St. Mary's hockey reaches Kasabuski final: "SAUGUS -- Since coming to the Catholic Central League/Large, the St. Mary's hockey team had knocked off every team in the CCL except one: Austin Prep.
The Cougars had been the thorn in St. Mary's side in recent years but on Tuesday at Kasabuski Arena, the Spartans finally got that monkey off their backs.
James Perkins banged home the rebound of a Bucky Surette shot with 57.3 seconds left in overtime as the Spartans claimed a 2-1 win (a tie in the CCL and MIAA official standings) and a date with No. 1 ranked Malden Catholic in tonight's Division 1 final at the Kasabuski Christmas Classic. The Lancers defeated St. Bernard's, 18-0, in the other semifinal.
'I am very proud of how the guys never quit working,' St. Mary's coach Mark Lee said. 'We have an immense amount of respect for Austin Prep as a program and for us to get a win over a team like that when we don't play our best says a lot for the guys in our locker room.'
Despite outshooting AP 20-17 in the game, the Spartans (2-0-2) struggled to find their way at times on Tuesday and relied on solid goaltending from Donald Hesse to keep Austin from pulling out in front when they had control of the game for much of the first period and a half."
