St. Joe’s Ends Flyers Hockey Playoff Hopes in OT

There will be no fourth or even fifth game on the ice this year between Chaminade and St. Anthony’s. No chance for the Flyers to even taste the finals of the CHSAA hockey league, something this season many would have considered a trophy in its own right, what with the powerhouse Friars set to close their gloves on perfection.

Chaminade, ranked No. 2, will not get that chance – or their perceived glory – after a shot by St. Joseph by the Sea senior Anthony Defede with 1:35 left in the extra period Friday night up in Rye that took the series of the CHSAA hockey semifinals.

St. Joesph’s opened up the scoring in the second on a powerplay when a shot on the Chaminade net from Phillip Garcia bounced off the pole and in front of Defede who shot it into the net.

The Flyer’s lone goal came in the third period on a shorthanded pass from John Stevenson to Michael Minarczyk to tie the score at one each. Chaminade goalie Brandon Destasio made 30 stops.

It is the first time in No. 3-ranked St. Joseph’s history that the Vikings have made it to the championship match of the A-division, though like every other squad in the league this year, were swept by the Friars.

The Vikings previously took home the ‘B’-division trophy in 2005-06, moving to the ‘A’-division in the 2006-07 season and again for the 2010-11 campaign.

On the bright side, if St. Anthony’s manages to pull off perfection, the Flyers will have avoided being branded as the team they did it against.