Falcons Pull Away from Rivals (1/22/08)

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Trinity Catholic 4, Newton South 1: Falcons pull away from rivals By David Ostrowsky/DAILY NEWS CORRESPONDENT GateHouse News Service Tue Jan 22, 2008, 01:38 AM EST Short roster? What short roster? Trinity Catholic's boys hockey team proudly boasts 14 players on its active roster. They have four defenders, nine wings and one goalie. Yet at the annual Martin Luther King Day showdown with Newton South, Trinity looked every bit the team that has one of the best marks in all of Division III. But, they had to work for everything, just like it's been all season long. Yesterday at Ryan Arena, the Lions didn't make it easy for the Falcons, knotting things up at 1-1 after the first period. But Trinity scored thrice over the latter two periods, cementing a 4-1 victory to improve to 8-2-1. Trinity is three points shy of making its second consecutive postseason berth. ``I thought we played well, pretty disciplined. This is the best team we've ever had,'' Trinity coach John Devaney remarked about his team, currently in first place in the Central Catholic Small Division. Devaney has been the head coach at Trinity for 12 seasons. He and his staff are the only coaches Trinity hockey has ever known. Last year was the first time in eight seasons in which Trinity was able to make the MIAA tournament. ``We seem to be able to out skate a lot of teams. Our forwards are very fast,'' added Devaney. Trinity has been catapulted to the top of the Central Catholic Small Division largely because of the efforts from sophomore goal tender Sean Moccia. In his second year starting for the varsity, Moccia has been a stabilizing force in the net for a Falcons team that relies on keeping the penalties down and outhustling its opponents to cover up its lack of depth. TC got goals from Nick Bullens (first period) and Anthony Kontos (a second period strike that turned out to be the game winner). Brothers Tim and Matt Foley each scored a goal in the final 15 minutes for insurance. And while the shortage of man power has been a hindrance in some earlier games, overall Devaney believes the roster size ``hasn't really killed us this year.'' Newton South's Ben Tabb scored the Lions' only goal in the waning moments of the first period on an assist from Nate Grieb. The Lions drop to 1-11 and host Concord-Carlisle tomorrow at Ryan Arena (7:30 p.m.). ``Trinity Catholic was the better team,'' acknowledged South head coach Chris Ryberg. ``We played our game. Our kids played well for the most part. TC's well-coached.'' It came down to playing the full 45 minutes. ``They (TC) played three full periods. We didn't,'' added Ryberg. Ryberg was particularly pleased with senior Rob Poutas' play on defense and that the Lions were able to hang around for much of the game. Goalie Gabe Feldstein once again delivered a rock-solid performance, while South limited the traffic in front of him during the first two periods. South had its chances in the third period, including a couple of power plays, but was unable to capitalize. While South welcomes a familiar league foe in C-C tomorrow, TC creeps closer to playoff land when it travels to Rockport High (7 p.m.) tomorrow night. TC would love nothing more than to extend its winning streak to three after compiling back-to-back wins against South and first East Boston (a 7-4 home win Saturday night) With nine games remaining, spring hockey for the Falcons could be a reality.

Senior Captain Matt Foley Closes in on Trinity Catholic's All-Time Scoring Record. Daily News Tribune Photo by Lisa Cassidy