Hawks complete sweep of Mounties for Championship Division title

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 3/29/16

For the fourth time in school history, Bishop Hendricken is the state hockey champion.

The Hawks erased a two-goal deficit in Game 1 against Mount St. Charles on Wednesday night, scoring three …

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Hawks complete sweep of Mounties for Championship Division title

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For the fourth time in school history, Bishop Hendricken is the state hockey champion.

The Hawks erased a two-goal deficit in Game 1 against Mount St. Charles on Wednesday night, scoring three unanswered goals to take the first game, 4-3, before powering past the top-seeded Mounties in a no-doubter, 4-0, to sweep the series on Saturday afternoon.

Hendricken skated away from the pack in the playoffs, but the regular season was an all-out battle in the Championship Division.

The Hawks endured their ups and downs and persevered through the parity within the division. Certainly, nothing came easy for Hendricken this season, making the title that much sweeter when everything was said and done.

“We didn’t have an easy game within our league,” Hendricken head coach Jim Creamer said. “It’s just a long year – we were sick, we were hurt. Everything just came together for us at the end.”

And Hendricken picked a good time to put together one of its most complete efforts of the year on Saturday.

After a scoreless first period, the Hawks exploded for three goals in the final five minutes of the second period, taking control of the game while completely depleting Mount’s confidence.

The first tally came from Pat Creamer, who one-timed a shot by Mount netminder Zachary Noke off of a nice feed out of the corner from Reilly Miller, giving Hendricken a 1-0 lead at 10:49 of the period.

Less than two minutes later, the Hawks’ top line was back at it. Pat Creamer broke down the right wing and got his shot turned aside, but he has the presence of mind to spin a pass towards the front, finding an open Andrew Hopgood for an easy tap in.

Things went from bad to worse for Mount a few seconds after the second goal, when defenseman Bruno Balkcom was sent to the box for holding.

Hendricken would capitalize. Hopgood parked himself right outside of the crease again, and it paid dividends.

A shot from the right point from Peter Krekorian rebounded off the right pad of Noke and found Hopgood, who was all alone, burying the second-chance opportunity into the cage to up his team’s lead to 3-0.

In the third period, it was visible that the Mounties had nothing left, with Hendricken using its depth to drain its opponent.

Mount’s chances were few and far between in the third period, but when it sent a shot on goal, Hawks’ netminder Wyatt Alberigo was there to turn it away. The senior went out with a bang, stopping all 28 shots that he faced in the game to secure the shutout, victory and state championship.

With Hendricken stifling Mount’s offense, Miller added an insurance tally late, getting loose for a breakaway and putting away his third goal of the series and 11th of the playoffs to make it 4-0. Pat Creamer and Krekorian picked up assists on the goal.

“We were going to go as far as [Miller] took us,” Jim Creamer said. “He put us on his back last Saturday, and he hasn’t stopped. It’s probably one of the best individual efforts that I’ve seen in my coaching career for one of my guys. He’s just done an absolutely incredible job. He’s just great to watch. He deserves all the credit he gets.”

For Miller, he just credited his play to being a leader for the team and wanting to step up in his final playoff run. He did just that.

“It was really just me being a senior and a captain, and just knowing that you have to give it everything you got because it’s coming to the end,” Miller said.

Miller sparked Hendricken in Game 1, too.

Just 17 seconds into the first period, Miller cleaned up his own rebound to give the Hawks an early lead.

Mount responded strong with three goals in less than two minutes at the beginning of the second period, getting a pair of goals from Joe Sanchioni and one from Brian Simpson to give the Mounties a two-goal lead, 3-1.

But the Hawks wouldn’t fold, with Michael Vendetti trimming the deficit in half less than two minutes later.

Miller would fully swing the momentum back in the Hawks’ favor in the final seconds of the period, when he poked the puck past a Mount defender in the neutral zone, breaking in on a 2-on-1. The lone Mount defender committed to the other Hendricken player and Miller kept it himself, deking around Noke for the goal that sent the teams to the locker room tied at 3.

A similar goal helped Hendricken secure the Game 1 win.

With more than 10 minutes gone in the third, Pat Creamer broke down the left wing on an odd-man rush. He was patient and let the play develop, before cutting to the middle and slipping a shot by Noke for the eventual game-winner.

Pat Creamer, in addition to scoring the decisive goal in Game 1, posted a 3-point night on a goal and two assists in Game 2. He would earn MVP honors for the series.

“I’m happy for everyone, all the seniors,” Pat Creamer said. “Everyone played their hearts out, and we got the result we wanted.”

The victory put the finishing touches on a great winter, as a whole, for Bishop Hendricken. In all, the Hawks took state championships in four of the five boys’ sports, winning hockey, basketball, swimming and wrestling.

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