RallyNorth.net

Central breaks slump, wins tourney opener

Thursday, February, 25 By David Willis
Staff writer

STONEHAM — One thrilled fan could be heard loudly capturing the thoughts of every Central Catholic supporter last night.

“It’s about time,” he shouted with joy.

Struggling to find the back of the net throughout a tough February, the No. 2 Raiders broke out with a whopping four goals in the second period alone on the way to blasting No. 15 Medford 6-1 in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament last night.

Central (14-5-3) advances to the quarterfinals to face No. 10 Acton-Boxboro (10-8-2) on Saturday in Woburn. The Raiders dominated their only matchup with Acton-Boxboro this season, winning 7-2. No time has been announced.

“It’s no secret that we struggled to score goals down the stretch,” said Raiders head coach Mike Jankowski. “So I think this puts everyone in the right mind set, has everyone smiling and puts a nice hop in their step. It’s probably the best we’ve played since the last A-B game.”

Central had tallied a combined six goals in its previous three games (0-2-1 record), and had scored more than three goals just once since Jan. 27 (1-3-2 record).

“During that second period we started picking it up, putting some home and started to come together,” said senior tri-captain Nick Leonard, who assisted on three goals. “It was a real confidence builder after that last game (in the Super 8 play-in). It was a big game to get the momentum back finally.”

It was a pair of underclassmen that led resurgent Central’s charge. Sophomore superstar Tommy Evangelista continued to light the lamp, scoring a pair of goals and adding two more assists. He now has a team-high 19 goals for the season. He redirected on slapshot home for one score, and added a stellar goal when he picked up the puck at center ice, deked the goalie out of his skates left and found himself with a wide-open net.

Freshman Mike Kelleher also opened eyes, adding a pair of goals, matching his entire season total. Mike Bryant put the Raiders on the board when he buried a pass in front of the net, and Josh Gallagher chipped in the final goal.

“This was definitely big,” said Evangelista. “We had to move on from the last game and we connected well tonight. It was big for our confidence.”

The Raiders dominated possession, holding the puck in the Medford zone for much of the night while firing 49 shots on Medford netminder Mike Gendreau. Central allowed just 14 shots on the goalie combo of starter Kyle Williams and replacement Andrew DiDuca.

“It was tough to get off the schneid after the loss (in the Super 8),” said Jankowski. “We had to get up mentally and go ahead. We had our sights set so high, so it was hard to break though. But after the first period we got our legs under us and it was business as usual.”

 Having been eliminated from the Super 8, the Raiders expressed a new spirit going forward in the Division 1 North tourney.

“We wanted revenge for the bad loss to Winchester,” said Leonard. “We wanted to prove we’re not that kind of hockey team. Today we were finally moving the puck and playing it like we were supposed to. We want a state title.”