January 23

Spartans overtake AC, take control of CCL Large

By Kevin Doyle / For The Item

Stymied throughout by the unyielding play of Arlington Catholic goaltender Jon-Michael Busa, time was running out on the St. Mary's hockey team's bid to seize full control of the Catholic Central Large race Saturday night at Ed Burns Arena in Arlington.

Despite a clear territorial advantage that would eventually lead to a 30-12 advantage in shots against the reigning Division One state champs, the Spartans were unable to break down Busa for more than 41 minutes. That's when the trio of Chris Surrette, Cam Kennedy and James Perkins took charge, producing Surrette's sixth and seventh goals of the year - including the game-winner with 59 seconds to play - and a crucial 2-1 win that put St. Mary's on the fast track to the league title.

With two league games remaining, the Spartans stand at 5-0-3 (7-1-3 overall) and will claim the crown with wins against Matignon on Wednesday and Archbishop Williams on Feb. 2.

"This is our biggest win of the year to date. I thought we outplayed them, but Busa was outstanding and stopped a couple of breakaways. But, we kept the pressure on throughout and I'm very pleased with the effort. To come from behind and win at this rink speaks volumes about our character as a team," said St. Mary's coach Mark Lee.

The host Cougars grabbed a 1-0 lead at 5:52 of the first period when Dan Graham converted a set-up by Shaun Teeven and Jon Byrne for his league-best 17th goal of the year, the only puck that would find its way past Spartans keeper Donald Hesse (11 saves). The senior has been next to unbeatable recently and entered the game with three straight shutouts and four in his last five outings.

"Donald's been outstanding, playing the way everyone expected him to," said Lee.

On the game-tying goal, Perkins sent the puck back to Kennedy at the point and Surrette was perfectly positioned in the low slot to tip the puck past Busa.

The game-winner came in transition with Kennedy's breakout pass sending Perkins through neutral ice and away on a 2-on-1 with Surrette. Perkins flipped a pass to Surrette, who ripped a mid-range shot past Busa with 59 seconds left.

"That was a beautiful pass and a very pretty goal," said Lee.

The Spartans head south for a non-league clash at Coyle-Cassidy tonight (8 p.m.)