Said St. John’s Prep Coach Kristian Hanson: “I’m not surprised. He has to be top five every time I’ve been here [in 15 seasons]. … He’s an athlete, a competitor. Refusal-to-lose attitude, huge leader in the space.
The last two goals were empty nets, but Sarni was also involved in a crucial three-goal sequence in a span of 5:20 in the second period as the prep (22-3) completely reversed the momentum of the game.
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Sarni got the primary assist on Cole Blaeser’s goal at 8:31 from the second. Then for the second time in so many games it was junior defender Aidan Holland with a decisive strike. With the Eagles in power play, Holland took a drop pass in the left circle and, with Xaverian goalkeeper Brendan Flanagan (25 saves) caught in front of the body, had a wide open net to shoot it home and give the prep the lead.
“He comes from the championship family tree,” Hanson said. “His father, the Tiger, won three state titles [Catholic Memorial]I fought against him, and I actually drew on his experience today before the game.
Xaverian coach Dave Spinale believed the goalkeeper interference could be called off the game, but without success.
“We did not really get an explanation,” Spinal said, adding that officials explained that the prep player was trying to avoid running into Flanagan. “I was hoping they’d win it.”
At the next goal, there was no controversy 1:35 later. Sarni took a feed in the lower right circle, pulled a bit of a toe and fired a shot against the core along the Flanagan in the upper left corner, sending the Eagles flying the second break and reeling the Hawks.
During the St. The teams split up some of the regular season meetings this season at the Catholic Conference, each winning on the road.
Sarni opened the scoring from Powerplay 3:13 into the game, but Xaverian (20-4-1) responded just 39 seconds later as Braden O’Hara gave a nice 2-on-1 feed from Jack Silva completed.
The Hawks missed a golden opportunity as they failed to score on a major power play that was taken over in the second period. But Jake Curley stopped a loose puck to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead, and they carried that through the middle of the period until Sarni and his teammates turned the script around.
“Not shot on that big stick, for sure,” Spinale said. “But hat for prep, they were the better team tonight, no question.”
And no prep player has been better on the biggest stage than Sarni, one of eight prep players who also won a Lacrosse state championship last spring.
“I’m just trying to do my best to play right now, right?” Sarni said. “Four goals, it’s great, yeah … but we won. That’s all that matters.”
St. John’s Prep 6, Xaverian 2
and TD Garden
Xaverian (20-4-1) 1 1 0 – 2
St. John’s Prep (22-3) 1 3 2 – 6
1, SP, Tommy Sarni (Aiden Holland, Will Van Sicklin) 3:13 (pp). 2, X, Braden O’Hara (Jack Silva, Jake Curley) 3:52. 3, X, Jake Curley 1:57. 4, SP, Cole Blaeser (Tommy Sarni, Theo Vetere) 8:31. 5, SP, Aiden Holland (Ben McGilvray, Tommy Sarni) 12:16 (pp). 6, SP, Tommy Sarni (Cole Blaeser) 13:51. 7, SP, Tommy Sarni 13:45 (en). 8, SP, Tommy Sarni (Pierce Blaeser) 14:09 (en).
Spurt: X, Brendan Flanagan, 25; SP, Payton Palladino, 13.
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