Brother Rice has advanced to the Elite Eight of the Blackhawk Cup state tournament, but the Crusaders clearly are the unknowns.
The other seven remaining teams are considered in the state’s upper echelon. Brother Rice, meanwhile, entered the state tournament with the No. 22 seed. But wins over No. 11 Barrington and No. 6 Sandburg have proved that the Crusaders are for real.
“We know we’re better than [a 22 seed] and we want to prove it to everyone,” said junior center Sam Spiguzza, who had two assists Thursday in the Crusaders’ 5-1 upset of Sandburg. “It feels good to be the underdog. We’re pumped and with the momentum we now have.”
Next up for the Crusaders is Catholic League rival Loyola Gold, which ended Deerfield’s Sweet 16 dreams with a 3-1 victory Thursday. Brother Rice faces the Ramblers on Sunday at 4:40 p.m. at the AHAI Hockey Center in Bensenville.
In the other quarterfinals No. 1 Fenwick defeated Stevenson 6-1 and Naperville Central held off Glenbrook South 2-1 on Saturday. New Trier Green meets Bartlett on Sunday.
“We’ve really been playing really well the last month or so,” Brother Rice coach Jamie Pembroke said. “The guys have really been working hard to earn respect.”
Spiguzza, in his third varsity season, is one of two centers on Brother Rice along with senior Tony Petriatis.
Spiguzza has 17 goals and 20 assists for the Crusaders (26-17-3), who have won five straight games. They finished 7-6-3 in the Catholic League, losing in the Kennedy Cup’s quarterfinal series to Mt. Carmel.
The Crusaders lost both games this season to Loyola Gold, 5-1 and 5-4.
“The last few weeks we’ve really been playing strong defensive hockey and have been capitalizing on everything we’re given,” said Spiguzza, named to the Catholic League All-Star team.
Junior goalie Mike Brown has been rock-solid–and he’s had to be. Senior goalie Sean Mitchell left the team last month, upset over playing time, leaving Brown in goal for the past 11 games. Brown is 14-8-2 this year–and has surrendered only two goals in the last four games, with two shutouts in that stretch too.
“It actually feels great that, well, everyone is against us or at least counting us out,” Spiguzza said. “But we know that if we get ahead our goalie will back us up.”
Brown stopped 26 Sandburg shots. He’s a butterfly style goalie who’s been aided this season by the addition of goalie coach Tony Zawzowski, who played four seasons at the University of Notre Dame.
“When the other goalie quit I had to step up,” Brown said. “I’m the only goalie now, so I can’t let anything bother me. If I’m having a bad day I just have to forget about everything.”
Said Pembroke, “Mike has really blossomed.”
Same goes for senior right wing Troy Martin (12 goals, eight assists), who netted the game-wining goal against Sandburg among his hat trick–his second three-goal game this season.
“We’re a confident team right now; we know we can beat Loyola,” Martin said. “We’ve been up 2-0 and 3-1 [against Loyola], but have slacked off in the third. We’ve been playing more aggressive now than earlier in the season, because we know our next game could be our last.”
