BY CARTER SPEARRY ’16
Go back to the December edition of the Eye. I predicted that there would be a rematch of last year’s District Final with the ‘Cats and the Eagles battling it out for a trip to Nationwide Arena.
Hockey State Semifinal
vs. St. Francis DeSales
at Nationwide Arena
on Thursday, March 10 at 7pm
Audio coverage by SIBN at http://www.ignatius.edu/sibn
Well what do you know, I turned out to be correct. The ‘Cats just defeated the Saint Edward Eagles 3-1 in the District Final on Saturday – and what a game it was. After just 32 seconds, Cam Gerard laid a thunderous check on an Eagle right in front of their goal, the puck was picked up by Jared Stepka who looked as though he was going far side to [Saint Edward goalie] Warren Hill’s right, only to pull the puck away from Hill’s grasp at the last second as he wristed the puck into the top right corner. Game on.
While the ‘Cats were dominant in the first period, the Eagles were able to level the score in the second period from an inch-perfect rip from senior forward Curtis Szelesta. O’Rourke’s boys found themselves a man down for most of the second period; however, the penalty kill unit remained resilient and refused to give up a goal shorthanded. Not only did the defensemen play particularly well, senior captain (and now the all-time leader in shutouts) Dylan McKeon was excellent in goal, making all the saves necessary to keep the ‘Cats in the game when it was deadlocked at one goal apiece.
The Wildcats began the third period down a man after a Cullen Frebes tripping penalty. The Eagles were looking very dangerous when, all of a sudden, the tide turned dramatically in favor of the Wildcats. With 13:38 remaining in the game, junior defenseman Matt Wiegandt picked up the puck from his defensive zone, made an excellent move on an eagle and fed Jared Stepka on the left side. Stepka, in turn, placed a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Matt Wiegandt as he tapped home to Warren Hill’s left.
Brooklyn Ice Arena was electrified.
The energy completely changed and the Wildcats had all the momentum in the world. They played aggressive, and the Eagles could hardly get a touch of the puck. With just minutes remaining, Cullen Frebes swung down the right hand side and found sophomore forward Bain Kurtz in front of goal. Kurtz made no mistake.
The ‘Cats dog-piled McKeon as time expired to the wild approval of the student section. There was the trophy presentation, the hugs, the alma mater, the plethora of Instagram photos; but trust me, they aren’t done yet.
The Wildcats celebrated a victory on March 5th over a team that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago. They celebrated a victory against their greatest rival. Some celebrated a victory against players they have played against since the first grade.
But all of these celebrations will be in vain if the ‘Cats don’t take care of business on Thursday night against Saint Francis.
Yes, Saint Francis. The team who embarrassed Saint Ignatius on December 20th in a 5-1 triumph over the blue and gold. Since then? The ‘Cats have won twenty four games in a row and have outscored their opponents 139-17 over than span. This team has scored an average of 5.8 goals per game and conceded an average of 0.71 goals per game since December 20th. Saint Ignatius is a different team now than they were before Christmas. They will be ready to face the current hockey kings of Ohio.
The infamous 5-1 loss was a wakeup call. O’Rourke removed the last names from the backs of our respective jerseys after the devastating loss. Why did he do that again?
Because you play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back. These players are playing for each other, and they are hungry for a second State Championship in three years.
