Nick Bowerman’s job is to hit people.
He throws his body around like a crash dummy as line mates Alan Mook and Michael Donato rack up points. Monday night, however, there was a change.
Bowerman did all the scoring – a season-high three goals, in fact – to lead Holy Cross to a 3-2 win over Xavier in the opener of the best-of-three CHSHL Class B semifinal series at the World Ice Arena in Flushing. Game 2 is Friday night at Abe Stark Arena in Coney Island at 7 p.m.
“Roles were reversed,” Holy Cross coach Kevin Goodspeed said. “He gave us three big ones today.”
Traditionally, Holy Cross’s first line has well-defined roles. Bowerman is the grinder, Donato is the scorer and Mook is the passer. With Cross struggling to beat Xavier goaltender Dan Joyce, Bowerman took matters into his own hands.
He pulled Cross (15-1-1) even at 2:19 of the second period on the power play and 5:25 into the third he rifled a shot past Joyce top shelf, knocking the goalie’s Gatorade bottle off the top of the net. Twenty-four seconds later, he scooped up a loose puck between the circles and whistled a backhander home.
“It clicked for me today,” he said. When asked how this changes his role on the top line, Bowerman joked: “I’ll have to give them a run for their money.”
Not bad for a grinder who often misses the net, a source of amusement with teammates and coaches. Before Monday’s contest, Goodspeed advised Bowerman to look before shooting, which he at times hasn’t done.
“I looked before I shot and got three out of it,” Bowerman said. “I think I’ll take his advice from now on.”
Xavier (10-6-1) got within a goal when Jake Erhard potted a rebound with 4:33 remaining. But Xavier didn’t have many chances to equalize down the stretch, especially when standout forward Cam Neely was in the penalty box for the final two minutes on an unsportsmanlike misconduct call.
Despite the loss, Xavier coach Al Dimauro was happy with his team’s performance. It led after one period on a power-play goal from Joseph DeAngelo, went toe-to-toe with the top team in the division and was a bounce away from either reaching overtime or prevailing.
“When you look at the game overall, it was a pretty even game,” the coach said. “Anytime you can say you gave it your all, win, lose or draw, you have to feel good about your performance.”
He later added: “I got a good group of young kids going out there and playing their hearts out. … On Friday we’ll have fun for another hour and a half.”
Holy Cross, meanwhile, was pleased to leave the Flushing rink victorious. It didn’t play its best hockey, yet stands one win away from advancing to the championship series.
“Usually I’m happy after a game like this, but today I’m content,” Goodspeed said. “We have to improve next time we play them or we’ll see a Game 3.”