Posted by Eddie Dwyer, with Liam Geither update presented from Wildcats head hockey coach Pat O'Rourke '90.
*As we reported in our hockey recap that was posted on the corner Saturday night, Saint Ignatius' outstanding senior forward Liam Geither (a school record 51 goals this season) was injured in the Wildcats' 3-1 victory over Shaker Heights on Saturday evening. The news is good, however, and Coach O'rourke was kind enough to give the corner a description of how the injury took place and the outlook on when Liam will return to the lineup.
*In another note of interest, the word out of Champaign is that Saint Ignatius' All-Ohio and All-American senior strong safety Mike Svetina has said yes to the Fighting Illini of Illinois. The corner reported earlier in the week that Mike was making an official visit to Illinois this weekend.The NCAA signing day is Wednesday.
FROM COACH O'ROURKE: Liam was injured five minutes into the game last night. Eerily similar to Miles' injury. I have never seen this type of injury once in my 15 years of coaching let alone twice in two weeks. Same exact scenario, someone's skate inadvertently entered Liam's skate above the boot and cut his ankle. It's a horseshoe type cut, but it appears to have missed any tendons. Stitches are in, and hopefully Liam will be back soon. I'd guess we'll have him back for the Baron Cup (Feb. 8-12), perhaps not for the US game (Friday). We think we dodged a bullet on this one...
Shaker scored first, right after Liam was hurt, as I think our team was a bit stunned. Everyone was obviously concerned about Liam. Paddy (Spellacy) got the equalizer on a penalty shot, and the score was 1-1 after the first period with the shots about even. We dominated the second period and outshot them, 15-4, taking the lead on Mike Abood's goal, which occurred on a 2-1 rush off a beautiful pass from Paddy. In the third period, Paddy scored a power play goal to give us some breathing room. Paddy really stepped up his game and put the team on his shoulders. He played under control and did not retaliate when antagonized. It was the all-around best game I've seen him play in his four years here.