St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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Having broken up an attack, Bill athers un steam to take it game less then five minutes old and our ice- men handicapped by Jack Slattery's banish- ment, Mull won a face-off, stiekhandled warily in front of the terrified defense, then suddenly rifled the disc between the defense- men and past the bewildered goalie. On the ensuing face-off, and with Slats still in the toils of the law, Mr. Hockey used the same cat-and-mouse technique to register exactly sixteen seconds after his iirst tally. Completely unsettled by Mul's dazzling feat, the Somerville lads were never in the game thereafter, and Mul was able to add a third tally in the second period, while Murph contributed the fourth in the final stanza. On Tuesday, January 15, we paid a neigh- borly call at the Rivers School rink in Chestnut Hill, and completely outclassed a valiant home sextet by the score of 8-1. Allowing our opponents to use a coach as net-minder did not prevent Andy McAuliffe from registering four times, nor Mul from getting three, nor Lane McCarthy from con- tributing his iirst goal of the season. Bob Murphy shone in a supporting role, chalking up six assists. The entire squad saw action, THE GIBBONS EX PRESS 3 l down A SLATS PASS ack poke-passes to his wing from a face-ofi and Bill Morrissey did an excellent job as understudy to Paul McGrath. Inaugurating the final half of league com- petition, Captain Paul turned in his second successive shut-out, while his mates were tallying six times against Lynn on January 19th. Not to be outdone by the forward line that tallied four markersCSlats 2, Mul 1, Murph lj, both defensemen, Jack Boyle and Johnny Ellard, turned in a score apiece. Boyle's counter came on a particularly clever pass from Mul, while Ellard's was in keeping with the fact that he has shown the most improvement of any player in the circuit. All

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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

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during the play our Mr. Hockey was personally attended by Lynn body-guards, while the Lynn fans shouted their threat to to get even with us in Basketball. A mid-week contest called us to Groton to contend with a sturdy Lawrence Academy six on its home rink. Delayed in their departure, our icemen dressed en route and stepped out on the glassy surface as soon as they arrived. Slowly accustoming themselves to the locale, our speedsters took a one-tally lead in the opening period when Murph found the range on a Mulhern pass. The middle stanza found Murph, Mul and Slats each powering the disc home, while in the third it was Mul, Slats and Gibbons that ran up the count to 7-O. Filled with admiration for our type of team-play, the Lawrence Coach and students acted as hosts to our squad at the aftermath luncheon. Our first-half hex , St. Mary's of Waltham, clipped the wings of our ambitions a week later by pinning an unexpected 2-1 defeat on the Red and Black. Playing stub- bornly defensive hockey, meanwhile tallying a goal in each of the first two periods, Waltham, although it incurred six penalties, was able to turn aside every wave of out attack until, with forty seconds of play remaining, Slats took a smoking pass from Johnny Ellard and turned on the red light to avert a shut-out. Srnarting under the sting of our early season defeat at Malden's hands, the Red and Black faced the Blue and Gold for the second time on February 2nd. Right from the opening whistle our icemen surged for the Malden cage and kept the puck inside the rival blue line until Murph scorched a Mulhern feed past the astonished Roche at 5:27 of the opening period. Less than three minutes afterwards, Murph powered that felled the Malden another shot netman unconscious although it did not tally. At this point play was suspended out of courtesy to the injured Roche, and it was agreed to play a twelve-minute second period. With Roche unable to continue, Malden dominated the second chapter, taking the pressure off their rookie goalie and mak- ing things hot for Our Paul . McGrath was equal to every occasion until, at 5:09 of the final stanza, Donahue dented the strings to tie up the struggle. Refusing to yield, Mul took things into his own hands on the following face-off, poked the disc between McGinley'S skates, recovered it, weaved through the defense, and caged the winning goal-all in 20 brief seconds. Pandemonium reigned, for Mr. Hockey had done it again. After the game, an impromptu celebration was held in the School dining hall and the winning puck presented to the Headmaster. Weakened by the absence of Jack Boyle, a victim of the grippe, the Red and Black took on St. Patrick's of Stoneham a week later, and gave an admirable exhibition of the ability' to take it . Taking an early lead on Mul's scoring feeds to Slats and Johnny Ellard in the first eight minutes, our skaters sewed up the verdict on Slats' second period lamp-lighter and Mul's final chapter goal. The rough play deprived us of the services of the valuable Joe Deignan, but every man in uniform had a turn in the fray, including the tiny diapers . With the subs on the ice, Stoneham managed to score twice and make the final 4-2. Tied with Malden Catholic for second-half honors, we faced St. Clements' of Somerville, on February 16th, conscious that we had to win in order to stay in the fight for the title. We were handicapped too by the loss of Bill Gibbons to the flu, although the appearance of the en-gripped Mul in the dressing room boosted morale. With a capacity crowd on hand to watch the third ice contest, the tide of battle began and continued at fever-pitch. Neither side scored in the first ten minutes, although the hardest bid came from the blade of Lane McCarthy. Half-way through the middle period, Somerville got a break when Cleveland's shot caromed ofi' a Red and Black blade and hopped into the strings. Attack after attack followed on the St. Cleme-nt's net, but it was not until three minutes of the final chapter that Mul was able to take a Murphy pass and rifle in the