Harry Smith scores the final goal off Andrew Steed's third assist of the night and Geither, Will Smith and Colton Riemenschneider each rack up two assists in the 7-0 triumph.
Saint Ignatius improves its remarkable state-best record to 37-0 and moves on to the second round, where it will face Elyria Catholic at high noon on Saturday in Brooklyn's John M. Coyne Recreation Center.
*Geither's 56 goals this winter currently put him in a tie with Pat Bauman of Cleveland Heights (1987-88) for seventh place on Ohio's all-time, single-season list, and his 102 points currently put Liam in a tie with Macke Bentley of Shaker Heights (1979-80) for 11th place on that all-time, single-season state ledger. The Ohio record for points in a single season is held by Matt White of Perrysburg with 135 in 2009-10 and the state's top mark for goals in a season is 96 by Kyle Brown of Millbury Lake (2004-05).
*REMINDERS ON BASKETBALL, BOWLING, SWIMMING AND DIVING AND WRESTLING FOLLOW THE HOCKEY STORY.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT FEBRUARY 2012
Saint Ignatius’ gifted and savvy senior forward Mike Abood said the Wildcats realized that Padua would come out strong on Monday night and play well in the early going.
That, said Abood, is why it was so important for the undefeated ‘Cats to bury the Bruins’ enthusiasm within the first 15 minutes.
Mission accomplished.
Saint Ignatius, defeating Padua for the fifth time this season, lit the lamp four times in the first period en route to a 7-0 triumph in an OHSAA first-round playoff game at Brooklyn’s John M. Coyne Recreation Center.
The Wildcats, bearers of an all-time, state-best 37-0 record, advance to Saturday’s second-round action against the Panthers of Elyria Catholic. A puck will drop at high noon in the Coyne Recreation Center.
Padua, which upset Saint Ignatius, 4-1, in last year’s district semifinals, closed its season at 9-22-1.
“It was the teamwork,” Abood said, after Saint Ignatius shutout the Bruins for the third time this winter. “Everybody was talking out there and making the right plays, smart plays.”
That intelligent and strong play came to the fore 6 minutes and 8 seconds into the game, when Abood fired home the first of his two goals off assists from senior forward Colton Riemenschneider and senior defender Andrew Steed.
Just seconds after they killed off a Padua power-play advantage, the Wildcats pushed their lead to 2-0 on a lamp lighter by standout senior center and four-year varsity mainstay Paddy Spellacy. Paddy’s first of two came off a helper from his lifelong buddy, ‘Cats’ three-year varsity dynamo Liam Geither.
Saint Ignatius, which won the first of its two state championships in hockey by defeating three-time state champion Padua, 4-1, in the 2000 title game, hit the Bruins with a late first-period punch that the four-time state runners-up and 11-time district champions never recovered from.
First it was Geither adding to his single-season school records for goals and points by slapping in a bullet off the stick of Steed at the 14-minute mark. Steed and Spellacy were awarded with the assists. Then at 14:19, it was Abood and Riemenschneider combining again, as Abood delivered his 30th goal of the season off Riemenschneider’s second helper of the first 15 minutes.
The second period saw Geither tally his 56th lamp lighter of the winter off a nice breakaway outlet from rock-solid senior defender Will Smith and Spellacy take helpers from Geither and Smith and rip the puck past the keeper for No. 38 of 2011-12.
Geither’s two goals and two assists upped his Saint Ignatius record for points in a season to 102 (see the corner’s drop headline above on all-time Ohio marks). Liam said he never imagined a season like this when he started playing for the Wildcats, but added that the only number in the ‘Cats’ minds is a third state championship and the second since 2009-10.
“This is just one of six,” Geither said, referring to the number of postseason victories it will take for Saint Ignatius to achieve its ultimate goal.
“I told the kids before the game and I’ve said it before that (Padua’s) Michael Palasics is one of the best around,” said Wildcats head coach Pat O’Rourke ’90, after he watched his sophomore forward Harry Smith score the game’s final goal at the 9:33 mark of the third period and witnessed senior goalie Matt Kovesdy’s 11 shutout of the season. The 11 shutouts by Matt tie a single-season Wildcats record and his 26 career blankings are a new school mark.
“I hate to see his career end like that,” Coach O’Rourke continued in his genuine display of respect for Palasics, the Bruins’ multi-skilled All-Red North Division forward. “We knew Padua would come hard and they kept it close for a while there. But that was the plan – to strike early and try to take the life out of them a little bit.
“You don’t want to give that kid (Palasics) a chance to get going, he’s tough. You worry about a team like that. They could pop a goal early, get some momentum and pull off a big upset. But I was really surprised that they jumped on us in the first round of the bracket (after going 0-4 against the ‘Cats in the regular season). We’ve had some great games against Padua over the years and it was kind of abnormal to play them in the first round.”
JUST A REMINDER that the Saint Ignatius junior varsity (16-2) and varsity (13-5) basketball teams will be at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday afternoon to face the Senate Athletic League’s John Adams Rebels. The JV game is scheduled for 1:45, with the varsity encounter to follow. Coach Sean O'Toole's Wildcats climbed two spots to ninth place in this week's Plain Dealer Top 25.
The Saint Ignatius broadcasting network will have audio and video on the games, with the SIBN’s John Fanta ’13, Greg Ziton ’13 and Paddy White ’14 doing such a smooth job with their play-by-play and commentary you will think you’re watching Twardzik-to-Walton-to-Lucas. Look it up.
Rest in peace, Maurice, you were one of the most underrated players in the game.
And, as we posted on the corner over the weekend, senior Ray Schaefer will be representing Saint Ignatius' bowling program in Saturday's District Tournament and the Wildcats’ swimming and diving program, fresh off its first district championship since 2000, will be competing in the annual State Meet at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. Boys Division I competition gets underway on Thursday with the diving events at 9 a.m., and the swimming will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Last, but certainly not least, we want to wish Coach Mark Sullivan and his Wildcats wrestlers all of the best, as 10 of Coach Sullivan's wrestlers, headed by sectional champions George DiCamillo (120 pounds), Tommy Zeigler (113), Jimmy Ferritto (106) and Ethan Janesz (160), will be competing at the annual and tradition-rich Mentor District on Friday and Saturday.