JV Wins CCHL DiCristina Cup

The junior varsity Friars hockey team captured the DiCristina Cup with a 2-game sweep of St. Ignatius last night 4-1. Two goals by Will Pabst (2 G, 1 A, GWG), one by Justin Pinkowski (1 G), and one by Santino Carideo (1 G) backed by outstanding goaltending by Jack McDowell (15 saves) proved to be too much for the Wolfpack. Charlie Bastedo, David Schubkegel, Jack Pasternak, and Matthew Brown had assists in the championship game.

The Friars won the first game in the best-of-three series at Ridgeland after surrendering the first goal of the game to the Wolfpack with 8:23 remaining in the first period. But the Friars answered three minutes later and in the second and third periods also to claim the 3-1 victory. Defenseman Christopher Godellas (3 A, PMG) was everywhere.

In the first period, he chased down a loose puck and made a terrific centering pass to an undetected slot-cutting Matthew Brown (1 G), who chipped in the Friars first goal with 5:05 remaining to play. On a power play in the second period, after a feed from David Schubkegel (1 A), Godellas took a blast from the point before his shot was subsequently tipped into the net by Charlie Bastedo (1 G, PPG, GWG). To put the game out of reach, Justin Pinkowski (1 G, ENG) made some nifty moves around a few Wolfpack defenders and added an empty-net goal on an assist from Godellas with 0:09 to play. Goaltender Jack McDowell had 21 saves in the game that included a beauty on a Wolfpack breakaway with 110 seconds remaining to play. That maintained the Friars’ 1-goal lead until Pinkowski’s handiwork.

Unfortunately, the Friars’ single-elimination state tournament run did not get past the first round of play for the junior varsity team. In a very different-looking game that featured a controversial goal allowed with 3:14 remaining to play, the Friars fell to Lincoln-Way 4-2 (ENG). Bastedo (1 G, PPG) scored the game’s first goal with 7:14 remaining in the first period on a power play with assists from Schubkegel (1 A) and Godellas (1 A). Will Pabst (1 G, PPG) scored on an unassisted power-play goal with 12:44 remaining in the third period. Officially, McDowell had 19 saves in the game, but goalie-cam video clearly showed that it should have been 20 in a contest that may have otherwise gone to overtime to ultimately determine the winner.