An outdoor hockey encounter with St. Edward and two varsity basketball games on college floors highlight this week's winter wonderland of Wildcats athletics.
Coach Pat O'Rourke's men of ice will take a remarkable 20-0 record into what will be three key Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League games. The Wildcats are scheduled to face off with the Strongsville Mustangs tomorrow (Tuesday) in Brooklyn's John M. Coyne Recreation Center. Game time is 5 p.m.
On Thursday night at 7 it will be the much-anticipated rematch between the 'Cats' icers and the St. Edward Eagles. The game will be played on the outdoor rink in Progressive Field. The Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network will provide live audio and video coverage, with Paul Martin '10, Zach Weinreich '12 and Trent Kennedy '13 describing every shot and save. SportsTime Ohio will also televise the game live.
Saint Ignatius, on the strength of a goal by standout senior wing Mike Abood, defeated St. Edward, 4-3, in overtime on Dec. 15 in Serpentini Arena at Winterhurst.
It doesn't get any easier for the Wildcats, as they return to the Coyne Recreation Center on Saturday for a GCHSHL face off with the highly regarded Preppers from University School. The puck will drop at 4:45 p.m.
Coach Sean O'Toole's varsity basketball team (3-1), which is coming off down-to-the-wire victories over Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep and Canton McKinley, will tip off against University School on Friday at John Carroll University and will travel to Baldwin-Wallace College's Ursprung Gymnasium on Sunday to face the gifted Fighting Irish of St. Vincent-St. Mary.
Friday's game against US will begin with a junior-varsity matchup at 6 p.m., but Sunday's game versus SVSM will be a varsity-only event at 3:30 p.m. Once again, the SIBN will be hand for audio and video coverage of the University School game and audio only for the St. Vincent-St. Mary game.
The "Alley Cats," a.k.a. Saint Ignatius' varsity bowling team, will be knocking them down against St. Peter Chanel on Saturday at the Cloverleaf Lanes, the swimming and diving team will compete against St. Edward on Friday night at 7 in John Carroll University and the varsity wrestling team will travel to Meadville (Pa.) High School this weekend for the Tool City Invitational.