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Padua versus Saint Ignatius District Semifinal Hockey Recap.

By Eddie Dwyer, 03/01/11, 12:00AM EST

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The Wildcats are turned back, 4-1, as Padua's gifted and gritty goalie Justin Goebel puts together an outstanding performance.

Pivotal goal in the final seconds of the second period also tells the tale.

Posted on 3/1/11.
By Eddie Dwyer
Copyright, March 2011

Saint Ignatius' head hockey coach Pat O'Rourke '90 has too much knowledge of the game and too much respect for it than to try to sugarcoat or offer excuses after his Wildcats were defeated by the Padua Bruins, 4-1, in Tuesday night's semifinal of the OHSAA Brooklyn District.

Instead, Coach O'Rourke gave credit exactly where it was due.

“They have a lot of talent over there (at Padua) and the goalie, just unbelievable! We know him. He's excellent.”

Those in attendance at Brooklyn's John M. Coyne Recreation Center on Tuesday night who didn't know who Padua's goalie was, won't soon forget the name Justin Goebel.

With Goebel, one of the premier stoppers in Ohio, turning away 47 shots with an impressive repertoire of quick moves around the net, the Bruins improved to 21-16 and advanced to Saturday's 6 p.m. District Championship Game against the winner of Wednesday night's semifinal between Amherst Steele and St. Edward.

Saint Ignatius, which en route to the state championship last season defeated Padua in overtime in the district finals, closed out another memorable season at 30-7.

Coach O'Rourke, who led his team to another championship in the highly regarded Red North Division, has guided the 'Cats to 61 victories over the past two seasons.

“They played great,” O'Rourke said of Padua, a team his Wildcats defeated twice during the regular season, 2-0 and 5-1. “Honestly, at the beginning of the year we always felt that it was going to be us against them in the district final and it worked out to be one game earlier. We peppered him (Goebel) as much as we could, but we couldn't really solve him.”

In a game that featured two programs who have combined for five OHSAA state ice hockey championships, including three by the Bruins, Padua, after a frantic battle in front of the net, took a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior forward David Nowak. Senior forward Nick Placko was credited with the assist as the score came with 6 minutes and 4 seconds gone in the first period.

With 12:08 remaining in the second period, the Bruins made it 2-0 on the first of two goals by junior forward Tyler Weeks. The assist went to Nowak, who had a sold all-around game.

The Wildcats, ranked second in the state coaches poll, temporarily grabbed the momentum when sophomore center/forward Miles McQuinn fired home his team-leading 48th goal of the season with 47.3 seconds left in the second period. Junior forwards Liam Geither and Colton Riemenschneider assisted on the goal.

But just when it appeared the 'Cats were back in it, Meeks was there for the rebound or the bounce on the glove side with 13.9 seconds to go in the second period, and slapped in a lamp lighter that was the turning-point play of the night. Placko tallied his second assist as Padua took a 3-1 lead into the final 15 minutes.

“I thought we had momentum and we gave it right back to them,” Coach O'Rourke said. “That really hurt, obviously. But those things happen in hockey. In a one-game scenario, anything can happen.”

Goebel, a senior, was almost a one-man show in the final 15 minutes as the All-Red North Division selection, turning to a variety of instinctive and split-second reaction pad, glove, stick and diving saves, turned away 19 shots in the third period alone.

Saint Ignatius junior goalie Matt Kovesdy had 35 saves.

The game's final score came on an empty-net goal by Bruins junior forward Mike Palasics with 25.7 seconds remaining.

“We have nothing to be ashamed of, I told those guys I love them and I'm proud of them,” said Coach O'Rourke, after he addressed his players in the locker room. “They'll pick each other up. They're sad, obviously, but the seniors told them to 'Go get them next year.'

“They know they're part of a good thing here at Saint Ignatius,” O'Rourke continued. “We have a good program that will keep going. We wish we could have repeated this year, but it wasn't in the cards tonight, it wasn't meant to be.

"We put all kinds of shots on that guy (Goebel) and he was equal to the test. God Bless him, it was a great performance."