out and did them against a real strong Swampscott team. I saw a totally different team from the one I saw Saturday against Matignon.

"Craig has been fighting the puck a little lately, and (assistant coaches) Bill Corley and Jay Richards, who work with the goalies, went over basic positional things he did well last year. We didn't have any ice between Saturday's game and this one, but Craig is a very good listener. He made the adjustments."

Fenwick survived being two men down at the end of the second period and just after killing off the second penalty got on the board again when Crispin sprung Doliber with under two minutes gone in the final frame. Tierney pointed to that goal as being a difference maker. It was the first of four for the Crusaders with Jordan Mizioch scoring 30 seconds later before John Luti and Crispin lit the lamp.

"We outshot them 33-10 through two periods, but things began to unravel after that penalty shot," said Faia. "In the third period we took too many chances which tends to happen when you fall behind."