Siok superb as Pioneers slip past SPM.

Byline: Mike Grimala

WORCESTER - St. John's used equally stellar efforts from goaltender Ben Siok and the penalty kill unit to beat St. Peter-Marian, 1-0, last night at the Hart Center.

Ben Snow scored the winner for the Pioneers (3-3-2), knocking home a rebound early in the second period.

Siok, a senior, was under constant fire all game, making 26 (mostly spectacular) saves and turning away St. Peter-Marian at every opportunity. And the opportunities were plentiful for the Guardians (3-5-1), who enjoyed seven power plays, two 5-on-3 advantages, and a four-minute man advantage after a major penalty.

"It's certainly not a situation you ever want to be in," St. John's coach Brian Murphy said of the constant scrambling on defense. "It seemed like we were down all game, but we did a nice job killing the penalties, and in the end that's what won the game for us."

Things started innocently enough, as St. Peter-Marian was unable to generate much offense in the first period. With a minute left in the period, however, the Guardians fired a warning shot when Andy LeClair came in clean on a breakaway.

Siok turned away his wrister to keep the game scoreless heading into the second, a sign of things to come.

St. John's capitalized immediately after the intermission, scoring 22 seconds in when Snow banged home a loose puck from the right side of the crease. St. Peter-Marian goalie Ryan Griffin was unable to hold onto a Mike Coloumb shot from the left circle, and Snow was waiting for the rebound on the other side.

Armed with a one-goal lead, Siok proceeded to stand on his head to make it hold up. He made 22 saves in the final two periods, turning away countless potential goals.

With 9:13 to play in the period and SPM on a power play, Colin Mulvey received a pass in the slot and had all the time in the world to settle the puck and take his shot. Siok calmly blocked it away, just as he redirected a hard Mulvey slap shot later in the possession.

Mulvey's one of my good buds," Siok said. "We've played a lot together, and those were some scary moments seeing him come in with the puck. But I have to credit our defense. Those guys let me see the puck on every shot and gave me the chance to make the clean saves."

With just under two minutes to play in the second, a St. John's player received a four-minute major.

The Pioneers' penalty kill unit did its job and kept St. Peter-Marian from getting a good scoring chance.

The Pioneers' final hurdle came in the last three minutes. Back-to-back penalties gave St. Peter-Marian a 5-on-3 for 61 seconds, but Siok blocked all three shots he saw and the St. John's penalty killers cleared the puck away twice to chew up the rest of the time.

"In that situation, you just want to keep the puck outside," Murphy said. "We stayed in the middle and made them pass it around the outside, and we got a couple big clears. They really played it well with the game on the line."

After pulling the goalie, SPM had a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 45 seconds, but the Guardians were unable to get a shot on net.

NAME: ST. JOHN'S HIGH SCHOOL; ST. PETER-MARIAN HIGH SCHOOL

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) St. John's Connor Gorman moves the puck up ice ahead of St. Peter-Marian's Matt Lopes. (2) St. John's Robert Lilley (24) puts a shot on St. Peter-Marian goalie Ryan Griffin.

PHOTOG: PETER CAVANNA