Post Game Blog: St. John's Makes Short Work of Xaverian

The emergence of sophomore middie Andrew Cox has made St. John's even more dangerous.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Wow.

That's all I can really say after watching a game I thought would be close turn into a laugher, thanks to a dominant performance from the now 11-0 St. John's Pioneers.

Here is your weekly reminder that this blog is simply a collection of my wandering thoughts from the game. If you'd like full recaps, you can head on over to BostonLaxNet or ESPN Boston.

Making a Statement

The attack was humming, with senior All American Drew Smiley dishing out four assists and junior up-and-comer Jared Ward scoring five goals, but the defense was suffocating as well. Top that off with a fantastic 13-save performance from Steve Kerr, and you get the most impressive win in Central Mass over the last few years.

You can check out the highlights here, and a few more pictures are up on BostonLaxNet.

The 2nd and 3rd Quarters

It was an odd bit of domination in the middle of the game for St. John's, as they split the face-offs with Xaverian, and each team fired off 12 shots in those two periods.

Luckily for St. John's, Jared Ward and Co. scored on 10 of their 12 shots, while the exact opposite happened on the other end, with Kerr stopping 10 of the Hawks' 12 shots on goal.

With time of possession and shots nearly identical, it came down to who generated better looks. That was where Smiley's passing, senior middie Kevin Butler's shooting, and the cutting of both Ward and sophomore Andrew Cox came in.

Not all shots are created equal, and St. John's generated far more high percentage shots than Xaverian.

Heck, even when the Hawks did get a good look, Kerr usually thwarted them.

Looking Ahead

St. John's has to be in your statewide top-5 now, right? Well, they have a shot to move up from No. 9 in the latest ESPN Boston poll, and No. 12 in the latest BostonLaxNet poll, but I wouldn't expect the Pioneers to crack the top-5 in either yet.

Why?

Because teams outside of Eastern Mass just have to do a little more proving, that's all. Plus, the schedule gets even meatier for St. John's in the coming week, as they prepare for Western Mass power Minnechaug, a solid Groton-Dunstable squad and Division 2 state title favorite Longmeadow. After that, dates with South Hadley, Westboro, Algonquin and state power Acton-Boxborough are lined up.

Still, if you don't think St. John's has proven itself at this point, you're crazy. The Pioneers have wins over EMass Catholic powers BC High, St. John's Prep and Xaverian, to go with dominating CMass wins over Shrewsbury, Grafton, Nashoba, Leominster and Wachusett.

Much is yet to be determined, but these guys are legit.