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Saints' Cinderella run is over |
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Monday, 24 March 2008 |
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By ERIC BENEVIDES Sports writer PROVIDENCE --- The clock struck midnight on Cinderella.
In a span of less than 48 hours, St. Raphael Academy's dream season came to a sudden end in the Division II finals at Providence College's Schneider Arena, as Cumberland High swept their best-of-three series by netting a 5-3 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints, who turned in one of their worst performances of the season in suffering an 8-2 defeat in the series opener on Thursday night, did a turn for the better in the second game and gave the Clippers a spirited battle, but in a losing cause and ended their memorable season with an 11-12 record.
"We definitely did a better job today," said SRA coach Mark Anderson. "We played better defense and we took more quality shots. We came out fighting and tied it up at one point in the second period, but it seemed like every time we scored, we had a little bit of a letdown."
Down by a 3-1 score at the end of a period of play, the Saints tied the contest in the first 4:41 of the middle period on junior center Andrew Bettencourt's second goal of the afternoon and Tom Votta's score off a pass by Bettencourt, but the Clippers regained the lead a little over a minute later and iced the game midway through the third period on series MVP's Kyle McLaughlin's third goal of the contest.
"Cumberland really played well," added Anderson. "You can't take anything away from them. They have a really good program and they just wanted it a little bit more than we did. We fought hard to get here, and I'm proud of the way we played in the past few weeks. It was great to be here, but just showing up wasn't enough."
Last winter, the Saints made their first-ever trip to the state finals -- the Division III finals -- and they were swept in that series by North Kingstown High.
Instead of coming back for another shot at the title, the Saints, along with the Skippers, decided to make the move to the Division II circuit, and for good reason. The core of their squad were sophomores and freshmen, and most hockey enthusiasts expected them to take their lumps this season before making a playoff run in the 2008-09 campaign.
But last month, the Saints caught some fire and vaulted over Ponaganset High in the race for the sixth and last playoff berth. From there came their sweep of third-seeded NK in their quarterfinal-round series and a semifinal-round shocker over top-seeded Portsmouth High that was decided in three thrilling games.
After the Clippers quickly snuffed out the Saints' bid for a dream ending to their season, several SRA fans walked out of PC with their heads held high. Some of them were already talking about their team's prospects for next season and basically asking themselves the same two questions ...
Can the Saints make a return trip to PC next season? And if so, could their third time there be the charm?
Things should look good for the Saints next year. With all of the division's top teams losing several of their top players to graduation, the Saints will have three players picking up their diplomas in June -- Votta and hard-hitting defensemen Justin Rapp and Ethan Cooper. Rapp could not play in Saturday's game because he suffered a second-degree sprain to his left knee in the third period of Thursday's game.
Smithfield High, a squad loaded with sophomores and just three juniors, is losing just one senior (Joe Gonsalves) to graduation, but the Sentinels are expected to move up to the Division I-A ranks next season.
Bettencourt, who led the division with 31 goals scored, will be back for his senior season and lead a list of seasoned returnees that includes forwards Matt Tougas, Tyler Malo, Drew Given, and Dana Joseph, defensemen Dom Disano and Josh Gorton, and goaltender Joe Mello Jr.
"We have the core of the team coming back, so that's definitely going to help us next year," added Anderson. "I think we'll take a hit on defense with our graduates, but we'll be back."
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 29 March 2008 )
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