Brandon Harrison’s first varsity goal came at a most opportune moment. The sophomore found the back of the net with 5:51 remaining in the third period and that tally turned out to be the game winner as The Hun School bested St. Joseph’s Prep 4-3 Tuesday afternoon at Ice Land.

The result was a big step toward making the pieces of the APAC puzzle fit together. The host Raiders improved to 3-2 on conference play and 11-5 overall. They sit in second place in the conference standings, seven points behind first-place Holy Ghost Prep, who they will face in a rematch Thursday afternoon. Hun School also has a game in hand.

St. Joseph’s Prep (12-5 overall) dropped to 2-3 in the APAC.

It was the third meeting of the season between the two schools and that familiarity sparked intensity that was evident from the opening faceoff.

“That game was really fun to play in,” Harrison said. “It got a little chippy at the end (there was an altercation following the final buzzer) but scoring that goal to seal it was pretty good.”

The two teams entered the third period locked in a 2-2 stalemate. Aiden Honan gave the Raiders the lead on a solo effort with 7:01 left in regulation.  Working from behind the St. Joseph’s Prep net, Honan tucked the puck inside the right post. Harrison followed with what at the time was an insurance goal but the hosts needed to file a claim on that insurance policy when Justin Bibeau was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct immediately following Harrison’s goal.

The Raiders successfully killed off the penalty and wound up with power play of their own when the Hawks’ Noah Stuhl sent to the box for elbowing with 2:07 remaining but the Hawks didn’t back off. Jake Ely scored with 40 seconds remaining to make it a one-goal affair and the visitors finished the game on a power play after Luca Jean was flagged for elbowing immediately afterward.

But Hun School goaltender Elliot Trottier was equal to the challenge.

“It’s a good game every time we play them,” said Hun School coach N.G. Welsh. “We were better {In the first period}, they were better in the second, we were better in the third.

“I’m sure we’ll see them again.”

Welsh say this season’s three meetings (The Raiders have won two of the three) have given the Hawks and the Raiders in-depth knowledge of each other.

“We each know who are top couple of guys are,” he said. “We each know we have good quality goaltending so comes down to who has more discipline and who executed better.”

St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie Van Kula said his team came out second best in the area of execution.

“We have up big plays,” he said. “They capitalized on their chances, we didn’t.

“I respect their discipline. “They’re a tough team to play against. They’re physical, they’re pesky. I thought our guys represented themselves well and fought through a lot of it. I was happy about that. We’ve got to kind of flush it and look ahead to next week.”

• This was Hun School’s first APAC start of the season that was decided in regulation. The previous four went to overtime.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 2 1—3

Hun School 1 1 2—4

First-period goal: Luca Jean (HS) from Zachary Vallee and Aidan Honan, 14:43

Second-period goals: Bradan Fisher (SJP) from Thomas Ely, 1:05 (pp); Jacob Kelly-LePage (HS) from Devin Espana, 2:10; Cole Gargon (SJP) from Michael Waslick and Noah Stuhl, 8:08