The Cranston boys’ hockey team was afforded a rare opportunity on Monday afternoon when it took to the ice at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for a non-league tilt against East Catholic from Manchester, Connecticut.

Unfortunately, the Falcons couldn’t keep pace with the Eagles’ high-powered offense in a 7-3 defeat.

East Catholic raced out of the gate with two first-period goals to put Cranston in a hole after the first 15 minutes of play, and the Eagles would up their lead to 3-0 just 40 seconds into the second frame when Tim Bealieu finished off a feed from Justin Bailey out front.

West got on the board just over four minutes later on a wraparound goal by junior Jake Drohen, but East Catholic answered with the next three goals on tallies from Connor Hartnett, Brady Batman and Brandon Donnelly to give the Eagles a 6-1 lead.

West captain Kyle Poland trimmed the deficit to 6-2 when he beat East Catholic netminder Joe Sitarz with a short-side shot late in the second.

Both teams traded penalties for much of the third period, leading to several short power play opportunities and a scarcity of 5-on-5 play.

Justin Neary got behind the defense, before deking and burying a backhand by Sitarz on a breakaway at the midway point of the third to trim Cranston’s deficit to three.

However, the Falcons couldn’t shrink East Catholic’s lead any further.

Chris O’Connor added an insurance goal late for the Eagles, when he tapped in a loose puck in the crease to push the advantage back out to four.

Cranston netminders D.J. DeAngelis and Robert Miller split time in goal, and they combined to turn aside 30 of the 37 shots they faced. East Catholic would outshoot Cranston, 37-27, overall.

The Falcons will look to close their regular season slate with a victory when they host Smithfield at Cranston Ice Rink on Friday evening at 8 p.m.