After capturing the Cleveland Holiday Hockey tournament, it looked as though Fenwick would be on cruise control until the start of the Kennedy Cup playoffs in February.
But the Friars received a rude awakening last week when Providence and Stevenson handed Fenwick back-to-back losses in as many nights.
“We started to think we were better than what we are,” said Fenwick coach Dan Wolff, whose team was outscored 11-3 in the two losses. “We didn’t have the right focus.”
Just when it looked as though Barrington was going to hand Wolff’s squad its third consecutive loss on Saturday night at Ridgeland Common Ice Arena in Oak Park, the Friars finally woke up.
The Broncos outshot Fenwick 20-10 in the first two periods and raced out to a 3-1 cushion. But the Friars rallied for three unanswered goals in the third period to stun Barrington 4-3.
“We needed (that) one,” said Wolff, whose squad also defeated Naperville North 5-2 on Sunday to improve to 37-10-6 overall.
After K.C. Madock gave the Friars a 1-0 lead, Barrington scored three times in the second period. Nick Pierce, Geno Melone and Shane Callahan had the goals for the Broncos.
But thanks to goals by Tony Tedesco and Ryan McIean, Fenwick tied the game at 3-3 with six minutes to play. Seconds later, Nick Powers scored the game-winner when he slipped a shot past Barrington goalie Kyle Kaszynski.
Madock (2 goals), Powers, Mike Freitag and John Pacocha scored on Sunday to help the Friars run their winning streak to two.
“We’ve been experimenting with things here and there,” said Wolff, whose squad will head to Cleveland again this weekend to participate in the Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks tournament. “I really think we have a chance to do something special in February and March.
“I just have to get the third line going. If we get them clicking, we’re going to be tough to beat later in the season.”
While it’s still over a week away, Wolff and Co. are already eyeing its Jan. 20th matchup with Catholic League rival Mt. Carmel. The Caravan has handed Fenwick three of its 10 losses this season.
Wolff admitted that this game could determine whether the Friars earn a first-round bye in the Kennedy Cup playoffs.
“That’s going to be a big one,” Wolff said. “We’ve blown a couple games against Mt. Carmel that I think we should have won. So I know we’ll be ready for that one.”