The key difference between last week’s 2-2 result and Wednesday’s dominant showing? A smaller crowd and the fact that it wasn’t senior night, St. John’s Coach Gregg Marinari said. Without the nerves of playing in front of a packed house, the Cadets played with more freedom, which was reflected in a passing game that flummoxed Gonzaga.
“Especially for us seniors, this could be the last time we play Gonzaga ever,” said forward Connor Hall, who had a hat trick. “So I feel like we were really fired up about that. And especially what happened on senior night, tying them, which is not the outcome we wanted, the guys just really came together and got ready for this game.”
The win left the Cadets (17-4-4) atop the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and the Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League. The WCAC playoffs start next week; MAPHL action begins a week later. Gonzaga fell to 17-6-1 and certainly will be in the postseason mix. Hall might yet get another chance at the Eagles.
The Cadets came out fast Wednesday, scoring the first two goals before Roman Villegas got Gonzaga on the board with a power-play strike.
Hall took command of the contest in the second period, scoring on a breakaway with a shot that bounced off the crossbar. He struck again off a pass from Colin Doherty, letting loose from the faceoff dot for a 4-1 lead.
Gonzaga answered before the second intermission to cut its deficit to two. Cadets senior forward Carter Johnson knew his team would need a strong third period to win.
“They always come out strong, so we needed to match their energy at the beginning of the game and then just carry that for all three periods,” Johnson said. “To get them down and then for us to take advantage of that is always going to be big against a team like that.”
Johnson took on the task himself, scoring early in the third for a 5-2 lead. From there, St. John’s owned the ice, scoring twice more for good measure before the final buzzer.
But as they look forward to the playoffs, when crowds will grow and nerves will inevitably return, senior defenseman Kelly Thompson said the Cadets are focused on getting their younger teammates ready for the moment.
“You can feel the nerves,” Thompson said. “But that fires you up. That gets you going. … Make a simple play, a big hit, big blocked shot, the crowd’s going to go crazy, and that will help you win the game.”