Although the Cathedral High boy’s hockey team suffered its first loss of the season to Malden Catholic Thursday, the “sky is still the limit” for this team.
Cathedral High School's boy’s hockey team’s quest for an undefeated regular season came to a sudden halt with a 1-0 loss to Malden Catholic in the finals of the Cathedral Panthers Hockey Classic Thursday night, but that doesn’t diminish what the team has accomplished.
The Panthers ran through their first 20 games unblemished with a 16-0-4 record, ascended to the No. 1 ranking in Massachusetts before losing their first game and have earned the No. 2 seed in the the Division IA “Super Eight" tournament. They will face the winner of Monday's "Super Eight" play in game between No. 7 Archbishop Williams and No. 10 Malden Catholic next Sunday when the best-of-three first-round series at the Tsongas Center in Lowell begins.
“It’s been great so far, I couldn’t ask for a better start, beginning and almost end of the season,” said senior defenseman Matt Foley.
This season has been especially rewarding for the five seniors on the squad, Jack Williams, Dominic Blad, Artie Potter, Dominic Grilli and Foley, who were all part of last year's team that went 0-3 in the Super Eight.
The semifinals of the Cathedral Panthers Hockey Classic took place Wednesday and Cathedral cruised to a 10-2 win over Needham in a game that belonged to the seniors. It was senior night after all.
“There was five great kids that have been with the program for four years and this tournament, these two games are their last two games at the Olympia, so it’s an emotional two days,” said Panthers’ coach Brain Foley. “It’s hard to believe that it’s gone so quickly with the seniors. It’s amazing.”
The win was especially sweet for both of the Foley’s on the ice; coach Foley and his son, Matt.
“It’s just been great to have him as a part of the team,” coach Foley said. “I mean he’s been part of the team since he was a little kid. He’s been a water boy, a stick boy, whatever when he was eight years old. It will be different next year when he’s not around.”
But next year is still a season away and right now the focus is on this squad and its championship aspirations.
The Panthers boast a potent and dynamic offense, with eight players reaching double-digits in points. Peter Crinella has the most points with 22 goals, 15 assists and 37 points. His goal total is good for fifth-best in Western Massachusetts.
Other scoring threats and players with double-digit points include Blad, Foley, John Leonard, Potter, Williams, Bryce Peritz and D.J. Petruzzelli.
Despite their impressive offensive stats, Foley and Leonard’s primary job is to keep the other team from getting to goalie John Liquori.
When the puck does find Liquori, he has a knack for making saves with a combined total of 311 this season and a save percentage of .920.
It’s hard to believe that a team with this much talent and success could be considered an underdog, but according to coach Foley that’s how they are viewed by other teams. And that’s exactly how they like it.
“I think in general, being from the western part of the state maybe we’re not taken as seriously sometimes and even with our record that’s still the case,” he said. “We use that as motivation and I think that’s a good thing for us to be looked at as the underdog no matter how good our record is, we’re constantly looked at as the underdog and we enjoy that.
“We enjoy beating teams and looking at the looks on their faces after the game like they can’t believe it. That kind of motivates us.”
Cathedral finished with a 1-0-1 record against state power B.C. High, but after the teams played to a 2-2 tie on Feb. 7, Eagles coach John Flaherty told ESPN Boston: "If that’s the number one team in the state, we’re as good as them. We play a tougher schedule. I think we’re right there with them."
Foley said he isn’t concerned with how B.C. High views his team.
The motivation of being an underdog along with the Panthers' impressive skill will make it tough for any team to beat them going forward.
“This team could be so great. We’ve had so many great efforts, but it’s gonna take those efforts consistently moving forward in order to reach our goals," the younger Foley said, “but the sky’s the limit for this team, we can do whatever we want.”