New England Hockey Journal - December 2015 - 47

best part of coaching. The best part
in playing a game like that, any given
game, anything can happen."
The Dragons got a power-play opportunity and a golden chance to tie
the game with just over two minutes
left but were thwarted by a Red Hornets' shorthanded tally.
But to think that their 3-1 defeat was
without merit would be underestimating the heart of the underdog. "It was
such a turning point for our season last
year and we won some key games late,"
Kavanaugh said. "We ended up making
the playoffs. I don't necessarily say that
there's such things as moral victories,
but there's definitely momentum shifts
in games like that, and I think that's
what I hope we experience this year."
Kavanaugh is well-versed in this
epic, having played and coached in the
region for much of his life, even guiding Mount Ararat Middle School to a
Cinderella state title. Though he changes venues this season as he becomes
the Mount Ararat/Lisbon/Morse boys
head coach, the story remains the same,
and he wouldn't have it any other way.
"There's a chip on your shoulder,"
Kavanaugh said. "A big part of the
strategy when coaching is getting the
kids to feel like it's just like playing
Lakes Region. Whether you're playing
Lewiston or Lakes Region, you've got to
come at it with the same mindset. I feel
we're going to be able to compete with
those teams and in turn, if you play
your game confidently, we can play
against the bigger teams as well."

Even the big dogs

It's not often that any Catholic Conference team could be considered an
underdog, but that is exactly what St.
John's Prep was facing down when it
entered the Super 8 last season.
Earning the fifth seed in Massachusetts' top-tier tourney, the Eagles lined
up in their best-of-three, round one series against league foe BC High, a team
that swept them in their regular-season
series, including a 6-0 defeat.
"It's difficult to beat a team four
times in a season," said SJP coach Kris-

tian Hanson. "That's what BC High
would have had to do last year. So we really took that approach going into that
first game, tried to play to our strengths
and slow the game down a bit, because
we knew they were so talented, try to
keep it low scoring. After doing it that
first game, I think it really built our
confidence and kind of set us up for the
rest of the tournament. That first one's
always the toughest."
That first game was a 2-1 victory for
the Prep, and the second finished 5-2
in St. John's favor, giving the Eagles a
first-round sweep and setting up a second-round one-off vs. top seed Springfield Cathedral, the only undefeated
team in the state.
"I definitely think last year we felt
less pressure than maybe in years past
when we've been a higher seed," said
Hanson of how the underdog role suited his squad. "I think that worked to our
advantage."
The Eagles pushed Cathedral, a
team loaded with Division 1 college
commits, to overtime and ended its
season when Jeff Cowles scored at 1:12
of the extra frame, sending the Prep to
the finals, where it didn't get any easier.
The Eagles' TD Garden date would
bring them face-to-face with Malden
Catholic, a team that had won this
tournament four consecutive years -
a streak that just so happened to start
against the Prep.
"We didn't want to see history repeat
itself," said Hanson. "I don't want to say
it gave us extra motivation this time
around, but we had been there, we had
felt defeat and we really tried to make

'Tis the season for the
perfect year-round gift.

Continued on Page 48

Coach A.J. Kavanaugh and the Brunswick (Maine)
High girls team accepts the honor for the 2015 MPA
Sportsmanship Award for East Division girls hockey.

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