Bishop Guertin boys hockey blanks Billerica, gets ready for rematch with Bedford

TYNGSBORO, Mass. - Jordan Caito knew he didn't have much time.

The Bishop Guertin High School senior was a few strides ahead of the nearest defender, and with the Cardinals boys hockey team shorthanded, he had to do something quick.

Caito fired a shot that went over the far shoulder of Billerica goalie Scott Murphy and found the top corner of the net to give Bishop Guertin a 4-0 lead in the second period, on the way to a 5-0 win over the Indians on Monday at Stake 3.

Caito finished with a goal and an assist, as did Cameron Fagan and Ben Peterson, while Liam Nye and Jared Zeichick also scored for the Cardinals (2-0). Jack Johansen and Douglas Barker added assists while Thomas Nortan stopped 12 shots to get the shutout.

Bishop Guertin led 2-0 at the end of the first period, and by the time the lead was four, coach Gary Bishop could start to see his players thinking about the team's next game on Wednesday against Bedford. The Cardinals, who lost to the Bulldogs in last year's Division I championship game, ended up taking nine penalties in the final two periods, including three in the game's final 2:40.

"First period, we played pretty well, we kind of dominated," Bishop said. "And then we got kind of sloppy, we started taking penalties. Once kids get ahead, then they do what they think is right instead of what they know is right. We got sloppy in the second and took some bad penalties. I thought we played a little better in the third.

"When it was 4-0, I think that's when they started thinking about Bedford. We didn't think we'd give up five in one period."

Murphy finished with 23 saves for Billerica, but didn't get much help from his young teammates. The Indians lost 11 players to graduation and three of their top returners opted for prep school.

Knowing that, the Cardinals focused on letting the game come to them in the first period.

"We played a conservative fore-check," Bishop said. "We weren't really going after them. We knew we could bottle them up because our forwards, I thought, were quicker than their defensemen. We were going into the corners and getting out of the corners before they got there."

Nye put Bishop Guertin up 1-0 with 6:27 left in the first, when Caito found him alone to the side of the Billerica goal. Murphy had no chance of getting across the crease to the stop the shot.

After an Indians penalty, Fagan made it 2-0 when his shot found an opening between Murphy's pads with 2:25 remaining in the first. Zeichick put the Cardinals ahead by three midway through the second period, when his shot deflected off a Billerica stick and found it's way past Murphy.

With Fagan in the box for a hold, Caito gave Bishop Guertin a 4-0 lead with his shorthanded breakaway.

"I just saw the puck bounce open on the breakaway," he said. "I knew someone was on me, so I just shot it. The right side was open, so I took the right side."

A power play goal by Peterson with 12:32 remaining in the third finished out the scoring and put Bedford squarely on the Cardinals' minds.

"That’s the No. 1 game for us this year," Caito said. "We've got a mature team. We have guys who played here last year, too. We have high expectations and we want to win it all."

The Cardinals and Bulldogs meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Sullivan Arena at Saint Anselm College.