By Larry Moko
Only one goal was scored during the Newman vs. More boys' high school hockey playoff game, but it was a beauty.
Left winger Matteo Iovio fired a perfectly-placed shot high into the short side of the net to give the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals a 1-0 victory over the St. Thomas More Knights.
That marker came in the first period.
In the opening half of Thursday's semifinal doubleheader at Morgan Firestone Arena there was much more scoring -- the Bishop Ryan Celtics defeated the St. Mary Crusaders, 12-1.
Newman and Bishop Ryan will play for the 2025-26 Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic championship at Mountain Arena on Thursday, Feb. 19.
"That was a great shot by Matteo," Newman coach Matt Pritchard said. "I said to him on the bench 'that's a goal-scorer's goal.'"
According to what Pritchard was told, as Iovio was coming down the wing, he saw a little hole open up and figured he'd throw a puck on net.
"It was perfect," Pritchard said. "Right over the shoulder, off the bar and in."
Iovio has only appeared in four games for the Cardinals this season.
"Michael is playing Triple A for Niagara North," the Newman coach explained. "He's a good player but his schedule has conflicted with ours a lot. He played in enough games, though, to qualify for playoffs.
"He really came through big for us today, scoring the only goal of the game which was also the game winner."
Goaltenders Anthony Bukvic of More and Michael Matakovic of Newman each were called upon at times to make key saves.
"Michael is only in Grade 10," Pritchard said. "It's his second year playing with us but he looked like a four-year veteran out there.
"He's very calm and composed in the net. He was a big part of the win today and a big part of our season in general."
Newman finished second in the regular-season standings (5-3-2) and received an opening-round playoff bye along with first-place Bishop Ryan. Third-place More (3-2-5) earlier this week won its quarter-final, 4-2, over the St. Jean de Brébeuf Braves.
"It felt like Newman carried the play more than us," Knights coach Gino Leone said. "We weren't getting traffic in front. A lot of our shots were going high and missing the net. We didn't test the goalie enough."
Newman won its first meeting with More this season, 5-1, and the teams tied 4-4 in a rematch.
Overall, the Cardinals hadn't won in four games (two losses, two ties) entering the semifinal.
Said Pritchard: "We started out really well this year, but then we went on a bit of a slide. There's no better time to get back on a winning streak than at playoff time. We looked really good out there today."
In the earlier game, the Celtics got three goals by Ethan Zivanovich. Henry Barrett, Boston Strauch, and Mason Hunks each scored twice while singles went to Levi Snider, Marcus Muraca and Brady Guimond.
Caden Okis replied for the Crusaders.
"That's nine straight wins for us after a tough start to our season," Celtics coach Justin Cannon said. "We lost our first two games.
"The guys have worked hard to turn it around."
Cannon said it was simply an "off day" for St. Mary.
"They're a good hockey team," the Celtics coach said. "We played them twice this year and they were both close games."
Fourth-place St. Mary (4-4-2) will play a Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference AA championship game against Aldershot on Thursday, March 5.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
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