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Kellenberg catches up with Christ the King, tops Royals 6-3

By Dylan Butler

Less than 12 hours after an emotionally draining 3-2 shootout win over Mount St. Michael’s in a play-in game, Christ the King was back on the ice Sunday at the Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon to face ‘A’ division powerhouse Kellenberg in a best-of-three semifinal playoff series.

And for two periods the Royals played even with the Firebirds, but in the third period Christ the King ran out of gas, falling to Kellenberg 6-3. Game two of the series is slated for Friday at Rye Playland at 5:15 p.m.

“I think they were really tired. They played hard,” said Christ the King coach Pat Boller. “The mental anguish from playing the night before, it was just so draining. We were focused and prepared and we played well.”

Christ the King (5-10-3) could have easily folded after falling behind 2-0 early in the first period. Kellenberg outshot the Royals 15-3 in the first period but Christ the King scored on two of its three shots as Vinny Dove and Sal Croce found the back of the net and the Royals went into the second trailing 3-2.

The Firebirds went back ahead by two, but Greg Cutrone answered for the Royals — who outshot Kellenberg 11-2 in the stanza — to again cut their deficit to one goal. But one lapse at the end of the second period proved costly for CTK as Mike Rizzo was whistled for a penalty.

Early in the third period Jakub Kubrak also picked up a penalty as Kellenberg — a team that scored 108 regular season goals — had a two-man advantage. The Royals managed to kill off the 5-on-3, but the Firebirds scored early in the third period and again with four minutes left to clinch the scoring.

“We were definitely in the game, we played right there with them,” Boller said. “We played tough, but we just tired in the third period.”

On Saturday night at the Ice Hutch, the Royals defeated Mount St. Michael 3-2 in a shootout in a dramatic play-in game.

Joey Kemerson scored the Royals’ lone goal in regulation while Croce and Rizzo scored in the shootout. Christ the King freshman goaltender Jeremy Siracusa stopped 10 out of 11 Mountaineers to help clinch the win.

St. Francis Prep 4, St. Raymond’s 2. Dan McCloskey netted a hat trick, including an open netter with nine seconds left in the game, to lead the Terriers to the win Saturday at Abe Stark Arena on Coney Island in the first of a best-of-three ‘B’ division semifinal. James Bertorelli opened the scoring for Prep (15-1-1) 25 seconds into the game. Game two is scheduled for this weekend. The site and time have yet to be determined.

Molloy 4, St. Joseph by the Sea 2. Chris Edele scored two goals and Sean Kearney added a goal and two assists as the Stanners beat the Vikings in an ‘A’ division play-in game Saturday at Buchmuller Park Arena in Secaucus, N.J. Paul Livecchi also scored for Molloy (7-9-1), which had its opening semifinal game Monday against St. Edmund’s postponed. The best-of-three series is slated to begin Friday at the Ice Hutch.

Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.