Head hockey coach Pat O’Rourke ‘90 is a big Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan. Two Irish-themed signs are located in the Wildcats locker room at the John M. Coyne Recreation Center.
The first, located right above the door, is the famed Notre Dame “Play Like a Champion Today” sign. The second, and relevant sign to this article, is a sign that reads a quote from 1988 National Championship winning coach Lou Holtz: “Motivation is simple, eliminate those who are not motivated.” The Saint Ignatius Varsity Blue hockey squad ran off of motivation this weekend in notching wins over University Liggett (4-1), and Saginaw Heritage (6-2).
The Wildcats, who have finalized their roster of 21, started out with an 8 p.m. Friday night game against the host team of the tournament, University Liggett. The highlight of Coach O’Rourke’s pregame speech was a simple declaration: If the Wildcats didn’t play their best hockey, they would head to their downtown Detroit hotel bruised and battered with the score not in their favor.
This motivation tactic resulted in early Wildcat goals. Just under two minutes into the game, senior Connor Koehnke continued his final campaign with his 24th goal of the season. The early goal sent the Wildcats’ bench into a frenzy, and soon thereafter, Koehnke added another goal from the low slot, surprising the goaltender. Assistant coach Bryan Schoenholz preached the element of surprise before the game, and Koehnke capitalized on it.
When it seemed as if the Ice Cats had all the momentum, a Liggett Knight struck with seven seconds left in the first period. The score stood at 2-1 as the teams headed into their respective locker rooms.
With the help of star sophomore goaltender Benny Savarino (25 saves on 26 shots), plus junior Mike McCaffrey (11 goals) adding to the lead with a perfect shot lighting the lamp, the Wildcats picked up win No. 19 of the season. And despite a lack of space available for the puck to get past the Knights’ goaltender, Seth Whitney scored his 17th gino of his senior year as the Wildcats fended off the Knights, 4-1.
Saturday’s contest began at high noon, as the Wildcats played Saginaw Heritage, who beat Toledo St. Francis, 6-3, the previous day. The Heritage Hawks struck early off a deflection past Savarino (37 saves, 39 shots) to take an early lead.
A powerplay minutes later resulted in Connor Koehnke again bringing his team back from behind with a clutch goal. Later in the period, after taking the puck off the boards from the corner, freshman Michael Boehm lit the lamp for his second varsity goal in his five games. Along with defensemen Greg Langermeier, Boehm is a name Wildcat fans should learn for the next four years of Wildcats hockey.
After the Hawks scored early in the second, Whitney added his 18th of the campaign off of a beautiful snipe. This would be all the Wildcats needed, as Savarino stood on his head the rest of the way.
After Langermeier and Billy Baumann generated scoring chances, Bain Kurtz finished the puck to take a 4-2 lead. A Seth Whitney empty net goal finished the hopes off the Hawks, and The Wildcats picked up win number 20.
The Wildcats finished the weekend at 20-5-1. The Ice Cats have an opportunity to clinch the GLHL regular season title with a win against Holy Name on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at Ries Rink. The Wildcats’ week continues Friday and Saturday at the MIHL Showcase, and week after is the GLHL Cleveland Cup.