BISHOP RYAN​​ CELTICS

CELTICS DISMANTLE CRUSADERS TO WIN BACK TO BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

The Celtics returned to the Championship, and once again faced the St. Marys Crusaders for the 5th time in 6 years, with St. Marys winning the first 3 meetings (4-3 4/OT, 3-1, 2-1 OT respectively), and Bishop Ryan winning last year 5-4 in overtime.

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The Celtics came into this game looking to be the first team in Bishop Ryan history to win the Varsity Hockey Championship in 2 consecutive seasons. The boys had one mindset since training camp back in October, win.

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The boys jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead 5 minutes into the game off the stick of Gianluca Muraca, and before the 1st period ended, Chris Lamont scored shorthanded, his 2nd goal in as many games, to give the Celtics a 2-0 lead.

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The second period started off much the same as Sean Underhill, back from a shoulder injury, found the back of the net to extend the lead to 3-0, and Ryan Wercholaz scored on his second breakaway attempt in the same shift to lift the Celtics to a commanding 4-0 lead.

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However, the Crusaders were not about the lay down. The Celtics seemed to feel a little too relaxed and the Crusaders jumped on a quick turnover and took it down the ice on a breakaway to finally get on the scoreboard. Only 23 seconds later the Crusaders flew down the wing and fired a shot over Celtic goaltender, Alessio Veysey's shoulder to cut the lead in half. The Crusader onslaught would continue as 1:05 later they would strike again to cut the lead to 4-3, capping off a 3 goal outburst in 1:28 quieting the Celtic crowd and prompting the Celtic bench to call a timeout. The teams would head into the 2nd intermission with the score still 4-3.

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Once again, Captain Nathan Jones had his players only meeting before the coaches entered the room, and the rest you can say is history.

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The Celtics came out in the 3rd period with one mindset, win. Four minutes into the 3rd period Ethan Ferreira scored to extend the lead to 5-3. Three minutes later Sean Underhill found the back of the net with his second of the game to give the Celtics a 6-3 lead, and with 2:29 left on the clock, Ethan Ferreira would score his second of the game to put the final dagger on the scoreboard and give the Celtics a dominating 7-3 lead.

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With the clock ticking down, the Celtics sent out all of the captains to kill the clock and start the celebration, and what a celebration it was. As the clock counted down, the Celtics bench and the Celtic fans erupted as the gloves and sticks flew and the celebration began.

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The Celtics completed their Back to Back Championship run going a combined 10-1-1 on the season (including playoffs), after going a combined 7-1-0 last year. 

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The boys worked hard all year, and even battled through adversity just to reach the finals. They deserve this celebration and to be crowned the first team in Bishop Ryan history to win Back to Back Hockey Championships!

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Next up for the Celtics is the GHAC Championships against the winner of the Halton Leagues on Wednesday March 8. The winner of this game will earn a berth in the Provincial OFSAA Championships.​

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SCORING SUMMARY​

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Period 1

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BR (1-0): Gianluca Muraca (8) 9:50

Assisted by: Ethan Ferriera, Owen Hunks

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BR (2-0): Chris Lamont (6) 7:34 SH

Assisted by: Ben Fox

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Period 2

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BR (3-0): Sean Underhill (10) 12:02

Assisted by: Ben Fox, Owen Hunks

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BR (4-0): Ryan Wercholaz (3) 8:32

Assisted by: James Monaghan, Carter MacQueen

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MARY (4-1): 5:07

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MARY (4-2): 4:43

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MARY (4-3): 3:38

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Period 3

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BR (5-3): Ethan Ferreira (7) 10:45

Assisted by: Gianluca Muraca

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BR (6-3): Sean Underhill (11) 7:24

Assisted by: Jake Farr, Nathan Jones

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BR (7-3): Ethan Ferreira (8) 2:29

Assisted by: Gianluca Muraca, Owen Hunks

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FINAL SCORE

BISHOP RYAN 7

St. Marys 3

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PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ethan Ferreira

CELTIC WARRIOR: Sean Underhill

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CELTICS WIN SECOND-STRAIGHT BOYS' HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

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By Larry Moko

The Bishop Ryan Celtics are Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic boys’ high school hockey champions for a second-straight year and for Sean Underhill it was an encore performance.

“I decided to come back for Grade 13 this year and do it again,” the Celtics veteran said after helping BR to a 7-3 victory over the St. Mary Crusaders at Mountain Arena Wednesday.

“This means a lot. A handful of us, maybe five or six, decided to come back because we wanted another win.”

The game marked the fifth time in the past six years that the Celtics and Crusaders have opposed each other in the final.

Underhill scored a pair of goals for the first-place Celtics who built a four-goal lead before St. Mary battled back impressively to make the score 4-3 going into the third period.

Ethan Ferreira also fired a pair of goals for Bishop Ryan, while singles went to Gianluca Muraca, Chris Lamont and Ryan Wercholaz.

Caden Okis, Aiden Parise and Owen Bezan replied the second-place Crusaders.

Bishop Ryan coach Justin Cannon said the return of Underhill to the lineup after a 10-day absence due a shoulder injury was inspirational to the rest of the players.

“Having him on the bench and having his presence was massive for us,” Cannon said. “It gave us a huge boost.”

Underhill was the leading scorer on the team this season. Underhill, who is headed to McMaster University on a football scholarship, said: “We may not have the best talent, but our whole team has heart. Our captain, Nathan Jones, leads this team well.”

During the regular schedule BR defeated St. Mary on both occasions – 9-1 and 6-1.

“I give them a ton of credit for the way they battled back to make it a 4-3 game,” Cannon said. “We preached getting off to a quick start (BR trailed its semifinal 3-0 against St. Thomas More). We got it, but we let our foot off the gas. It got dicey.”

Cannon also praised BR netminder Alessio Veysey for shutting out the Crusaders in the final period after yielding three quick goals in less than two minutes.

“A goalie can crumble after something like that but he kept his head up and shut the door in the third,” Cannon said.

Despite the loss, St. Mary coach Jason Kokoski said his young team performed admirably.

“We had a great second period,” he said. “But in the third, BR brought the energy.”

St. Mary’s season isn’t over, however. There won’t be a Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference challenge game against Halton this season so St. Mary automatically advances to the provincial AA tournament March 21-23 in St. Catharines.

Next up for BR is a GHAC final against the Halton AAA champion on March 8 at Valley Park Arena.

Members of the Celtics are Sean Underhill, Ben Fox, Gianluca Muraca, Nathan Jones, Ryan Wercholaz, Ethan Ferreira, Chris Lamont, Cameron Kingston, Owen Hunks, Zachary VanderElzen, Carter MacQueen, Alessio Veysey, Carter Rogers, Braden Rees, David Horvat, Owen Booker, James Monaghan, Luca Alfieri, Noah Guimond, Alex Breau, Jake Farr, Luca Amoroso, Noah Paxton, Bryden Martin, Colin McHugh and Jacob Hicks.

“It’s the first time in our school’s history that the hockey team has won back-to-back championships,” Cannon said.

“We had a lot of guys come back for 12-plus this year, so it’s a nice cherry-on-the-top for them.”

A GHAC victory would earn BR a trip to the OFSAA tournament in Windsor, March 21-23.