BELMONT – Trailing inside a marquee league matchup, he simply stored coming again for extra Wednesday night time.
It appeared Belmont senior Cam Fici was due for a rating after a bevy of fruitless bids in opposition to goalie Chris Hanifan and the red-hot Reading boys hockey staff. It felt nearly inevitable he’d get one.
Turns out, two labored even higher.
After falling behind within the second interval of a gut-wrenching, low-scoring affair at Skip Viglirolo Rink, the No. 6 Marauders (7-1-1) used a charged senior effort to rally during the last 16 minutes of play for a pivotal 3-1 win over the No. 4 Rockets (6-1).
Fici’s late empty-netter helped him rating twice within the third interval, including onto linemate Shay Donahue’s tying rating late within the second interval to offer greater than sufficient offense that Belmont would wish as Greg Federico (28 saves) starred in web.
Much of the spark got here in a serious momentum swing over the ultimate 30 seconds of the second interval, serving to Belmont bounce into the highest spot within the loaded Middlesex League Liberty division race. Add that to a nonleague win over BC High final week, and this one was massive for the Marauders.
“We always said we want to model our program after Reading,” mentioned Belmont coach Tim Foley. “It’s a great win for the program. … It’s just fun hockey. Middlesex League hockey is great hockey.”
As Hanifan (25 saves) seemed spectacular early to stave off a charged begin from Belmont, it seemed like Reading would be capable to edge out one other signature win when Ryan MacCurtain put the Rockets on the board first early within the second interval. Fici and the remainder of the Marauders assault introduced a load of harmful alternatives into Reading’s defensive zone, however the Rockets held true.
But simply not lengthy sufficient.
A cross-ice move from Peter Grace (three assists) set Donahue up properly for the tying objective with 27 seconds left within the second interval – an enormous momentum increase heading into the third interval by itself. But when Reading was referred to as for a excessive stick because the time expired, Belmont obtained the benefit it could want to leap forward.
Less than 40 seconds into the ultimate body, Fici lastly tallied a objective on the facility play from the appropriate faceoff circle to offer Belmont the 2-1 lead. Reading fired on all cylinders in response, even getting a little bit of a break when the Marauders headed to the field for a double-minor roughing penalty.
But an 11-6 shot benefit the remainder of the way in which was staved off by Federico’s efforts, and Belmont completed off the night time with out permitting a particular groups objective. The Rockets pulled Hanifan with a minute to go, and Fici took benefit with 13 seconds to play to offer him a fourth straight sport with a minimum of two factors.
“I just saw an opening I just couldn’t resist and so I just ripped it when I could,” Fici mentioned. “It’s a huge game … Reading’s historically been a great skating team. So we just came prepared. All the lines did their job tonight and we just kind of built off of the previous two games.”
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