There was plenty of scoring Monday night on the Chelmsford power play. Unfortunately for the Lions, it was all happening on the opposite end of the ice.

Chelmsford allowed three shorthanded goals against first place Central Catholic, which added an empty net tally let to seal a 5-3 victory at Chelmsford Forum.

Mike Dedonato scored to knot the game at 1-1 early in the game, and the Lions found themselves on the power play for three minutes in the second period. But Central Catholic managed two scores while playing a man down, taking a 3-1 edge.

Charles McKelvey brought the Lions back to within 3-2 with 12:07 left in the game, but the visitors pushed it back to 4-2 with a power play tally.

Tommy Bishop notched a goal on a rebound with 3:30 to go and drew a slashing penalty with 1:51 to go, but with the Lions playing six-on-four hockey, Central Catholic was still able to manage the empty net marker.

The loss dropped Chelmsford to 7-2-2 in league play while Central Catholic improved to 10-0-0. More importantly, the setback means the locals will likely have to settle for the Division 1 bracket, rather than hoping to make noise in the Super 8.

"This is a game I feel we should have won," said head coach Mike McGrath. "Now we have to win out and get seeded as high as we can in Division 1. This takes us out of any conversation for a play in to the Super 8."