One more game stood in the way of St. Joe’s and the end of the regular season. Meaningless in terms of playoff seedings and division standings for both teams, the weight the game carried for the pride of the team and its significance to the seniors was nearly unmatched.
The Marauders were ranked No. 1 in the state and had won every league game but two — they tied Kenmore East 2-2 and lost to Williamsville North 2-1. On Thursday night, St. Joe’s had a chance at redemption as the regular season schedule ended with one more game against the Williamsville North Spartans.
And it was every bit the epic match up it was expected to be.
It started with the crowd: the stands were filled to capacity with student sections from both schools, and if you were to arrive anywhere close to game time or later, good luck finding a parking spot.
And the game itself carried into overtime when North tied the score late in the third before Mike Greco scored the game winner 30 seconds into overtime.
“We wanted to win a lot,” Greco said. “Last time we played them, we didn’t quite play how we wanted to. We came out kinda slow, and we let them have that one, and we didn’t really hear the end of it on social media and between friends and stuff, so coming out and proving that we are still the team to beat, it felt pretty good.”
“As a senior, it was the last time we play North, and it was a disappointing loss earlier in the season, and although we clinched the division, it was more for pride,” said senior Erich Thur, who assisted the game-winning goal as well as scoring the second goal. “We wanted to win it really bad, and when we gave that goal up late in the third period, we came in before overtime and did it for the seniors — myself and all the other seniors on the team.”
Max McArthur scored first for the Marauders early in the second period, and Thur gave St. Joe’s a 2-0 lead with five and a half minutes left in the second.
“[Spencer] Frome made a great pass in the neutral zone,” Thur explained. “Greco was there too. Just great transition out of the neutral zone, one-on-one with the defenseman. Saw him cross over, kind of cut to the middle a little bit, shot it and and it went in.”
Greco assisted the goal, and with the tight defense so far, a 2-0 lead seemed like it may have been enough.
But a 2-0 lead is also infamously known as the worst lead in hockey.
Just over three minutes into the third, Matt Terrance scored for North on the power play, and with just 28 seconds left, a Jared Cummins goal tied the score at two.
But just 30 seconds into overtime, Mike Greco put away the game winner, and St. Joe’s had a 3-2 win and a regular season league record of 14-1-1.
“Thur was moving his feet all night, and he just had a really nice first goal, and he kinda tried to do the same thing in overtime and came through,” Greco explained. “Both defenders went to him, and me and Frome were both scrambling for the puck, and I kinda stole it right off his stick, and was lucky enough, [North goaltender Jake] Zurat was down, and it went in.”
Greco, a junior, was happy to win the game for his senior teammates.
“It felt good,” Greco said. “It felt good to get it for the seniors in their last game against North. They’ve been great all year. They were great leaders, really good role models for us younger guys, so to be able to get that for them felt really good.”
“I really wanted it for my seniors,” St. Joe’s coach Rich Crozier said. “I was excited the way we won it. If you’re not a fan of high school hockey after that game, there’s something wrong with you. A lot of people there, a lot of excitement. Not necessarily the greatest game to coach in. I probably lost a few years on my life, but it was, I’m sure, exciting as a fan.”
He was especially happy for Thur, a senior and first-year Fed player who had the best game of his Fed career on Thursday night.
“Thursy, we’ve kind of been feeling like we could get a little bit more out of him all season long,” Crozier said. “I always like to see who steps up in big games, and for a senior who stuck with the program — didn’t play Fed last year, puts three years in the program before he even gets to Fed — and then to have the biggest game of his career against North, to win, assist on the overtime goal, a big second goal there, that’s a great story. That’s an awesome story. So I’m really happy for him and his family. There’s some guys, they don’t stick with it. They just say, ‘I guess I’m not gonna play Fed ever,’ and up quitting or not working hard. He stuck with it. He had a real nice season last year for our varsity maroon team and was a great player on their team. Played for us in the spring, looked real good, so I’m really happy for him. He picked a good game to have his best of his career.”
Greco has stepped up a few times this season when it was needed most. He finished the regular season with seven goals and five assists; his 12 points are tied for second most on the team.
“It’s interesting because Greco is streaky, that kid,” Crozier said. “We love Greco. That’s one thing we know about him, is he can shoot. That was a great shot.”
The Marauders tried to use Thursday’s game as preparation for the bigger games to come, and their performance Thursday showed what they’re capable of.
“Coach has been talking about playing in big games all year,” Thur said. “And we felt that we needed to come out strong and stick to our systems, and we felt if we played our best, we could beat anybody, so it felt great.”
“That was one of the bigger games we’ll play this year,” Greco said. “Coach was kind of talking about that in the locker room, like using that as practice for the games that really are win or go home, so to be able to get that experience and to be able to show that we could perform that way under pressure, it feels pretty good.”
There were times, Crozier thought, that his team lost its composure a little bit. That’s the focus going into the playoffs.
“We’re gonna rely on our experience, and our experience tells us that we need to play our best in those do-or-go-home games, so that’s our focus,” Crozier said. “We still gotta get better. We lost our composure a little bit tonight, but we were able to recover quickly. I want to go into a game where we don’t lose our composure at all. That’s what I’m asking out of these teenagers in there, which is a lot. This game is emotional for them. These kids have played their whole life, and besides the kids they’re playing against, there’s another thousand kids in the stands that they know and have grown up with, and I’m asking them to keep their composure. But I was proud of the way they handled it.”
In addition to a 14-1-1 regular season league record and winning Division 1, St. Joe’s is the No. 1 ranked large school in the state, and the Marauders won the Mt. St. Charles tournament for the first time in 18 years. On Monday, St. Joe’s will face off against St. Francis in the private school semifinals, and Crozier and his team are hungry for more.
“We’re happy,” Crozier said, “but not satisfied.”