By: Joe Haemmerle '86
FEBRUARY 24 – STOCKHOLM, NJ – BC, the #19-ranked team in NJ, saw their season come to an end at Skylands Ice World in the first round of the NJSIAA Playoffs. Pope John XXIII of Sparta, ranked #14 in NJ grabbed a 1-0 lead with just 1:51 remaining in the second period.
A crack in the ice was identified and the game was on hold for a 40-minute delay. Finally, the game was moved to an adjacent rink after the Zamboni cleaned the ice, the teams returned to play.
The Crusaders held tough, but could not penetrate the Lions' defenses. With under 1:30 remaining to play, BC pulled goal keeper
Kenneth Johnson (who had saved 28 of 29 shots on goal to that point) when the Lions scored a pair of empty netters. Johnson returned to the goal for the remaining 46 seconds of play and yielded a meaningless goal as Pope John advanced.
| TEAMS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
FINAL |
| Bergen Catholic (8-7-2) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Pope John XXIII (11-7-4) |
0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
