FS_021617

frankfortstation.com Sports
the frankfort station | February 16, 2017 | 49
Hockey
Celtics moving on up to Kennedy Cup Finals
Providence sweeps
St. Rita in semifinals
Brittany Kapa, Assistant Editor
St. Rita’s fan section came
in strong, loud and like a scene
from “Braveheart,” complete
with blue face paint.
The team’s fans would
leave quieter and much more
reserved than they entered.
On Thursday, Feb. 9, the
No. 1-seeded Providence
Celtics took on the No.
4-seeded St. Rita Mustangs
in the semifinal round of the
Kennedy Cup. St. Rita hosted
Providence at Southwest Ice
Arena in Crestwood for the
second game of the series.
Providence proved victorious
by the end of the night with a
2-0 win, and the Celtics swept
the series with back-to-back
shutouts.
Providence’s Ryan Iaciancio,
of Tinley Park, kept his
undefeated streak alive in the
Chicago Catholic Hockey
League with a 25-save performance
en route to the team’s
Thursday night victory.
“I knew it was an elimination
game for them, so I knew
that they were going to bring
everything that they had,” Iaciancio
said.
Iaciancio finished the game
with a few memorable saves,
one of which had him well out
of the safety of the blue paint.
Senior forward Josh Mooncotch
scored the lone fullstrength
goal with 2 minutes
and 10 seconds left in the
second period. Mooncotch
was fed a pass from Jake Vennetti
that got St. Rita’s goalie
moving and allowed enough
space for Mooncotch to bury
the puck in the net off a quick
wrist shot. Jake Rott picked
up the secondary assist on that
play.
Mooncotch cited Iaciancio’s
performance as one of
the main reasons his team was
so successful during the night.
“He stood on his head,”
Mooncotch said. “He’s been
playing great the last two
games. He kept us in and had
two shutouts.”
Providence’s second goal
came at the very end of the
third period after St. Rita had
pulled goalie Mike Iwaniec
in an attempt to even up the
score.
Kevin Horan made sure
that did not happen with a
buzzer beater goal into St. Rita’s
empty net with less than a
second to go.
A common theme throughout
the night for Providence
was the team’s aggressiveness
on the puck and its willingness
to make good plays.
Defensively, Jake Lawler, of
Frankfort, was able to keep
Providence’s offensive zone
time up with a series of good
keeps at the blue line.
“We try and be as aggressive
as we can, and if [we]
get beat, we’re at least going
to make you make a great
play to beat us,” head coach
Nick Iaciancio said. “Sometimes
we have a tendency to
go too hard and lose our discipline
in there.”
The team’s aggressiveness
did result in four penalties
throughout the game. Despite
being a man short, the team
was always able to have control
of the game. Mooncotch
was called on a crosscheck
violation during the second
period, and Providence was
able to keep St. Rita from
even getting a shot on net.
“Our fourth line dominated
play for a good portion of the
time, which was a huge leg
[up] for us to give everyone
else a break, especially when
you’re killing penalties,”
Nick Iaciancio said of his
team’s multiple successful
penalty kills.
The coach said he does
not generally like to assign
numbers to his lines, but
he cited fourth-liners Cole
Kaup, of Mokena; Cam Cutler,
of Shorewood; and Shane
Horan, of Orland Park, as the
essential pieces in the success
of killing those penalties.
The team celebrated its
victory after the game, but
the players know that their
next challenge looms ahead.
Providence is preparing to
take on Fenwick in the Kennedy
Cup finals, and no one
wants to lose focus before
then.
“We know we’re playing
Fenwick in the finals, and we
know they’re going to bring
everything they have,” Ryan
Iaciancio said. “We know
that this final, anything can
happen, so we have to bring
our ‘A’ game.”
Senior forward Tom Dickason (left) of Frankfort looks for the puck Feb. 9 in Providence
Catholic High School’s win over St. Rita’s. Julie McMann/22nd Century Media
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