The Bishop Ryan Celtics will be making another appearance in the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic high school hockey finals -- their sixth in the past eight years.
Bishop Ryan punched its ticket again with a 4-0 semifinal victory over the Bishop Tonnos Titans at Morgan Firestone Arena Tuesday.
The Celtics will face the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals for the league crown on Feb. 20 at Mountain Arena.
Bishop Ryan, which finished first in the league standings with a record of 6-2, got off to a fast start against fourth-place Tonnos (2-5-1). Coach Justin Cannon's Celtics found the net three times in the first period. And their first goal -- by Brett MacQueen -- came 55 seconds after the opening faceoff.
"We talked in the dressing room before the game about putting on pressure right off the bat," Cannon said. "That's what we did. We scored early.
"We scored a couple more in the first to really take control of the game. After that, we just played shutdown hockey."
On BR's first goal, winger MacQueen stole the puck at the Tonnos blueline before racing towards the net, shooting and knocking in his own rebound.
"MacQueen is a big-time player," the Celtics coach said. "When he's on the ice you notice him. He creates opportunities. That was a big goal he scored, nice and early."
Other BR goals were shared by Ben Kingston, Marcus Muraco and Carter Breau.
"It was a hard-earned shutout and a hard-earned victory by the team," Bishop Ryan netminder Nicholas Lagges said. "It feels great.
"It was pretty quiet in the first and third periods, but we had a little trouble in our zone in the second."
Cannon pointed out that one particular stop by Lagges was key. "We scored first and on the very next shift they came down with a point-blank shot," he said. "That was a big save. If they score there it's a different hockey game."
Cannon said Tonnos had the upper hand in the middle frame.
"They turned up the gas and put a lot of pucks on net. Nicholas turned them away."
Lagges, who also plays U18 AA rep for the Glancaster Bombers, saw action with Bishop Ryan's junior championship team last year. This season, he and Justin Vidal share goaltending duties while two other goalies play just at tournaments.
"They are 1A and 1B," Cannon said of his goaltending duo. "I wouldn't say we have a second string. We actually went with Nicholas today because he played against BT both times this year. Another goalie hadn't seen them yet. It was the right decision."
Carter Breau capped the scoring on a 2-on-1 rush when he converted a crossing pass from Michael Alford.
Tonnos earned its semifinal berth with a 4-3 quarter-final decision over the fifth-place St. Mary Crusaders.
In their two regular-season meetings this year, Newman won 3-1 before BR bounced back with a 3-0 win.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
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