AFTER BEING OUTWORKED IN THE SECOND PERIOD, THE 'CATS RALLY PAST THE EAGLES BEHIND THE PLAY OF MIKE ABOOD, LIAM GEITHER AND COLTON RIEMENSCHNEIDER.
THE CORNER'S PRAYERS AND SYMPATHY GO OUT TO THE FAMILY OF JACK MCDERMOTT (SEE AFTER THE HOCKEY STORY).
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT JANUARY 2012
Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior wing Mike Abood has been playing hockey too long and has too much respect for the game than to try to sugar coat what goes on out on the ice.
Thursday night on the outdoor rink in Progressive Field, the Wildcats, as Abood will be the first to tell you, had a second period they would just as soon forget.
However, as frustrated and sloppy as Saint Ignatius was and as well as St. Edward played for those 15 minutes, the ‘Cats, like most talented and tough-minded teams do, reached back for something extra just when many among the crowd of 2,000 thought Coach Pat O’Rourke’s team was headed for its first loss of the 2011-12 season.
“We came out in the first period and clearly outworked them,” said Abood, after the Wildcats rallied from a 2-1 deficit by scoring three goals in the final three and a half minutes. “But in the second period, they came out and absolutely dominated us. We came back to the locker room really upset. But we came together knowing that we had to take it to them in the third period. And that’s exactly what we did.”
Saint Ignatius (22-0), which rode Abood’s left-to-right, rebound-off-a-defenseman corner shot to a 1-0 lead after the first period, watched St. Edward (9-9-1) control the action for most of the next 15 minutes.
The Eagles, who got an outstanding effort from senior goalie Logan Galati for most of the night, tied the score on a power-play goal by senior forward C.J. Hoy less than two minutes into the second period.
Despite being down a man because of a penalty, St. Edward took a 2-1 lead on a shot by junior forward Connor King and, after both teams were able to kill off power plays, Coach Troy Gray’s Eagles had captured all of the momentum heading into the final 15 minutes.
“We have 13 seniors on this team and we’re all good friends,” said Abood, who scored the winning goal in overtime in the Wildcats’ 4-3 victory over St. Edward at Winterhurst on Dec. 15. “It’s a different kind of bond than most teams have. It’s just fun playing hockey with these guys.”
That special bond came to the fore in the final four minutes on what was a brisk, but dry January night in Progressive Field, as Saint Ignatius skated, shot and defended its way to another dramatic victory in the storied West Side athletic rivalry.
First it was talented senior wing Liam Geither tying the score by slapping home a corner effort that resulted in his team-leading 36th goal of the season. Number 36 came with 3:41 left in the third period.
Then it was hard-nosed and underrated senior forward Colton Riemenschneider making an alert second effort and scoring the go-ahead lamp lighter at the 1:53 mark.
“I don’t know, honestly,” said Geither of the Wildcats’ rough second period. “We kind of collapsed, or something. We weren’t playing our game and we weren’t bearing down on the rebounds. But we stuck together and picked it up in the third period. Man, there were some weird bounces out there.”
Riemenschneider, as is his nature, credited everyone but himself for the go-ahead goal and talked about the similarities between this season’s team and the one that brought home the program’s second state championship in March of 2010.
“We know what it takes to win,” Riemenschneider said. “We came here to win and we finished it. Liam’s goal set it up and brought the momentum back to us.”
Riemenschneider, Geither and St. Edward’s Galati were chosen as the Players of the Game in what was the first “Frozen Diamond Faceoff.”
Led by senior football standouts Zack Ryan (in his Team-Cleveland Paddy Spellacy jersey) and Mike Ryan (wearing a hockey jersey with gold and blue trim), the Saint Ignatius student body almost willed the Wildcats through the final moment.
Saint Ignatius, down a man with 1:19 left, was able to turn St. Edward away on some nice work by Abood in clearing the puck down the ice, and settled the 4-2 issue on an empty netter by Abood that sailed 200-plus feet down the ice and into the back of the net with 15.7 ticks remaining on the clock.
“At times like that, you have to do whatever it takes to win the game,” Abood said. ‘We were down a man, so we had to ice the puck.”
Saint Ignatius and Coach O’Rourke ’90 have little time to savor the victory that took place with the Terminal Tower shining brightly in the background of Progressive Field.
The Wildcats have another Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League showdown coming up on Saturday evening, when they take on the tradition-rich University School Preppers at “The Big Barn on Memphis,” a.k.a. the John M. Coyne Recreation Center in Brooklyn. The puck will drop at 4:45 p.m.
Entering its game against Shaker Heights tomorrow (Friday), University School is tied with Saint Ignatius for first place in the rugged Red North Division of the GCHSHL.
“We believed that if we kept putting the puck on goal, that we would break through,” said Coach O’Rourke, whose Wildcats outshot the Eagles, 35-20. “We predicted a 3-2 win, so we were wrong about that.
“In the second period, we didn’t have any flow going,” Coach O’Rourke continued. “We got outworked. They were hustling to the puck and we were not, which was very disappointing. We came in here and talked between periods and said let’s put together a solid 15 minutes, let’s stay in the game and see what happens.
“We can accept defeat if we’re working hard. It happens. We just kept pushing (in the third period) – pressure, pressure, pressure.”
****A TIP OF THE CAP AND A TAPPING OF THE STICKS GOES OUT TO INDIANS DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, CURTIS DANBERG, AND HIS STAFF FOR THE OUTSTANDING JOB THEY DID IN HOSTING THE FIRST FROZEN DIAMOND FACEOFF.
FROM THE MOMENT THIS OLD-TIMER, JEFF MCCORMICK ’83 AND THE SAINT IGNATIUS STUDENT BROADCASTING NETWORK WALKED INTO PROGRESSIVE FIELD, UNTIL THE TIME WE DEPARTED, WE WERE FELT WELCOMED AND TREATED WITH FIRST CLASS ASSISTANCE.
HERE’S HOPING THE INDIANS WILL MAKE HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY A REGULAR PART OF THEIR ALREADY SUCCESSFUL SNOW DAYS.
ON TO A BETTER PLACE FOR A MAN WHO WORKED HARD TO MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR OTHERS: When I heard the news late Wednesday night that my former colleague for many years at The Plain Dealer, Jack McDermott, had passed away, I couldn't help but think of Saint Ignatius' motto of "Men for Others."
If there ever was a man who strived to make things better for those around him and the schools he covered and reported on, it was Jack.
A legend in Lorain County for his vast knowledge and love for the sports in that area, Jack, along with my mentor at The Plain Dealer, the late Dick "Zip" Zunt '50, taught me as a young man in college and just starting out on my 36-plus year career in The Plain Dealer sports department, that passion, kindness and accuracy were more vital to the scholastic sports scene than controversy and rumor.
I still remember that Friday after Thanksgiving in 2001, when Jack and I were assigned to give double-team coverage to the state-semifinal football showdown between the Ryan Franzinger '02, John Kerr '02 and Nate Szep '02-led Wildcats and the Massillon Tigers, who featured quarterback Justin Zwick.
It was almost like we read each other's mind when, in the closing minutes, Jack and I discussed how we would handle the game story and sidebar coverage on another big victory by Saint Ignatius.
But the enjoyment of working with Jack that night was only a small part of the memory I still cherish.
It was during the discussions we had on the ride to and from the game that I realized what an exceptional, caring and fair human being Jack truly was, and how much he loved his family and the many student/athletes and coaches he came in contact with over the years
That car ride was a special path of awareness and guidance for me, more than Jack ever knew.
In his final years at The Plain Dealer, Jack battled a heart condition with same selflessness and class he brought to his profession.
And although Jack has left us now, there were always be special place for such a big-hearted guy.
REST IN PEACE, JACK.