Brooklyn, Ohio - Joe Malone delivers the tying goal, Matty Geither produces the game-winning lamp lighter and the Captain, Miles McQuinn, leaves no doubt with his 31st and 32nd goals of the season. Senior Bernie Cook turns in another outstanding performance in goal!
Coach Pat O'Rourke's Ice Cats bring home their second consecutive Baron Cup in what is one of the most traditon-rich tournaments in the country.
The Wildcats, who improved to 27-5-3 by defeating the Raiders for the third time this season, will now focus on the annual OHSAA Brooklyn District. The Ice Cats are the top seed at Brooklyn and will play their first OHSAA tournament game on Feb. 18 against the Shoremen from Avon Lake. The puck will drop in the John M. Coyne Recreation Center at 6 p.m.
HERE IS THE STORY ON SUNDAY NIGHT'S "GRITTY" EFFORT BY THE ICE CATS.
Just moments after his team walked off the ice in the John M. Coyne Recreation Center on Sunday night with a second consecutive Baron Cup I championship, Saint Ignatius’ hockey savvy head coach Pat O’Rourke ’90 talked about the “grit” of his young, but oh so mentally tough Wildcats.
“I think it took us a period to get going there,” Coach O’Rourke said after the Ice Cats erased a one-goal deficit after the first 15 minutes and went on to defeat Shaker Heights, 4-1, in what was a Baron Cup final that matched the No. 1 (Saint Ignatius) and No. 5 teams in the coaches’ state poll. The Wildcats also defeated Shaker Heights, 2-0 in last year’s Baron Cup I final and won both of the regular season matchups with the Raiders this winter.
“After that first period, we were so sluggish that I thought uh-oh, we could be in for a long night here,” Coach O’Rourke continued. “But we changed up a couple of things between periods and tried to give the kids sort of a jump start. And they responded.”
Less than 24 hours after playing in one of the greatest games in the history of Ohio high school hockey – a five-overtime, 4-3 victory over the state’s third-ranked University School Preppers in Saturday night’s
Baron Cup I semifinals – Saint Ignatius and Shaker Heights had their faceoff delayed for an hour. The length of Sunday’s two other Baron Cup finals resulted in the delay.
Shaker Heights, which now stands 22-7 on the season, came out with a purpose once the first period got underway. The Raiders took a 1-0 lead on a powerful shot off the stick of senior Jacob Shick, an All-Red North West Division first-team selection. Shick’s lamp lighter, which came with 2 minutes and 47 seconds remaining in the first 15 minutes, was assisted by senior Connor Siwik.
The 2012-13 Ice Cats (27-5-3), who despite being a program laden with underclassmen and first-year varsity players, have a gritty approach that reminds Coach O’Rourke of his March 2010 state championship team.
And it didn’t take long for that resolute spirit to come to the fore on Sunday night as 35 seconds into the second period one of the few veterans, senior defenseman and assistant captain Joe Malone, knotted the score with an unassisted goal. Joe was recognized before that game as an All-Red North West Division second-team selection.
“We had to kill penalties left and right,” said Coach O’Rourke, the Coach of the Year in the Red North West Division. “Luckily we have a good PK (penalty killing ability). But it seemed like we played almost the whole second half of the game in the box.”
With his defense, led by unflappable senior goalie Bernie Cook, overcoming those numerous short-handed situations, Coach O’Rourke watched promising sophomore forward Matty Geither give Saint Ignatius a 2-1 lead with an all-out hustle unassisted goal with less than two minutes gone in the third period. Matty is the brother of Liam Geither ’12, who was one of the most prolific players in the Wildcats’ rich hockey history.
“When it (the puck) skipped over (a Shaker player’s) stick, I wasn’t thinking about anything except going to the net,” Matty said. “Last night’s game (versus University School) was tiring, but the boys pulled through. It was a great team effort. The second period we kicked it up and the third period we kicked it up even more.”
Champions of the Red North West Division, the Ice Cats displayed the heart of a champion once again as they settled the issue behind two goals by their unquestioned leader – senior center and captain Miles McQuinn.
Miles, a first-team All-Red North West selection, increased his season goal total to 32 by scoring a short-handed lamp lighter off an unbelievable effort by multi-skilled junior forward Beck Schultz with 4:06 left to be played and added some frosting to the victory cake with an empty netter in the final seconds.
“Beck did some incredible work in the corner,” said Coach O’Rourke of an effort that saw Schultz out battle three Shaker Heights players against the boards. “The puck squirted out and Miles knows what to do with it. I am sure we got outshot because we spent so much time in the box. But we play an aggressive style and we’re not going to back off. If we have to kill off a few penalties, we will.”
Shaker Heights did outshoot the ‘Cats, 24-22, but Cook had the answer to that with 23 saves.
“It means so much,” said Cook of being a championship goalie in a tournament that has showcased so many great keepers over the past 42 years. Bernie, who joined Malone on the All-Red North West second team,
emphasized how truly special it is for him as a first-year varsity mainstay.
*NOTE: The corner would like to express it congratulations to underrated senior defenseman and assistant captain Alex McNulty, who garnered Honorable Mention on the All-Red North West team.