WILDCATS HOCKEY TEAM IMPROVES TO 12-0 IN FRONT OF A LARGE AND ENTHUSIASTIC CROWD IN SERPENTINI ARENA.
SAINT IGNATIUS HAS NOW WON SIX OF ITS LAST SEVEN MEETINGS WITH THE EAGLES.
*CONGRATULATIONS TO SENIOR BEAU TITSWORTH AND WILDCATS COACH TERRY HOPKINS FOR BEING SELECTED AS THE PLAIN DEALER'S GOLFER AND COACH OF THE YEAR FOR 2011. SEE TIM ROGERS STORY IN THE PLAIN DEALER OR ON LINE AT CLEVELAND.COM.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT DECEMBER 2011.
Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior forwards Mike Abood and Liam Geither know all about the past frustrations that have taken place at Winterhurst, the home of long-time West Side rival St. Edward.
As a freshman, Abood was a member of a Wildcats hockey team that was mercy-ruled by the Eagles on the Winterhurst ice, now referred to as Serpentini Arena at Winterhurst.
To say Geither developed his hockey skills at Winterhurst would an understatement. The good-natured assistant captain said he was about three years old when he first skated on the ice at Lakewood Heights Boulevard and had been reminded more than once about Saint Ignatius’ lack of success there.
So it’s easy to appreciate the elation and satisfaction Geither, Abood and their teammates shared Thursday night as they walked out of Serpentini Arena with a dramatic 4-3 overtime triumph over St. Edward in an instant-classic Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League Red North Division face off.
In what Wildcats head coach Pat O’Rourke ’90 believes to be the program’s first victory over the Eagles at Winterhurst since 1999, Saint Ignatius improved to 12-0 (4-0 in the Red North) on the strength of Abood’s rip-it-home, top-shelf shot one minute and 12 seconds into the eight-minute overtime session.
St. Edward, which slipped to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Red North, tied the score at 3-3 on a goal by senior forward C.J. Hoy with 6:35 remaining in the third period.
“Their forward fumbled the puck and I stepped up, got the puck on my stick, saw that I had an opening, just let it rip and it went in the back of the net,” said Abood, whose dad, Keith, was an outstanding hockey player for Shaker Heights. Keith Abood, who played his college hockey at Kent State, is currently an assistant coach for Saint Ignatius.
“They (St. Edward) came out playing hard in that first period,” Abood continued. “But we went back to the locker room and said, ‘OK, they have the lead now, but two goals aren’t going to win this game.'”
After Geither tied the score at 1-1 on a skilled and savvy breakaway at the 11:05 mark of the first period, St. Edward regained the lead on a short-handed breakaway by senior forward Mick Bartholomew with 6:59 to go in the first 15 minutes.
The second period belonged to the Wildcats, as Coach O’Rourke’s team began to display the skills that have produced six victories in the past seven encounters with the Eagles. That one setback came at Winterhurst last season, 2-1.
Saint Ignatius, which has outscored its 12 opponents, 76-14, tied the score when sophomore forward Harry Smith slid the puck off and past the goalie at 12:58 of the second period. Three minutes later, the Wildcats took a 3-2 lead on a clever rebound by battle-tested and talented senior forward Colton Riemenschneider. Riemenschneider joins Geither and Abood as Coach O’Rourke’s assistant captains.
“In the first period, they were beating us to the loose pucks,” said Mike Abood. “In the second period, we were beating them. That’s what wins hockey games.”
Coach O’Rourke, who will lead his team into the Father Tony McNamara Invitational in Ontario, Canada on Monday, definitely enjoyed Thursday’s triumph and the great fan support his team received. Fans were two and three rows deep around part of the rink and the upper sections of Serpentini Arena.
“That’s three wins on the road already in the (Red North) Division,” said Coach O’Rourke, who emphasized that he felt his team was too excited and thinking too much about the crowd in the first period. He also added, however, that St. Edward played very well.
“We told them to go out (in the second period) and make the correct hockey play, and that we would be fine,” Coach O’Rourke continued. “We were running around crazy and not playing our position in the first period. We were all trying to cover for each other, and that doesn’t work. Just do your job and trust your buddy to do his.
“But we knew we would be fine and eventually wear them down. They’re (the Eagles) very good, however, and they played extremely hard.”
AIR MARTIN AND CO.: Congratulations to Saint Ignatius' new hockey broadcasting trio of Paul Martin '10, Zach Weinreich '12 and Trent Kennedy '13 for the excellent and enthusiastic job they are doing this season.
This old-timer really enjoys the new "In the Box" segment, which takes a peronal look at the Wildcats' men of the ice.