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Central dominates Super 8 opener

Sunday, March, 05 By David Willis
Staff writer

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.

“We had to take a good, hard look in the mirror after that loss,” admitted Central senior Matt O’Rourke. “It was humbling. After that game we came out and did everything we needed to do have a big week of practice. By the time the game got here, we felt mentally prepared and physically prepared to win.”
Once the puck dropped, the Raiders proved the postseason would be a very different story.
O’Rourke gave Central Catholic the lead late in the first period, then dynamic sophomore Sean Brown scored twice in less than three minutes to send the No. 6 Raiders to a lopsided 5-0 upset victory over No. 3 Pope Francis in the first game of the teams’ best-of-3 Super 8 first-rofirsund series.
“We knew we had to make this game count,” said Brown. “The whole team was confident even after the two losses, and we just had to remember we can beat anyone. We just had to play our game, and we did that.”
Central will now look to sweep the series when the two teams meet again on Tuesday at the Chelmsford Forum (5 p.m.) A victory would send the Raiders to the Super 8 semifinals for the second time in program history, and first time since 2012. A loss would lead to a decisive third game.
“We are feeling great,” said goalie Matt Pasquale. “We are a resilient team, and we were confident. We put the past behind us, got the win, and now we are ready for Tuesday.”
After back-and-fourth play to start the game, O’Rourke gave Central Catholic the lead with 3:26 to go in the first with his second goal of the season, sending a shock through the confident Cardinals fans.
“We got the puck off the wall and Cam (Stanisewski) made a great pass to me,” said O’Rourke. “I got a good bounce and I put it in. It was probably the best feeling of my life.”
 Brown then added to that advantage with 0:45 left in the first with an acrobatic goal, spinning in front of the goalie and backhanding it in.
“It was a spin-o-rama,” Brown said with a laugh. “I didn’t even see it go into the goal. That goal got me going and made me feel like I was helping the team win. It also gave us momentum.”
Brown struck again just over two minutes into the second, picking up a loose puck and going top-shelf for the goal that knocked the Pope Francis starting goalie out of the game. It was Brown’s 10th goal of the season.
Already firmly in control, Central continued to add to the lead. Thomas Manty notched his 10th score of the year with 2:03 to go in the third, and 4:17 into the third Will Winship scored his team-best 13th goal of the year to close out the scoring.
“We did a good job of playing out system,” said Raiders first-year coach Kim Brandvold. “We probably did a better job of it than we have in the past against them and that helped a lot.”
Meanwhile, Pasquale (29 saves) was delivering a dominant performance in net.
The sophomore turned in the save of the day early. He fell on his side after one save, but was still able to throw his glove in the air to knock away the puck. He added a huge left pad save on a breakaway in the second, and in the third he was able to turn away a shot after losing his stick.
“He is an amazing goalie,” said Brown. “He’s a brick wall back there. When we make mistakes, he bails us out all the time. He’s great.”
The Raiders will now look to end the series on Tuesday, and set up a semifinal matchup with the winner of either Malden Catholic vs. Marshfield or Arlington vs. Hingham, depending on seedings.
“We’re so excited,” said O’Rourke. “Now we just have to get prepared on Monday to close it out on Tuesday.”