DANVERS — This was the type of hockey game Pete Frates absolutely would’ve loved to play in.
Tie game in front of a huge crowd at the Essex Sports Center. His beloved St. John’s Prep Eagles tied with their long-time rivals from BC High with time ticking down. Tensions rising, heartbeats racing, two valuable points at stake.
In the tournament that both bears his name and honors him, Pete’s alma mater got the break it needed late.
Junior right wing Brandon Ward took a drop pass from senior captain Ryan DeLucia at the top of the circles and wired a shot to the opposite top corner of the BC High net with just 23.1 seconds left in regulation, giving the Eagles a dramatic win in the opening round of the Pete Frates Winter Classic.
“We want to win this tournament,” said the 17-year-old Ward after his second varsity goal. “We wanted to do it for (the Frates family). It’s our trophy, and we don’t want to give it to another team.”
St. John’s Prep (now 2-1), the defending Frates Tournament champions, will meet 4-1 Pope Francis (a 3-0 winner over Central Catholic in the other semifinal) Saturday for the 2024 crown at 4:40 p.m. back at the Essex Sports Center. The Eagles beat the Cardinals, 1-0, in overtime of last year’s finale.
With Pete’s wife Julie, his 10-year-old daughter Lucy, parents Nancy and John, brother Andrew, sister-in-law Kate and eight-month-old niece, Summer, all in attendance for the 10th annual playing of this tournament, St. John’s Prep and BC High played scoreless hockey for two periods before the hosts tallied midway through the third, the visitors from Dorchester tied it on the power play, and Ward eventual won it with his game-winner.
Pete Frates, a football, hockey and baseball captain at St. John’s Prep (Class of 2003) who patrolled the blue line for the Eagles’ hockey team, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Disease (ALS) in December 2019 after battling the dreaded demon for seven-and-a-half years. During that time, the former Boston College baseball captain and immensely popular and charismatic Beverly native became a tremendous advocate in the fight against ALS and helped raise more than $220 million through the worldwide sensation Ice Bucket Challenge.
His 40th birthday would’ve been this Saturday.
As per tradition, St. John’s Prep had specially made jerseys for the event: cream colored with a thick red and blue stripe at the bottom and ‘St. John’s Prep’ above an eagle on the sweater’s front. On the back, every player had the name ‘Frates’ above their uniform number.
John and Andrew Frates went into the Prep locker room before the Eagles and spoke to their players about their son and brother, saying how much of a fighter he was both in athletics, his battle against ALS, and life itself, and that he refused to give up in any of his pursuits.
“It was awesome,” Ward said of the pregame speech. “Honestly it just makes you want to play the game and win that much more.”
“What’s special about this tournament,” veteran SJP head coach Kristian Hanson said, “is that every year you have a new group of kids who’ll come in and learn about Pete. For us, this is essentially a new varsity team, and these are mostly guys who have never played in this tournament and probably don’t know a heck of a lot about Pete … so these guys come in here, meet Pete’s dad and brother, and learn about Pete. It’s something special we do here.”
BC High head coach John Flaherty and his team have been involved in the Frates Tournament from its beginnings.
“It’s a Catholic Conference game and such a meaningful game,” said Flaherty, his team now 2-2. “You get to see the Frates family and it’s such a special game for a lot of people and we’re honored to be a part of it.
“Our president (Grace Cotter Regan, who was there Friday) lost her father to ALS, so it’s very close to our community, too. I’m sure she was here today to share in this with us.”
Goaltenders Nathan Michaud of St. John’s Prep and Drew Karlovits of BC High both had their standout moments. Making his first start of the season, Michaud (18 saves) was steady throughout; the junior kept the game tied late in the third through traffic when a BC High defender got a wide open shot from the slot. Karlovits, a sophomore, turned aside 30 shots, including a shorthanded breakaway by the Eagles’ Sam Croke.
It was Croke who gave St. John’s Prep a 1-0 lead in the third, following up Ward’s initial shot by knocking home a rebound in traffic out front. BC High tied it up four minutes later following a time out when, with the man advantage, Chris Brennick picked up the puck after it had caromed off the back glass and rifled it home.
“We talked about there was plenty of time left, and one shot could tie it,” Flaherty said of his time out talk. “They’re a better team that us, but we didn’t quit. So the message today is we’ve established that we’re a no-quit team, and that’s going to pay off as we go further into the season.”
With time winding down, St. John’s Prep broke out of its own zone as Croke got the puck to DeLucia, who left it for Ward … who did the rest.
“Those are the guys we rely on to find the back of the net,” Hanson said of his team’s aforementioned second line. “Wardo was able to do that on a goal scorer’s goal. Drop pass, collected it, brought it across his own body and went blocker side high; just a really well placed shot. Those are the plays we expect from a guy like that.”
Junior defenseman Kevin Correa got the Prep’s ‘Hard Hat’ for his staunch work in the defensive end. Senior center Carson Irving also had a strong game on the third line with sophomore Chase Brown on his left and freshman Gavin Anderson on the right side.
BC High will meet Central Catholic in 2:30 p.m. in the consolation game Saturday.
St. John’s Prep 2, BC High 1
10th annual Pete Frates Winter Classic, first round
BC High;0;0;1;1
St. John’s Prep;0;0;2;2
First: No scoring.
Second: No scoring.
Third: SJP, Sam Croke (Brandon Ward, Ryan DeLucia), 8:51; BCH, Chris Brennick (Cam Berry, Nolan O’Sullivan), ppg, 14:29; SJP, Ward (DeLucia, Croke), 16:37.
Saves: BCH, Drew Karlovits 28; SJP, Nathan Michaud 18.
Records: SJP, 2-1; BCH, 2-2.