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Lake Catholic versus Saint Ignatius varsity hockey recap.

By Eddie Dwyer, 01/29/11, 12:00AM EST

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COACH O'ROURKE'S WILDCATS TAKE ANOTHER MAJOR STEP IN THE RED NORTH DIVISION.

SAINT IGNATIUS TURNS BACK A DETERMINED LAKE CATHOLIC TEAM, 5-3, EARLY SATURDAY EVENING TO STAY ON TOP OF THE STRONGEST HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY CIRCUIT IN THE AREA, IF NOT THE ENTIRE STATE.

JASON PETRASKA, LIAM GEITHER AND MILES MCQUINN HELP FUEL THE 'CATS' NINTH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY.

*WILDCATS HOCKEY FAMILY RECOGNIZES ONE OF THE 'CATS' ALL-TIME BEST.

POSTED ON 1/29/11 AT 10:43 P.M.
By Eddie Dwyer
Copyright, Jan.-Feb., 2011

After his Wildcats turned back Lake Catholic, 5-3, early Saturday evening in Brooklyn's John M. Coyne Recreation Center, Saint Ignatius head varsity hockey coach Pat O'Rourke '90 made it clear as to what approach his team takes this time of the year, or any part of the season for that matter.

“We have a sign that says 'Expect Excellence,'” Coach O'Rourke said after the Wildcats improved to 25-5, won their ninth consecutive outing and maintained their lead in the always challenging Red North Division. “We're not shooting for mediocrity or coming in second or third. We want to be the champs. We want to win the division, we want to win the Baron Cup and we want to win state.

“That's our goal every year. I think it's every team's goal.”

Saint Ignatius, which captured the ultimate goal last season by bringing home the program's second state championship and first since 2000, continued its pursuit for all three of the titles Coach O'Rourke mentioned above by defeating a tough and resilient Lake Catholic team.

The Wildcats, who at 8-2 sit atop the Red North Division, struck first on Saturday as senior forward Jason Petraska scored unassisted at 7:18 of the first period.

Lake Catholic answered a minute later with the first of two goals by Andrew Mitch and the score remained 1-1 entering the second period. Saint Ignatius had 10 shots on goal in the first 15 minutes and the Cougars fired nine.

In out-shooting Lake Catholic,10-2, in the second period, Saint Ignatius moved in front again, 2-1. Standout junior forward Liam Geither worked his way open on the glove side of the goalie and he tapped home the lamp lighter off assists from sophomore defender Joey Malone and gifted sophomore center Miles McQuinn.

“They tried to throw it (the puck) out and our D (defense) kept it in,” said Geither of the first of his two goals on Saturday. “It resulted in Miles getting the puck off the boards and no one was by me, so he just threw it to me.”

Lake Catholic, which was coming off a tie against a very talented University School team, came back to tie the score again at the 10-minute mark of the third period. Kevin Bruss did the honors for the Cougars, who now stand 3-5-2 in the Red North Division.

Two minutes and 26 seconds later, McQuinn came up with the first of his two lamp lighters on the evening and the 'Cats led, 3-2. Miles scored off a power-play situation.

Geither then gave his team some breathing room when, off a spin move, he sent home his 21st goal of the season. The short-handed effort came with 6:46 remaining in the third period.

“Actually, it was a mistake,” said the good-natured Geither, who had several clutch postseason goals during last season's state-title run.”Miles gave it to me and I tried to go under my back hand and I lost it. So the only thing I could do was spin around and hit it.”

Luck, spin, whatever. As Geither said, “I'll take it.”

Lake Catholic was far from finished, however, as Mitch tallied his second goal at 3:56 and it was back to a one-score advantage for the 'Cats.

Saint Ignatius kept its composure, however, and settled the issue on an empty-net goal by McQuinn with 19.2 seconds left. Junior forward and captain Paddy Spellacy and senior co-captain Kevin Joseph assisted on what was McQuinn's team-leading 40th goal of the season.

McQuinn and Spellacy have combined for 72 goals this winter.

“We can play the body more and play a more physical game,” said Geither of one of the things he believes the 'Cats can improve on during the stretch run of the regular season. The Wildcats close their regular season with two home games at the Coyne Recreation Center – Saturday (Feb. 5 at 4:45 p.m.) against Padua and Sunday (Feb. 6 at noon) versus Strongsville.

Although Saturday's victory wasn't the complete performance every player and coach strive for, Coach O'Rourke was pleased with some of the things he saw on the support level.

“We did enough tonight,” Coach O'Rourke said. “It was an ugly game. I thought we had the better of the play, but our goalie (Josh Potts) had a rare, rare off night for him. We could fall apart or we could pick him up. And we picked him up.”

RAY ARDIRE IN THE HOUSE ON MEMPHIS AVENUE: After the first period of Saturday's game with Lake Catholic, Coach Pat O'Rourke and Saint Ignatius' hockey family paid tribute to former Wildcat hockey and football great Ray Ardire '93.

A member of the 'Cats' last Baron Cup championship team (1992), Ray was inducted into the Saint Ignatius Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. Upon his graduation from Saint Ignatius, Ray was presented with the prestigious John J. Wirtz Athlete of the Year Award. Those well-deserved honors went to a young man this old-timer had the privilege of covering during my 36-plus years at The Plain Dealer.