NO. 1 CHRISTIAN BROTHERS STAYS STRONG, HOLDS OFF NO. 2 DON BOSCO COMEBACK

The first 15 minutes couldn’t have gone better for Christian Brothers. The next 15 couldn’t have gone any worse. Amid the scorching highs of the first period and the halting lows of the second, Christian Brothers coach Andy Gojdycz challenged his team to maintain its mental toughness in another Gordon Conference grind. The Colts, No. 1 in the NJ.com Top 20, responded by holding on for a 6-4 victory over No. 2 Don Bosco Prep Sunday night in a penalty-filled contest. Christian Brothers shot out to a 4-0 lead with two power play goals and a short handed strike. Don Bosco, which had committed four penalties in the opening frame, would capitalize on multiple power play chances in the second before making it a one-goal contest early in the third period. “For them the true testament is going up 5-1 and saying, ‘okay, what are we going to do with this lead.’ Then you get into a lull of the game, take two bad penalties and all of a sudden it’s 5-3, "Godjycz said. "They have to mentally survive. That’s the hardest part of hockey. “They’re a resilient group and a talented group. When you get into those one-goal games, they grip their sticks in a positive way. They rally around each other and they stay resilient. But we have a lot more learning to do, top to bottom, within the next three or four weeks.” Neither team could keep a man out of the penalty box and, more often than not, they both capitalized with half of the combined ten goals scored coming off power play chances. It wasn’t until late in the third period, with Don Bosco picking up the intensity in search of an equalizer, that Kyle Contessa found the insurance Christian Brothers was looking for. His shot from the point clipped the crossbar and went in to give the Colts a two-goal lead with 4:30 remaining that would hold through the final whistle. The victory marks the first time that Christian Brothers has swept a two-game, regular-season series over Don Bosco. That feat follows a similar one it accomplished earlier in the season by sweeping Delbarton. “We wanted to make history again by beating Don Bosco twice (in the regular season)," Contessa said. "Our mindset was just to win and set the tone right away.” Added Gojdycz, “We came out ready to go today. The guys know what’s at stake against a top power. To sweep (Delbarton) last week and Don Bosco says a lot about the team’s character.”

NO. 1 CHRISTIAN BROTHERS STAYS STRONG, HOLDS OFF NO. 2 DON BOSCO COMEBACK

Photo Credit: Don Bosco Prep Athletics