KP Ice Hockey Picks up Win Against Bishop Feehan

The Bishop Feehan ice hockey team allowed three consecutive goals to King Philip and, despite a late flurry, could not find enough offense to come back.

The Warriors took home a 3-2 victory Monday night at the Foxboro Sports Center.

Both teams are struggling with injuries as they hit the middle portion of their season, but the teams are headed in opposite directions. The Shamrocks picked up their fourth loss in five games, evening their record at 5-5-2. Meanwhile, the Warriors made it three wins in four games since the return of Chris Boselli and moved to 3-7-1.

The Shamrocks were dominated for much of the game, including the first period, in which they were outshot, 16-2. They took the lead, though, behind captain Nick Carvalho just two minutes into the game.

Despite a barrage of shots from KP, Feehan goalie Chuck Valenza made the lead stand up until Gavin McIntyre's shot slipped out of his glove and the KP junior forward pounced on the rebound to tie the game with 4:22 left in the second period.

KP came out strong in the third despite starting it on the penalty kill. A Feehan turnover, a good outlet from Kevin Cronin, and Chris Beck splitting two defenders led to a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1 less than a minute in. KP added a third and seemed to put the game away when Mike Owen took the puck down off the boards and beat Valenza high on the stick side.

Feehan responded well to falling behind. Senior defenseman Sean Denehy's slap shot led to several chances on the edge of the crease before junior Max Johnson sped past defenders to fire home a wrister and give Feehan a lifeline with seven minutes remaining.

Feehan finished the game strong. They appeared to find the equalizer just seconds after Johnson's goal but it was ruled out by a quick whistle from the official who lost sight of the puck. Then KP goalie Tanner Jensen made the save of the game, robbing the Shamrocks from point-blank range with a lightning quick glove.

Before the ensuing face-off, each of his teammates came over to thank the senior netminder.

After the game, both coaches talked about the short benches their teams battled through. Feehan coach Phil Hulbig was disappointed with his team's mistakes in the defensive zone.

"We struggled back there, give up a shorthanded goal, give up a weak rebound goal and you can't do that against King Philip," he said. "They took their opportunities and we didn't."

KP coach Mark Homer was proud that his team could finish off the game and get the win despite a number of missing players.

"This is good for the guys because they did it with a short team and they did without the guys that are usually out there," he said. "They worked hard the whole game. They persevered."

The Shamrocks will look to turn things around on Saturday night against Somerset-Berkely, while the Warriors will travel Wednesday night to take on Oliver Ames.