By Len Bardsley

LAWRENCE — It was a long night for the St. Rose ice hockey team during its first round state tournament game against Notre Dame.  The Purple Roses had chances to put away the Irish, but eventually were defeated in a shootout, falling 3-2.  The loss ends the St. Rose season with a record of 9-10-4.

The way things started it looked as thought it might be a long game for Irish goalie Michael Bonavico and his teammates.  Notre Dame was the 15th seed and St. Rose the 18th, but it was the Purple Roses who carried the play and put pressure on the Irish for much of regulation. “They [Notre Dame] are a heck of a team,’’ said St. Rose coach Dan Grothues. “But we let them hang around a little bit.’’  Grothues was quick to credit Bonavico for being the main reason the Irish were able to hang around. “Their goalie played incredible,’’ said Grothues. “It easily could have been a 4-1, 5-1 game going into the third period.’’  The Notre Dame goalie made stops on Alex Phipps off a Sean Grant pass early in the first period before turning away Shane Force on a backhand. 

St. Rose goalie Steven Gibilisco made a pad save during an Irish power play early in the second period after a scoreless opening period.  Gibilisco got some help killing off a short Notre Dame two-man advantage early in the second period when Mark Sandomierski did some great work along the boards during the Purple Rose penalties.

St. Rose took a 1-0 lead midway through the second period when Sean Grant took a pass from Phipps and scored on a wrist shot in the slot.  The Purple Rose lead didn’t last long as Danny Murphy scored on a rising wrist shot for a shorthanded goal for the Irish, tying the game 2-2 with 5:15 left in the second period.

Joe Trilli finished off a 2-on-1 with Bryce Grant by tapping the puck past Bonavico, giving the Purple Roses a 2-1 lead with 4:46 left in the second period.  St. Rose had several chances to extend the lead, but the Notre Dame goalie turned away Shane Force from close range before making a stop on Will Lemonie from point blank range late in the second period.

“We got a lot of pressure on him,’’ said Grothues. “We got a lot of shots on him. You get that kind of pressure and he is still making those saves...We had nothing else really to do.’’

It looked as Gibilisco and the Purple Rose defense might hold the one-goal lead the duration of the third period, until the Irish got the opening they needed.  St. Rose was whistled for a too many men penalty and a roughing penalty on the same sequence, giving Notre Dame a full, two-minute, two-man advantage.

The Irish coach decided to increase the odds for Notre Dame during the power-play and he pulled Bonavico for an extra skater, giving the home team a 6-on-3 edge on the ice.  The move paid off as the Irish swarmed the net and knocked in a loose puck with 3:02 left in the third period to tie the game 2-2.

Notre Dame had a chance to win the game in overtime when the Irish were awarded a penalty shot when the Purple Roses were whistled for deliberately knocking the net off its moorings to stop play.  Gibilisco, however, made a stick save on the penalty shot to extend overtime.

The Purple Roses had a power-play during overtime and though they buzzed the Notre Dame net, they could not finish off the Irish.  The game went to a shootout and it was no supprise it took one extra round of shooters to find a winner.

Sean Grant and Phipps scored on back-to-back shots to give St. Rose a 2-1 edge in the shootout, but Bonavico stopped the next three Purple Rose shooters, while Notre Dame converted two of its next three shots to clinch the victory.

Despite the loss, Grothues was proud of his team and how they rebounded from a rough start to the season.  “We are so proud of these guys’’ said Grothues. “Around mid December they could have mailed it in, but nobody did and we had some great moments in the back half of the season. No one wanted to quit, they kept working hard, they kept at it.’’