skip navigation

NORTH OLMSTED VERSUS SAINT IGNATIUS BARON CUP HOCKEY RECAP.

By Eddie Dwyer, 02/10/11, 12:00AM EST

Share

TAYLOR WOLF'S FIRST VARSITY HAT TRICK HELPS FUEL SAINT IGNATIUS' NINE-GOAL RESPONSE, AS COACH O'ROURKE'S 'CATS ADVANCE WITH A 9-1 VICTORY.

PADDY SPELLACY ADDS ANOTHER LINE TO HIS CAREER MARKS AND MILES MCQUINN TIES THE WILDCATS' SINGLE-SEASON RECORD FOR GOALS SCORED.

SAINT IGNATIUS WILL FACE A TOUGH AND TALENTED LAKE CATHOLIC TEAM IN SATURDAY'S SECOND ROUND.

By Eddie Dwyer
Copyright, Feb. 2011

Just minutes before they dropped the puck for the Baron Cup I opening-round game between North Olmsted and Saint Ignatius on Wednesday night, the Wildcats were presented with a special plaque in recognition of their championship in the highly regarded Red North Division of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League.

Nearly four minutes later, there was a brief, yet noticeable hush among the Saint Ignatius faithful in attendance at the John M. Coyne Recreation Center.

The Wildcats, seeded No. 1 for both the Baron Cup and the area's OHSAA District Tournament, found themselves trailing, 1-0, after North Olmsted's Alex Arendec lit the lamp for the heavy underdog Eagles.

But then that old, but ever so true saying, came into play – Don't wake a sleeping giant.

Saint Ignatius, responding in a manner one associates with a championship team, rode Paddy Spellacy's authoritative slap shot from outside the circle and the on-the-money rebound by junior forward Taylor Wolf to a one-goal advantage after the first 15 minutes and went to a 9-1 triumph in Brooklyn.

The Wildcats, who took command with five more goals in the second period, improved to 28-5 and advanced to Saturday's second round of the Baron Cup, where they will face what just might be one of the best under-.500 teams in Northeast Ohio – the 11-15-4 Lake Catholic Cougars. The puck is scheduled to drop at 5:30 in the Coyne Recreation Center.

Lake Catholic, which defeated Strongsville, 5-4, in overtime in Wednesday night's other Baron Cup I opening-round matchup, gave Saint Ignatius all it wanted in a Red North Division game in Brooklyn on Jan. 29. The Wildcats prevailed, 5-3, with their final goal coming on an empty-net situation.

“We definitely didn't come out as hard as we need to do,” said Wolf, who came up with his first varsity hat trick for the blue, gold and white. “I think we were a little lazy to start off. But then we realized it's the Baron Cup, we have to get it going. We just had to get our heads back in it.”

After Spellacy's shot from distance and the first of Wolf's three goals, Saint Ignatius had the passion of a team that is trying to win its first Baron Cup championship since February of 1992. (see the '92 recap that follows the basketball preview below).

With 29 seconds left on their power-play advantage to start the second period, the Wildcats struck eight seconds into the period on a goal by sophomore center Miles McQuinn off an assist from junior forward Mike Abood.

The second-period flurry continued, as senior co-captain and rigth wing Kevin Joseph scored off a clever back-handed effort. I wrote it previously and I'll post it again – Joseph is one of the most underrated players, offensively and defensively, to come out of the rugged Red North.

Abood, who was coming off his natural hat trick (three goals in one period) in last weekend's 6-0 victory over Strongsville, gave the 'Cats a 5-1 lead by scoring off assists from Joseph and Spellacy. After the heads-up Wolf converted a deflection and another rebound into his second and third goals of the night, it was just a matter of how strong Saint Ignatius would finish.

That question was answered when McQuinn fired home his team-leading 43rd goal of the season off an assist from steady junior forward Colton Riemenschneider and Spellacy sent the puck whistling into the net for his 35th lamp lighter of the winter.

Miles' 43rd effort ties Paddy's single-season goals mark that was set during last season's state-championship run and for those of you who do not keep up with the stats and records, Paddy is the 'Cats' all-time goals scorer (92), all-time assists leader (74) and thus, all-time points leader.

“We had a lot of great looks from our defense tonight,” said Wolf, after Saint Ignatius outshot North Olmsted, 41-13. “The key for us is to come out strong and play three hard periods.”

Wildcats head coach Pat O'Rourke '90 emphasized that North Olmsted (14-14) definitely has good players.

“They were running two lines, so it's hard (for North Olmsted) to keep up for 45 minutes,” Coach O'Rourke said. “But he (Tim Murphy) is a good coach, he's legendary. We know that his kids are going to be well-schooled. They could be dangerous in the state tournament.

“But I think we just had too much depth. We kind of wore them down after awhile. There's no reason to be down or panic (when North Olmsted scored the first goal). Keep pumping the puck at them and eventually it will probably go in. And if it doesn't, that's life.”

*Note to the outstanding teachers at Saint Ignatius: If the members of the hockey team and the award-winning SIBN are caught yawning in class on Thursday, it is not because they are bored. Wednesday night's game was delayed over 30 minutes because of the Lake Catholic-Strongsville overtime situation and it was nearly 11 P.M. when the Wildcats were leaving the Coyne Recreation Center.