St. Paul's captains Tim Prey (left) and Chris Wilson accept the MIAA B Conference championship plaque from MIAA Executive Director Rick Diggs. The Crusaders won their first crown since the 2004-05 season with a 9-2 victory over St. Mary's.
It wasn't as easy as their record may indicate, but the 2007-2008
St. Paul's School ice hockey season will certainly be remembered for its sheer dominance over its MIAA B Conference opponents and, now, a league championship.
The Crusaders broke a 2-2 tie midway through the second period and never looked back, scoring seven goals in the final 25 minutes of regulation to cruise past St. Mary's, 9-2, in the title game Friday afternoon at Piney Orchard Ice Arena in Odenton. It's the first hockey crown for the Brooklandville school since the 2004-2005 season.
“I am really happy for the guys, and I’m a little relieved. We kind of felt like if we didn’t do this, we would feel like hockey’s version of the [New England] Patriots,” said Crusaders' head coach Eric Nordstrom. “We talked about taking one game at a time in the playoffs knowing that anything can happen, and thankfully we won.”
Sophomore forward Patrick Powderly led St. Paul's (16-1-1) with four goals and three assists. Sophomore forward Eric Schiech and junior forward David Fleishman also added two goals apiece, while senior forward Chase Fuchs had a score and an assist for the Saints (7-7-2).
St. Paul's sophomore goalie Ty Kapp was outstanding in front of the net, tallying a total of 44 saves. Senior John Cornwell had 32 stops for St. Mary’s.
Trailing 2-1 entering the second period, St. Mary’s quickly knotted up the game with junior forward Charlie Bueneman’s power play goal with 11 minutes, 52 seconds remaining. A minute later, Powderly fed Schiech for a power play goal, opening the floodgates.
“It's an unbelievable feeling. This was for our seniors, our senior captain Chris Wilson worked his tail of for us and he showed his heart today,” said Powderly. “Our first three lines just played unbelievable throughout and our goalie played outstanding with only letting in two goals on that many shots.”
After the early second period goal, Kapp completely shut down the Saints' attack with an assortment of glove and kick saves.
“I was pretty nervous in the first and second period to be honest. But I can’t tell you how many times we just got their sticks up to take away shots which made it a lot easier for me,” said Kapp. “We worked hard for this all year and put in a lot of time and effort and this is a great way for our seniors to finish out their high school hockey careers.”
The Crusaders will return the majority of their starting line and Kapp in goal. They'll be the favorites heading into next season.
“We will have another year of maturity with these guys and we return Pat [Powderly] who’s a thoroughbred that no one can match, and Ty [Kapp] who is the best goalie you will see in the B Conference for many years,” said Nordstrom, whose team gradautes three seniors. “Anything can happen in this conference, and I don’t remember the last time someone has won back-to-back championships, but that will certainly be our goal.”
MIAA B Conference hockey championship
at Piney Orchard Ice Arena
St. Paul's 9, St. Mary's 2
St. Mary’s 1 1 0-2
St. Paul's 2 3 4-9
First Period: St. Mary’s, 8:27, Goal: Fuchs, Assists: Bell, Otell; St. Paul's, 6:07, Goal: Powderly, Assists: Prey, Burton; St. Paul's, 5:08, Goal: Powderly, Assists: Prey, Breckler.
Second Period: St. Mary’s, 11:52, Goal: Bueneman, Assist: Fuchs; St. Paul's, 10:34, Goal: Schiech, Assist: Powderly; St. Paul's, 8:33, Goal: Braig, Assists: Schiech, Powderly; St. Paul's, 6:29, Goal: Schiech, Assist: Powderly.
Third Period: St. Paul's, 14:29, Goal: Fleishman, Assist: Burton; St. Paul's, 10:32, Goal: Powderly, Assist: Scheener; St. Paul's, 4:02, Goal: Fleishman, Assist: Burton; St. Paul's, 0:19, Goal: Powderly, Assist: Prey.