RallyNorth.net

Sat, Dec 29, 2007 04:00 PM @ Bishop Fenwick

Team	1	2	3	Final
Lynn Classical	1	1	1	3
Bishop Fenwick	1	0	2	3

Fenwick's Forrest robs Jets in tie

Monday, December, 31 By Bill Kipouras
Staff writer

Someone should have called the cops because there was a robbery committed at the McVann-O'Keefe Rink late Saturday afternoon.

Armed with a stick and glove, the robber was wearing a white jersey with brown trim, was about 5-foot-6 and was wearing a helmet-type mask.

Many of the witnesses quickly identified the robber as 16-year-old Bishop Fenwick junior Craig Forrest.

The spokesman for the victims, Al Melanson, of the Lynn Jets hockey team, did have a clear-cut case against Forrest, a veteran goaltender from Salem who made not one, but two stunning glove saves on Lynn's Billy McDaniels from low in the slot late in the third period.

"The kid (Forrest) did steal the game. He robbed McDaniel twice. He gave McDaniel nothing to shoot at," Melanson reacted after a 3-3 tie that was a delightful up-and-down high school hockey game.

"It was like trying to put a three-inch biscuit into a two-inch hole (for McDaniel)."

The square root of this stalemate was that Fenwick (2-0-1) passed its first major test, rallying from two goals down to win the final period, 2-0, with a great turnaround after a middle period in which they were outshot 17-2 and gave up three goals. Lynn's Steve Leighton scored on a power play shot that tipped the stick of Fenwick's Jordan Mizioch, Dan Casale registered from a scramble, and Eric Bransfield, who was unattended in front, scored on a perfect centering pass from Dave Stevens.

Bob Tierney, the Fenwick coach, told the team in the second break that it looked like it was playing in snowshoes, but that wasn't what really set off the spark, he said.

"What ignited us was John Luti's blocked shot on the first shift (of the third period). We talked about not doing the little things, sacrificing yourself, and I pointed out we had two chances to block shots and didn't," Tierney said. "When Luti made the block our bench erupted. They were cheering. There's no doubt that lit us up."

Fenwick was so revved up in the third that it was outshooting the Jets, 10-0, at one point en route to a deserving result.

Dale Crispin's shot over the shoulder of Jets' goalie Tyler Comeau only 31 seconds into the final frame narrowed the Fenwick deficit to 3-2 and the equalizer at 5:08 came from a freshman defenseman, John Angelesco, who whipped home a drive from the left point that found its way through a bunch of traffic in front of Comeau.

"I never saw it go in," Angelesco said of his first varsity goal, "but it was a thrill to score."

It really wasn't over until it was over. The Fenwick "D" of James Gatuso and Angelesco and the pair of Steve O'Leary and Jake Bartolomeo did a good job of clearing the zone and O'Leary, in fact, made one of the huge saves of the first period, clearing a puck that was headed into an open net when Forrest was caught out of position.

Mizioch had Fenwick ahead, 1-0, after one, but at best it was a 50-50 period, Tierney indicated.

"We played well for about seven minutes, but the next seven belonged to Lynn and it was all Lynn in that second period," Tierney said. "We had to get back to fundamentals. It boiled down to that."

Liam Bransfield's loss (no edges on his skates) after two periods did leave the Jets with only two forward lines in the third period. Yes, the skate shop was closed.

Forrest's two phenomenal glove saves on McDaniel were a statement that the Crusaders have a pretty gritty guy in the net. Forrest is a keeper who gives plenty of confidence to a young roster (five seniors), but Tierney said it's hard to say this was Forrest's best game.

"Craig has played a lot of games like this in his two years," Tierney said.

The goalie laughed when told that Melanson said Forrest robbed the Jets on this occasion and wasn't sure how to respond.

"I've been seeing the puck better than before," Forrest said. "Some (saves) were just lucky (today). I reached back and hoped I had grabbed it. It was 3-3 and there's pressure. I couldn't let up anything. We had to go out and play our game in the third. My "D" was incredible and nobody got down."