St. Paul's captures its seventh MIAA B ice hockey title

by Nelson Coffin

After applying a ton of pressure on St. Paul’s freshman goaltender Andrew Dugas in the first period of the B Conference championship game on Thursday at the Ice Gardens in Laurel, top-seeded Loyola Blakefield didn’t have anything to show for such a stellar effort.

The Crusader rookie was that good, turning away a torrent of sizzling shots by seniors James Albanesi, Ryder McClure and Grant Keller, any of which would have eluded a lesser netminder.

The shutout lasted until the 6:38 mark of the final period when Albanesi, assisted by sophomore Brody McClure, finally broke through.

Unfortunately for the Dons, by that time St. Paul’s efficient offense had built  a 2-0 advantage on goals by seniors Casey Burkom and Tucker Paxson midway through the second period. Paxson’s blast was assisted by sophomore Andrew Breslin and came a mere 20 seconds after Burkom put the Crusaders on top for good.

Although Loyola (10-4, 9-2 league) used the final time remaining in regulation to pester Dugas while seeking to at least send the game into overtime, the Crusaders (10-2-1, 8-2-1) held firm to secure a taut 2-1 victory and secure their first title since 2022 and seventh overall crown.

St. Paul’s coach Sean Baker was well aware that his defense needed to be stout in order to emerge with a win against a rival that averaged more than seven goals a game in B Conference contests this season — including a 7-4 triumph over St. Paul’s before Thanksgiving.

“(Loyola) came out really strong,” Baker said. “We knew we wanted to play a low-scoring game. Our defense was great, our goaltender was incredible. I thought we did a good job of forcing them to dump the puck in. We had to play a lot in our zone, but we did a great job all game long of getting the puck out. (The Dons) have a ton of incredibly talented players on that team.”

Baker added that the Crusaders, who were the only B Conference team to beat Loyola this season, had to take advantage of their opportunities.

“That means when we get locked in down low, we get to work and we force turnovers,” he said.

Both St. Paul’s goals came off what Baker called “strong forechecks,” the first of which was by junior Josh Hopkins to set up Burkom’s 10th goal of the season.

“The first goal came from a hard forecheck,” Burkom said. “All season long, we’ve been a momentum team and right after the first one we got another one, back-to-back. (Then) we played a very disciplined game and tried to stay out of the penalty box.”

Both squads had to overcome power plays, however.

Loyola killed a power play in the first period before the Crusaders returned the favor early in the third.

The Dons were penalized again with just under 11 minutes left in regulation, only to even things out when St. Paul’s was cited for an infraction. However, another Loyola penalty led to a brief four-on-three sequence that the Crusaders were unable to use to their advantage.

The teams were at even strength when Albanesi scored, leading to some harrowing final minutes, as Loyola pressed for a deadlock.

“We really just didn’t pay attention to the clock,” Burkom said. “We played as hard as we could every second, kept going, kept going, and the next thing we know, we’re champions.”

Loyola coach Matt Hanley said that he didn’t feel like his team squandered an opportunity during the early barrage of shots at Dugas.

“They have a great goaltender and play excellent team defense,” he said. “The shots that we got were from the perimeter, and we got a couple of other scoring opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on. But the long story short is that we outshot them, 37-10, and they had a couple of bounces go their way and we didn’t. It came down to puck possession and control in their zone, I think we dominated. We simply couldn’t put the puck in the net.”

Hanley added that the Dons came back from a pair of three-goal deficits to top Boys’ Latin, 7-6, to advance to the title game.

St. Paul’s eliminated Sts. Peter and Paul, 3-1, in its semifinal.

Baker said winning the championship is “huge” for the program.

“The senior class has shown incredible leadership,” he said. “They won it when they were freshmen and to finish their careers with another championship is incredible. I’m proud of the leaders on our team, the coaching staff, everyone.”