CANTON — Despite a daunting start to its hockey campaign, Catholic Memorial seems to be peaking at precisely the right time. The Knights have had plenty of contributions, but one rising star has really stood out during their recent stretch.
Sophomore Nick D’Olympio continued his breakout season, registering a hat trick as Catholic Memorial recorded one of its most crucial wins with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Archbishop Williams at the Canton Sportsplex.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” said Catholic Memorial coach Larry Rooney. “This is a smaller rink, this is their home barn. Three o’clock game, our rhythm was off a little bit. To come in here and get that win is a big deal for us.”
The game was expected to be a clash, with Archbishop Williams (13-3-0) being seeded second in the MIAA’s latest Div. 1 boys hockey ratings. Meanwhile, Catholic Memorial (10-5-3) entered as the No. 5 team, looking to continue its latest tear against a premier foe. The Knights drew first blood with 11:34 to play in the opening period, as Cameron Reed fed a pass to D’Olympio in front of the Bishops’ net. The sophomore ripped a shot into the twine, as CM seized a 1-0 lead.
However, Archbishop Williams answered. Just 1:37 later, a shot by junior Finn Kelly skipped high in the air, and fell gracefully into the net amid traffic. In a sudden twist, the Bishops had evened the score at 1-all.
With about eight minutes to go in the second period, D’Olympio buried his second goal to provide the Knights a 2-1 advantage.
“We knew how they play,” said D’Olympio. “We know what they do well, what they do wrong. We just had to counter that. They’re an offensive team. We’re both, so we just had to make sure we were strong on both sides of the ice.”
Archbishop Williams found an equalizer off the stick of Patrick Hampton to conclude the second, as the junior tallied a goal to even the score at 2-2.
After drawing a slashing penalty, Catholic Memorial embarked on a power play with 15:56 remaining. With one second left on the man advantage, junior Luke Long slid a shot home, putting the Knights ahead, 3-2. They would tack on one more power play goal with 4:55 left, as D’Olympio corralled a pass from Connor Fryberger, then fired a laser into the cage to complete the hat trick, effectively sealing the win.
Cameron Reed tallied three assists for CM. Facing a team averaging 5.3 goals per game, junior goaltender Ryan Littlefield stood on his head to pick up the win for the Knights.
Senior defenseman TJ Cooper added a goal for Archbishop Williams, while senior left winger Matthew Deminico finished with two assists.
Catholic Memorial is now 4-0-1 over its last five contests, with wins over noteworthy opponents such as BC High, Malden Catholic and St. John’s Prep.
With three games left in the regular season, the Knights could be poised to unleash some damage with the Div. 1 playoffs looming.
“I think we have a very tight group year in and year out,” Littlefield said. “The coaches try to instill a lot of character into us, and that really helps us in the tough times of the season. So we’re always able to bounce back from hard times. I think that’s going to help us in the long run.”
