'Things are working for us': St. Paul's boys' hockey finishes strong vs. St. Bernard's for sixth straight win

FITCHBURG — Colin Kreuz scored 14 seconds into the game, and Aidan Boyce notched a hat trick as St. Paul took down St. Bernard’s, 6-1, Wednesday night at the Wallace Civic Center. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Knights (12-2-1).

St. Paul scored five unanswered goals over the second and third periods to break the game open.

“We got the goal 14 seconds in, and then after that, nobody was playing well,” Kreuz said. “In between periods, coach (Jay Monfreda) let us know.  We came out in the third period, and that was our best period.”

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“Sometimes (that early goal is a hindrance),” Monfreda said. “You can get overconfident when you score so quickly like that. Like we preach to them all the time, start fast and finish strong. That’s what we did tonight. Unfortunately in the middle, we took a couple steps back, but we pulled it together.”

St. Paul wasted no time. Leyton Riendeau took a puck off the opening draw and drove down the left wall below the goal line before finding a cutting Kreuz. Kreuz finished the play with a one-timer at the doorstep to make it 1-0 Knights.

St. Bernard’s got the equalizer nine minutes into the second period when Joey Miola scored his first high school goal.

After the Bernardians (8-8) tied it, however, St. Paul turned up their game, dominating the rest of the way.

The Knights quickly regained their lead a little less than three minutes later when Boyce redirected a shot from the point on the power play to put the Knights back in front.  St. Paul extended its lead to 3-1 late in the second period when Curtis Patrick converted in tight.

In the third period, the Knights only allowed one shot, getting two goals from Boyce and another from Patrick to make it a 6-1 final.

Kreuz said his team is currently playing their best hockey of the season.

“Everybody has adapted to playing with each other after fall season,” Kreuz said. “Everybody knows each other now, and everybody is working hard, which is awesome. Burying pucks is a big thing, and everybody can do it, which is good.”

Monfreda said Kreuz’s game is at an elite level.

“He’s unselfish,” Monfreda said. “If you look at the stats, he leads Central Mass. in scoring, but he’s got double the assists than he has goals. He makes his teammates better, and it’s a testament to his hard work off the ice, and then you see it on the ice, too.”

St. Paul, now in its third year as a varsity program, also continues the build after experiencing growing pains early.

“I was here the first year, and obviously that was a tough year,” Kreuz said. “We won four games that year. Last year, we got a bunch of new guys, and ever since then, we’re all skilled, and we can all make plays happen, which is good. Obviously, it’s amazing to see where we are now.”

“It’s a testament to our leaders,” Monfreda said about the steady rise of his program that he has guided since the outset. “They’re taking the coaching. Each year we’ve built upon (the previous) year, and now we’re into some really deep schemes that they are picking up, and things are working for us.”

—Contact Chris Kyne at sports@telegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: St. Paul boys' hockey starts fast, finishes strong in win over St. Bernard's