Gonzaga ice hockey hands Calvert Hall first loss of season

For the Calvert Hall Hall ice hockey team, the transition to first-year coach Mike Woodward has been smooth. It took 15 games before the Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season.

Gonzaga, of Washington D.C., beat Calvert Hall, 4-2, Friday night at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena on senior night in front of an overflow crowd.

Playing with so much emotion lead to a subpar performance for Calvert Hall, Woodward said.

“What it really came down to was the energy in the building,” the coach explained. “Our kids got really excited about the big crowd. It was tough to harness that energy. We took some penalties we normally don’t take. Those penalties really caught up to us. Our guys were wore down by the end of the game.”

Calvert Hall had five penalties for 13 minutes, including a five-minute boarding call.

“We got off our game plan and against a good team like Gonzaga, you have to play 45 minutes the right way,” Woodward said of the defending Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League champions.

Calvert Hall blanked Gonzaga, 4-0, in a Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League game on Jan. 7 in D.C.

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The rematch Friday was a non-league game. Senior forward Ryan Dieter scored two goals for Calvert Hall. Senior forward Ivan Yuryev assisted on both goals.

Senior forward Patrick Fergus had two goals and an assist for the winners.

It didn’t take long for the Eagles (17-2-2) to make their presence felt.

Mackie Wheeler beat goalie Michael Finn on a wrist shot to left corner of the goal with 11:32 remaining in the first period.

Calvert Hall made it 1-1 about three minutes later, taking advantage of a 2-on-1 break.

After Yuryev fed Dieter, he drew netminder Jalen Greene out of the goal and deaked him for an easy score.

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With 42 seconds left in the first period, Joe Sciliano gave Gonzaga a 2-1 advantage.

Late in the second period, Gonzaga had an excellent chance to add to its lead with a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly two minutes, but excellent play from Jed Manning and Ryan Camille helped kill off the penalties.

The Eagles went ahead 3-1 early in the third period on a Fergus' first goal.

But that score didn’t deflate the Cardinals. They kept up the pressure on Gonzaga.

Dieter cut the lead to 3-2 on another 2-on-1 break.

Woodward pulled Finn with 1:30 remaining to make the play 6-on-5 and the Eagles made them pay as Fergus scored an empty-net goal 55 seconds later.

“At the end of the day, we tried to keep things simple,” Gonzaga coach Bill Slater said. “It’s about winning the small battles and we did for the most part.”

Gonzaga ice hockey hands Calvert Hall first loss of season

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