The Saint Ignatius varsity prep hockey team is one step away from being the 25th annual Purple Puck champions.
The Wildcats played the other four best teams in the tournament in order to get to the championship. And tonight at six o’clock will be the deciding final versus host Gonzaga (D.C.)
The Wildcats’ first round robin contest occurred against Illinois’ best – Loyola Academy. The Ramblers proved their worth by trouncing on the Wildcats 5-1 at a point in the middle of the first half (the tournament’s games consist of two 25-minute halves).
Down four goals, most teams would be deflated. Instead, the Wildcats fought back. Before the half ended, Bain Kurtz netted a one-timer to make the score 5-2. In the second half, the men of Head Coach Pat O’Rourke ‘90 fought back, starting with a goal from standout sophomore two-way forward Aidan Millett. Millett, along with linemates Connor McGowan and Eric Lile, have enjoyed an excellent weekend. With two minutes, left the boys in Blue and Gold trailed their Jesuit brothers by two. With Benny Savarino pulled, the Wildcats were able to find twine twice on rebounds off the sticks of Mike McCaffrey and Connor McGowan. The Cats tied Loyola, but had winning momentum as they pulled out 3 of the possible 6 points (2 for win or period win, 1 for tie or period win) to put them in playoff position.
The Cats dominated game two against Colorado's finest, Regis Jesuit. Connor McGowan opened the scoring, and along with Bain Kurtz providing another goal. The remaining three all came off the stick of Michael Boehm. Boehm powered the Cats through with two goals and was helped by Benny Savarino’s Vezina-esque performance.
The Boys of Winter faced Gonzaga in the final round robin clash and with 9 points already, needed a win to go to the playoffs. The Cats dominated the first 20 minutes of the first half and the work finally paid off when Andrew Denk floated one over the Eagles tender’s shoulder. In the second half, Eric Lile made a nice pass to Santino Pignatiello, who roofed one over the goalie. Greg Langermeier and Connor McGowan both sniped from above the circles to multiply the lead by two. After a Gonzaga goal, sophomore stud Joey Trobenter iced the cake.
On Saturday morning, the Cats faced St. Joe’s Prep from Philadelphia in hopes of advancing past the semifinal. After a 16-save performance by Benny Savarino in the first half, the score stayed locked at 0-0. In the second half, Mike McCaffrey beat a man wide and sent a gorgeous pass to the stick of Kurtz. From the circle, Captain Kurtz put a filthy move on past the goalie and layed the puck in backhanded on a “silky” goal as team manager/hype man Patty Keane described it. Savarino furthered his excellent two days by posting a shutout and allowing two in three games. The coup-de-grace came when Alex Bilardo finished off the empty netter.
The Ice Cats beat a Gonzaga team without starting goalie Colorado College commit Dominic Basse or Providence commit Cole Vallsee, both of whom are back. The blue and gold still should play a great contest tonight, as they evenly matchup with the new Eagles team. On his thoughts for tonight’s contest stalwart defenseman Clay Gazdak said, “It’s gonna be a competitive game with lots of physicality and skill and the winner will be the team with the most effort.”
The SIBN will have you covered with the contest as Jack O’Rourke and Max Marazzi provide the call, audio-only due to Internet issues.