BRIGHTON – Xaverian goalie Cole Pouliot-Porter wasn’t going to let a sensational effort all evening get wasted by a last-ditch comeback within the last minute.
Not in opposition to the Catholic Conference foe that beat him twice within the common season. Not with a spot within the Final Four on the road.
After already permitting a 6-on-5 aim to Catholic Memorial with simply 44 seconds left in a Div. 1 state quarterfinal matchup Wednesday evening at Warrior Ice Arena, the junior netminder had little imaginative and prescient in entrance of him when he in some way absorbed a shot from the purpose with 17.9 seconds remaining to carry onto a one-goal lead. It wasn’t the flashiest of the 44 saves he delivered in opposition to relentless strain by all three intervals, however it proved the largest to assist the seventh-seeded Hawks take down the No. 2 Knights, 2-1, to get again to the state semifinal spherical for a second straight 12 months.
The third time was the allure for Xaverian, and it strikes on to face No. 14 Reading for a spot at TD Garden this weekend.
“I knew I had to lock it down for these few seconds, that’s crucial for the team,” Pouliot-Porter stated. “Since the boys their job for me, I (had) to do my job for them. … Just got to keep calm under those situations, that’s what we train for. It’s what I play for Xaverian for. I’m not just doing it for myself, it’s for the boys in front of me. … It’s a great team win.”
Not many individuals exterior of its personal locker room had Xaverian pegged to get this far for a second straight 12 months after graduating 15 seniors, however the Hawks put their heads down and took benefit of no matter possibilities laid in entrance of them to maintain advancing.
This sport proved the epitome of that in entrance of a sold-out crowd. Catholic Memorial jumped throughout Xaverian from the opening faceoff with a storm of offensive strain, translating into 19 pictures on Pouliot-Porter within the opening body.
But as he pulled out his whole bag of strikes to dam pictures in entrance of each inch of the online, the opportunistic Hawks discovered a spot late within the first for a 1-0 lead. An unfortunately-timed CM line change freed up area down the left aspect, and a shot on Owen Watson ricocheted to a wide-open Colvin Callahan for a aim. The second interval noticed the same execution on a Knights mishap, with Jackson Morse choosing up a free puck off a turnover for a breakaway aim and a 2-0 lead early within the second.
“You’ve got to get the bounces, and we got our bounces today and we worked hard for it. We feel good about it,” stated head coach Dave Spinale. “I don’t mean it to sound like we got lucky, but at this time of year, things have to go your way. Things went our way tonight. … I thought we battled.”
Xaverian settled the CM storm during the last half-hour, however the Knights nonetheless produced a bevy of offensive possibilities to chop the deficit. That features a 2-on-1 late within the second that another goalie nearly assuredly would have let in after an ideal move throughout the crease, however it was Pouliot-Porter’s evening. He saved it with the glove.
Catholic Memorial placed on the late cost after pulling Watson with just below three minutes left, scoring when Anthony Pellitteri tipped in a shot from the purpose for some life. Again, although, it was Pouliot-Porter’s evening.
“Starting with Cole in the net tonight, there’s nothing much more I can say about how outstanding he was,” Spinale stated. “He was the difference, clearly. … Cole was just dialed in, that was the best I’ve seen him all year.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com