In between a busy finals schedule, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats and Holy Name Green Wave squeezed in a hockey game on a chilly Tuesday evening in Brooklyn at the John M. Coyne Recreation Center.
The Ice Cats claimed victory in the midweek matchup in a 6-2 decision, advancing to 8-3 overall on the year, 3-0 against Great Lakes Hockey League foes.
Five different Wildcats recorded lamplighters tonight, with Connor McGowan leading the way with two goals and an assist.
Led by head coach Pat O'Rourke '90, the Wildcats played with physicality early on, exchanging clean hits with the Green Wave. The score remained tied until later in the first period.
Holy Name committed a penalty two-thirds of the way through the first stanza, allowing a talented Saint Ignatius power play to take center stage. The Wildcats thrived in the spotlight, firing shot after shot at the Holy Name net.
McGowan broke through for the 'Cats at the 5:55 mark, tapping in a rebound from the left side following a hard shot by Benji Rechin. Michael McCaffrey added an assist on the first goal of the game.
The Wildcats touched the twine again just 22 seconds later, as Connor Koehnke tallied his team-best ninth goal of the season on a beautiful bar-down goal.
Kevin Habeeb cut the deficit in half late in the period on a Holy Name power play on a nice goal.
The Wildcats wasted little time in responding. Connor McGowan flashed the lamp with a goal with 40.3 seconds left in the period. Entering the break, the Wildcats held a 3-1 lead on the scoreboard and a 14-4 advantage in shots.
The Ice Cats stretched the lead to three with 10 minutes left in the second. On a 2-on-1 breakaway, Koehnke slid a perfect pass from circle-to-circle to Seth Whitney, who tagged the puck into the net.
Midway through the stanza, the lead dwindled to two, as the Green Wave scored on a nice chance, slimming the lead to 4-2.
After a physical end of the period, the teams entered the locker room with the Wildcats leading 4-2. The Wildcats added to the margin early in the third on a picture-perfect Andrew Zedella goal. This time, Whitney providing the helper.
The scoring concluded with 4 minutes left in the game, as Rechin received a centering pass from McGowan. Zedella finished off his spectacular afternoon with yet another point.
While the Green Wave ended up on the losing end, goaltender Ross Conforto put forth an impressive effort in net for Holy Name. Conforto did allow 6 tallies, but turned away 35 Wildcats shots. Conforto stonewalled many promising Saint Ignatius opportunities in a game that saw the Wildcats control the puck for much of the contest.
Also to be commended is Grayson Gerard for the Wildcats. The senior defenseman delivered some crushing hits on defense, and turned away several Green Wave attacks.
The Wildcats return to action after finals conclude on Friday, as the Ice Cats will participate in the Padua Holiday Tournament. As part of the tournament, the Wildcats will play Findlay on Friday at 6 p.m., Columbus St. Charles on Saturday at 11:00 a.m., and Toledo St. Francis on Saturday at 6 p.m. All contests will take place at the OBM Arena off Royalton Road in Strongsville.
SIBN will broadcast all of the Wildcats' weekend contests, as Joe Molnar '18 and Jack O'Rourke '20 will lead the coverage, with help from excellent statistician Pat Kane '19.