By Larry Moko
The regular season of boys' high school hockey ended with a nail-biter for the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals.
Newman eked out a 3-2 victory over the Bishop Tonnos Titans despite skating to a three-goal lead and appearing to have the game well in hand at Morgan Firestone Arena Monday.
With the victory, the Cardinals (5-3) locked up second place in the five-team Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic standings. Tonnos (2-4-1) and the defending champion St. Thomas More Knights (3-4) meet Wednesday to conclude the schedule with the winner taking third place.
The Bishop Ryan Celtics (6-2) defeated the St. Mary Crusaders, 4-1, in Monday's other contest to finish in first. St. Mary (2-5-1) will play a quarter-final on Feb. 11 against the loser between Tonnos and More.
Semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 13.
"Our guys saw a 3-0 lead and let up a little," Newman coach Matt Pritchard said. "Tonnos definitely earned their two goals and fought back. Luckily, we got a couple of big saves from our goalie, Alessio Menegazzo. He saved the day for us."
The Titans had a golden opportunity to tie the score when they were on a power play for the final two minutes. And during that time they also pulled goaltender Tad Boyko in favour of a sixth attacker.
A glove-hand grab by Menegazzo prevented an open slapshot from entering the net with 31 seconds on the clock.
"I thought we played great in the first and second period," Pritchard said. "If (Tonnos) would have beaten us and won their last game they would have passed us for second place."
Brett Parker opened the scoring on the rush when he shifted around a defenceman and raced in alone before tucking the puck in with a quick deke.
Ryder Drennan then padded the lead with a high short-side shot from an angle.
Wi Walihura made it 3-0 by tapping the puck into the open side after a brief Newman flurry around the net.
"Ryder and Wil are both Grade 12 guys who we lean on pretty heavily," the Cardinals coach said. "They came through today scoring a couple of nice goals."
Another veteran, captain Nolan Methot, added a pair of assists.
Only five seconds remained in the second period when Tonnos finally got on the scoreboard. Matthew Jurcic's point shot from a faceoff was deflected in by centre Josh Aube.
An individual effort on the rush by Liam Solly then capped the scoring with six minutes, 22 seconds remaining.
"Goaltending for sure was our saving grace," Tonnos coach Paul Coyle said. "We had a short bench. A bunch of our guys didn't make it today."
Coyle says there's quite a few house league players on the team this year rather than rep and they have performed well.
In girls' action, Bishop Ryan completed an undefeated regular season (7-0-1) with a 3-2 decision over St. Mary and Tonnos topped Newman, 3-1.
The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic girls' and boys' hockey championship games are scheduled on Feb. 19 and 20th, respectively. Both will be held at Mountain Arena.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
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