By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

WARWICK --- A close game for a period. A runaway after that.
Mount St. Charles Academy broke open a tight battle by scoring three times and outshooting La Salle Academy by a 14-2 margin in the second period of their Division I game at Thayer Arena, a 7-0 triumph that kept the defending state champions unbeaten at 5-0 (8-0 overall).
The Mounties, who were fresh off winning their Face-Off Classic last week at Adelard Arena, notched four power-play goals at the Rams’ expense and ended the game with a 33-9 advantage in shots on goal, which was much to the delight of assistant coach Dave Belisle.
“Our forecheck is the key to our team,” added Belisle. “I thought we played the body very well, which created some turnovers and some penalties, and that helped us get those power-play goals. Our aggressiveness was the key.”
The Mounties received a solid game from junior Shane Dunphy, who netted two of the power-play scores, and freshman standout Nicholas Bennett, who added an unassisted goal and two assists.
Senior captain Kyle Beauchamp also scored the only goal his team needed 6:10 into the game and added an assist, but the player who received the bulk of the praise afterwards from Belisle was senior goalie Jason SanAntonio, who made a few quality stops among the nine he had.
“I thought Jay played extremely well, especially when we were struggling at the end of the first period,” said Belisle. “We have a lot of confidence in Jay, and our defense feels like they have someone back there that they can trust. You don‘t see it in the score because we won 7-0, but Jay played very well.”
Even though the Mounties won by a lopsided score, Belisle wasn’t all grins and smiles with his team’s play, especially after Beauchamp’s goal, a power-play score that was set up nicely by the first of multiple assists by both Jim Golden and Dustin Picard.
“I thought we came out strong and got a nice power-play goal, but after we dominated those first six minutes, I thought we went flat, which was very unusual,” said Belisle. “That’s what I was upset about. We gave up odd-man rushes, like three or four of them in a row, because we weren’t aggressive.”
Belisle read his team the riot act on their bench in between periods, and the Mounties instantly responded in the second period.
At 2:35, Evan Hoffman doubled the Mounties’ lead with his team-leading seventh goal of the year by tapping in the rebound of a slap shot by Picard. That was a power-play goal, as was the Mounties’ next score at 9:36, which saw Dunphy beat La Salle netminder Joe DiBiase with a nasty slap shot.  
A little over two minutes later, Tim Doyle helped the Mounties roll into the break with a 4-0 lead by finding the back of the goal on a 2-on-1 breakaway with Tim Coffey.
Dunphy’s second goal of the night came 2:27 into the final period, and after
Zach Samborsky flipped in the rebound of his own shot midway through the period, Bennett capped the scoring with 1:30 on the clock.
The Mounties return to action tonight with a 9 p.m. contest at home against Toll Gate High, and next weekend, they will fly to Minnesota for a pair of tough tests against two of the state’s premier teams --- the Academy of Holy Angels and Shattuck/St. Mary’s.
“I’m extremely happy with our start,” added Belisle. “Believe it or not, we only have three seniors. We’re still a young team, but this team is jelling extremely well. We’re jelling, we‘re working, and I‘m very pleased with the way we‘re playing.”
***
Mount St. Charles   1 - 3 - 3 -- 7
La Salle   0 - 0 - 0 -- 0
First period: MSC -- Kyle Beauchamp (Dustin Picard, Jim Golden), power play, 6:10.
Second period: MSC -- Evan Hoffman (Dustin Picard, Jim Golden), power play, 2:35; MSC -- Shane Dunphy (Nicholas Bennett, Trevor Plante), power play, 9:36; MSC -- Tim Doyle (Tim Coffey, Nicholas Bennett), 11:45.
Third period: MSC -- Shane Dunphy (Kyle Beauchamp), power play, 2:27; MSC -- Zachary Samborsky (John Lace), 7:38; MSC -- Nicholas Bennett (unassisted), 13:30.
Shots on goal: Mount St. Charles 33, La Salle 9. Goalie saves: MSC -- Jason San Antonio (9 saves); LS -- Joe DiBiase (26 saves).