Danny Brogan, Ethan Whitney and Beck Schultz provide the goals and Mike Mulach is outstanding in goal as Saint Ignatius rallies to a 3-2 victory over Toledo St. John's Jesuit in a match up of the state's co-No. 1 hockey teams on Friday night at Ice Land USA.
The annual Seniors vs. Faculty pre-Christmas break basketball game goes to the seniors, 64-60, in overtime. It was an afternoon in Sullivan Gym that saw the faculty team overcome a 24-0 deficit, only to come up short in the end.
Here is the full hockey story. The Seniors-Faculty game recap follows the hockey story.
By Eddie Dwyer
Strongsville, Ohio - Saint Ignatius’ sophomore forward Ethan Whitney will be the first to tell you that the Titans from Toledo St. John’s Jesuit were outworking the Wildcats in the first period of Friday night’s opening game in the Padua Holiday Tournament at OBM Arena in Ice Land USA.
“Yeah, we weren’t playing too well,” said Whitney, whose goal with just under 12 minutes remaining gave the Wildcats their first lead of the night and helped vault them to a 3-2 triumph over the Titans in what was a meeting of the co-No. 1 teams in this week’s Ohio Coaches state poll.
“They were outhitting us, outworking us and outshooting us,” Whitney continued. “In between the first and second period, our coach (interim head coach Nick Biondo) came into the locker room and told us we had to pick it up. We realized we were getting outworked, so we started hitting more and playing the puck.”
St. John’s Jesuit (9-3), which lost to the Wildcats by an identical 3-2 score in the championship game of the Miami of Ohio University DiPaolo Memorial Tournament over Thanksgiving Weekend, definitely held the upper hand in the early going on Friday night.
The Titans took a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior forward Mike Buchholtz with 9:47 to go in the first period. Buchholtz scored off an authoritative slap shot by senior defender Ryan Rapp. It was the first goal of
the season for Buchholtz, a young man who has overcome a kidney illness.
Saint Ignatius (8-2-2), which returns to the OBM Arena ice at 8:10 on Saturday morning to face off with Olentangy Liberty, couldn’t take advantage of a power play late in the first period and, after some strong goal keeping by Titans’ junior Mike Barrett and Wildcat senior Mike Mulach, the score remained 1-0 entering the second period.
Mike finished with 35 saves and Barrett turned away 29 pucks.
Controlling what Whitney described as the situational play, Saint Ignatius seemed to feed off an exceptional glove save by Mulach with just over nine minutes left in the second period.
Executing their backdoor offense to near perfection, the Wildcats knotted the score at 1 on a power play goal by junior forward Danny Brogan at 8:01 of the second period. Assisting were standout senior captain and
forward Miles McQuinn and hard-nosed junior defender Harry Smith.
Some more heads up work by the respective goalies prevented either team from doing further damage in the second period.
“We had a rough time at the beginning, just trying to get our feet wet and things like that,” said Coach Biondo,” a former All-American hockey player at The Ohio State University who has moved up from assistant
coach to interim head coach while veteran Pat O’Rourke ’90 is on a medical leave. “Guys were sick this week and I think it took a while for them to get their bearings. We kept the shifts short in that first period, trying to get everybody involved in the game. We saw who was playing the best and kind of went with those guys to make sure we had the best people on the ice.
“I’m the kind of guy who wants perfection,” Coach Biondo continued. “We feel good about our team. We’re young and we’re still working to try to get the guys to buy into a new system. We progressing, slowly, but we’re progressing. It feels good to get it done against a team (the Titans) like that.”
Saint Ignatius’ second-period progression carried over to the final 15 minutes, as Whitney tallied his third goal of the season off a pressure sequence by the Ice Cats that gave them a lead they never relinquished. The
assists went to sophomore forward Matty Geither and junior forward Beck Schultz.
“It happened to be a great pass and I just finished the goal,” said the amiable and unassuming Whitney.
Schultz, who is one of the unsung players in the area, staked his team to a two-goal advantage with
a nice tip shot off helpers from junior forward Riley Ellis and junior defender Logan Sellers as 6:56 remained in the third period.
Trailing, 3-1, St. John’s Jesuit made it 3-2 on a goal by senior forward Colin Suter with 47 seconds left.
SENIORS VS. FACULTY PRE-CHRISTMAS BREAK HOOPS EXTRAVAGANZA
There was a point in the early going when whispers of the biggest blowout in the history of the annual Seniors vs. Faculty basketball game lingered throughout Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
Dominating the offensive glass, burying more treys than you see in the first half of an NBA All-Star Game and simply toying with the teachers, the Seniors led, 24-0.
The Seniors added insult to injury by purposely missing free throws and threatening to use just four players.
That is until SIBN and SSID President John Fanta, who was doing color commentary on the game, stood up and said: "What, you only have four guys out there? I've been waiting for this moment all my life!"
John stood up and ripped off his school clothes, revealing his basketball attire that included multi-blue colored Nike shoes. In a single bound he jumped around the scorer's table and on to the court.
Displaying the moves he mastered as a freshman and junior varsity offensive lineman for the 'Cats, John brought the student body to its feet when he fired up a shot that kissed the rim and fell softly through the net.
No, it wasn't as smooth as "Styles Style," but it was definitely "Fanta Frenzy."
However, just when suggestions of "This game is over, let's go to Wendy's" made their way through part of the home side of Sullivan Gym, the Faculty found its fuel.
Led by the driving penetration of freshman football coach Rodney Galloway, the passing and deadly long-range shooting of junior varsity basketball coach Larry Arthur and Athletic Director Rory Fitzpatrick, and the relentless defensive pressure of nationally acclaimed head soccer coach Mike McLaughlin, the Faculty stormed back to take a lead in the final minutes.
"What are you doing out there," yelled the Seniors' assistant coach Patrick Gibbons, who displayed the same passion he sees every day as the devoted team manager for Head Varsity Basketball Coach Sean O'Toole.
Patrick got his point across, as the gifted Jordan Bufford glided through the air for a big-time basket and All-Ohio and record-setting senior tailback Tim McVey buried two clutch fee thows, enabling the Seniors to walk away victorious in overtime, 64-60.
QUOTE OR QUESTION OF THE DAY.
From senior football and track mainstay Dan Way, a member of the Seniors' talent-laden squad: "How do you air ball a layup?" Dan asked after a not-so-pretty effort by one of the Faculty's players.
Here's hoping Dan doesn't have the player in question as a teacher.