St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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34 victories, 5 defeats and 2 ties. The year's work was crowned when Captain Mulhern, Dan O'Brien, Hank Barry, Paul McGrath and Bob Murphy were chosen All-Catholic' '. At the same time, that modern wonder- worker, our Coach, Vin Murphy, had his genius recognized in the appointment to handle the constellation of stars as Coach. The enthusiasm engendered by the exploits of the 1944-45 icemen manifested itself when S5 candidates appeared to be tried out for places on the sextet that would wear St. Sebastian's colors during our Senior year. Once again a classmate of ours, Paul McGrath, had been chosen Captain and, of course, last year's Captain, Jack Mulhern, was sure to hold high the banners of the Class of '46. However, two personalities, who had done much to enhance the School's reputation on the ice, were missing: Hank Barry and ex- Captain Dan O'Brien. Losing them by graduation created a serious problem for Coach Murphy, but we felt that if anyone would be able to meet the situation, Vin was sure to be the one. Once again we were to enter into Catholic League competition, but this time we would be under the double handicap of having lost carrier A iff' if 4, We ,i W i me-as-wafer! in c e fs'-1-'f-a9a'.Pq'4 uv- aM' 5 QVQJQ 0. 'rt 1-fm- Sax if , -. .5517 if valuable, experienced players and also of having every team in the circuit point for games with St. Sebastian's, last year's co- champions. Preliminary practice and squad try-outs over with, we made our initial ap- pearance ofthe 1945-46 season at the Skating Club with St. Mary's of Lynn as opponents. Fans of other years recognized the familiar forms of McGrath in the nets, Johnny Ellard at right defense, Bob Murphy in the left wing and the incomparable Mul at center ice. Two new faces were closely scrutinized, however, and they proved to be a speedy right wing, Jack Slattery, and a new power- house at left defense, Jack Boyle. St. Sebastian fans were not able to appraise the merit of the latest Red and Black ice edition too accurately, it seemed, because Lynn did not offer too much in the way of offensive strength. Spearheaded by Mul's unassisted opening score, we registered two goals in the first period, three in the second and two more in the final. In the final tabu- lation, Mul rated credit for three goals and two assists, Slats had four goals and one assist, while our other wing, Murphy, also drew mention for an assist. The Boston papers referred next morning to the Alphonse- Gaston act put on by Mul and Slats in THEY DID NOT PASS McGrath smothers a St Clement's bid with the help of Gibbons who has effec tively checked the enemy

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scoring six goals and getting three assistsg Phillips by tallying three times and assisting on six other occasions. First half competition reached its climax when we crossed sticks with Malden Catholic. Like ourselves they had won four straight, although they had not demonstrated the terrific scoring power of the Red and Black. Getting a quick jump, our adversaries regis- tered twice in the first three minutes of play. That, however, was not as bad as the blow that robbed us of the services of Eddie Phillips. Unable to check his momentum, our ace crashed for a second time into an iron post that supported the Malden cage. With Ed out, Murph went up to the forward line and Ellard took over the defense berth. Meanwhile the Fellsway lads scored still another in the first period and added their fourth and final marker in the second. Our only consolation came half-way through the final stanza when Mul found the range and scored on the superb Roche. Undaunted by its one defeat, but weakened by Phillips' absence, the Red and Black sextet went to on achieve unparalleled glory in the second round. Waltham was much improved over the early season, but it bowed to us 5-3, when Mul's three tallies nullified the heroic efforts of Bourque and McCusker. Against Somerville and Lynn it was Hank who led the attack to light the lamp three times in each contest. The Stoneham fray was a tight battle at first, because the op- position resorted to a six-man defense that could not be lured out from behind its own blue line. Dan O'Brien found the long-shot formula, however, and Mul and Murph put the tilt on ice with single scores. Malden, all this time, had kept pace with our second-half triumphs and was leading the league by virtue of its early season win at our expense. The return game between the two top teams was staged on the 24th of February, and Malden was quite definitely the favorite. From the opening whistle, the battle raged at fever pitch. Once again our opponents beat us to the punch when Pete McQuaid won xi face-off, weaved through the defense and put the puck p2lSI Paul at 2:04 of the opening period. Unlike the first contest, COMING, PAUL Gibbons roars in to break up a Malden attack however, this time we roared back to the fray with a surge that refused to be denied, and Hank knotted the count two minutes later when he collected a Mulhern rebound and snapped it past Bill Roche. From that point the two sextets made heroic attempts on the rival citadels, but insuperable goal- tending on the part of both netmen left the issue still deadlocked. The impasse continued until the third chapter when Freshman Bob Murphy corralled a cleared puck in front of the Malden net and sent it home to give us a 2-1 margin. The eight remaining minutes of play saw us dominating the situation but unable to add to our score. The outcome of our victory was that both St. Sebastian's and Malden occupied the top rung of the league ladder with records of nine wins and one loss apiece. Even though the goals for and goals against totals gave us the edge, it was ruled that Malden should enjoy co- championship status, League rules failing to provide for the dissolution of a tie. Outside of the Catholic circuit, our skaters proved their right to championship rating also. Against competition of the calibre afforded by well-drilled teams such as St. Mark's, Middlesex, Rivers, Belmont, Brookline, Waltham and Malden, we came away with an enviable record, bowing only to Middlesex by a 4-3 hair. Thus our record for the ice games of 1944- 45 climbed to the fabulous success of 17 wins and 2 defeats, and made the grand totals for our two years of hockey competition read:

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taking turns scoring, true enough, Mul had spent the greater part of the game feeding his wings, perfectly content to set up the plays. Another feature of the night was the roar that greeted the appearance of our diaper line composed of Kelly, Regan and O'Brien. Every player on the squad saw action. The easy contest of the week before was in no way duplicated when we crossed sticks with St. Mary's of Waltham in our second engagement of the infant season. Vastly improved over the previous year and still operating with Bourque as their spearhead, the Watch City lads were very definitely pointed for this game with St. Sebastian's. The technique they employed was to go all out for a single tally and then bar the door . It worked with some success, indeed, for early in the fray Bourque laced one into the cage, and thereafter the Red and Black attacking wave had to contend with live Walthamites stationed right on the blue line. Mul in particular received the undivided at- tention of three defenders, but, despite their vigilance, Mr. Hockey scored the equal- izing tally in the dying minutes of the tilt. The opposition's tactics prevented the game from being a thriller, while lack of capable substitutes demanded almost continuous ser- vice on the part of our starting sextet. In order to keep a scheduled appointment with Malden Catholic on December 29th, the Red and Black icemen had to conquer the year's worst blizzard, but Nature's variety was mild compared to the first-period blizzard of goals unleashed by Malden. Evidently not at their best mettle after a two-week lay-off, our skaters were lethargic and could not cope with the opposition's dazzling play until Smith, McGinley, Sheehan and Donahue had dented our strings-and all in the opening period. Rebounding vigorously, St. Sebastian's battled furiously through the two remaining stanzas, McGinley's score in the second and Mul's in the third typifying the tight play of those chapters. Wave after Wave of our attack bore down on the Malden cage, but Roche was equal to all emergencies, save one. The final score of 5-1 told the story of the first period, but certainly not of the whole game. The turn of the New Year started us off on a more satisfactory note than the blue note on which 1945 had ended. Facing St. Patrick's of Stoneham, we sensed from the start that the opposition had taken Stop Mu1hern for a motto. The rough type of play eventually boomeranged, however, and we were able to chalk up a 3-1 verdict. Leading the attack, Mul personally scored two tallies and assisted in Bob Murphy's registering of the third. On offense, the Red and Black manifested a marked improvement in play co-ordination, while the all- Belmont defense of McGrath, Ellard and Boyle was superb. Taking their first bus trip of the season, our gliders matched themselves against the icemen of St. Mark's School, Southborough, on Wednesday, January 9th. Finding the outdoor rink strange and rather confining, St. Sebastian's could not seem to get going until late in the game. Then too the defense style of hockey, habitually employed by private schools, was bothersome and our first counter came only in the second period from Mul's blade. The final chapter, how- ever, gave us five tallies with Slats and Murph registering two apiece and Jack Mulhern another. After the contest the squad re- ceived a most hospitable reception in the magnificent Memorial Gymnasium, and a warm invitation to play in future years was extended to what the St. Mark's Coach termed the best team I have seen in years . In returning to League competition on the following Saturday to tangle with St. Clement's of Somerville, the wearers of the Red and Black found themselves definitely underdogs, if they were to believe the Boston press. Our opponents, formerly a League doormat, had gone all out to produce a winner this year, with the emphasis on early and late practice ice and professional coaching. In this contest, however, St. Sebastian's reached its season's peak and registered a clean-cut 4-O win. With the