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2018 Ice Hockey State Tournament Coverage

Recaps

Cleveland St. Ignatius Defeats Toledo St. Francis de Sales to Win the Ice Hockey State Championship for the Third Consecutive Year

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Cleveland St. Ignatius (30-9-1) defeated Toledo St. Francis de Sales 5-4 in double overtime in the 2018 OHSAA Ice Hockey State Championship game on Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
 
The victory for the Wildcats is the third-consecutive, and sixth overall state title in nine trips to the OHSAA ice hockey state tournament. St. Ignatius earned its way to the state title game by way of a 6-1 win over Dublin Jerome in the state semifinals on Friday.
 
This was the 11th trip to the OHSAA ice hockey state tournament and fifth appearance in the state championship game for St. Francis de Sales (26-7-1). In Friday's semifinals, the Knights defeated Hunting Valley University School 3-1.
 
The key factor in the Wildcats victory was their effectiveness on the power play. In three power play opportunities, they scored all three times, including the game winner in the second overtime period. The Knights were also effective on the power play, scoring on two of their three opportunities. St. Ignatius held a 47-34 shot advantage in the game.
 
Five separate players scored for the Wildcats, including senior Bain Kurtz, who tied a state record with four goals in the state semifinal game. Kurtz finished with a team-high 13 shots on goal.
 
In addition to Kurtz, sophomore Greg Langermeier, senior Michael McCaffery, sophomore Camden Kurtz, and sophomore Aidan Millett all added goals of their own. Langemeier added two assists.
 
For St. Francis de Sales, Matthew Barrow and Thomas Barrow both scored a goal and assisted on a goal. Mitchell Digby and Hunter McKie added the other two goals for the Knights.
 
Millett put the Wildcats on the board first with a goal 8:18 into the first period, off the assist from Langermeier. With 1:06 left in the first period, St. Francis de Sales' was on the power play when Matthew Barrow was able to find the puck during a battle in front of the net and put it in to tie the game at 1. 
 
Digby gave the Knights their only lead of the game at 2-1, three minutes into the second period, once again converting on the power play.
 
Just over one minute following the Knights' goal, St. Ignatius answered with a goal from Camden Kurtz. The Wildcats struck again, with one minute remaining in the second period, to go up 3-2 with a power play goal from Bain Kurtz.
 
To begin the third period, both teams traded goals with the Knights scoring first to tie the game, and Ignatius retaking the lead less than three minutes after.
 
Just as the Wildcats looked to be taking final control of the game, assistant captain Gabe Barrow scored on a slap shot just inside the blue line, barely elevating the puck over the outstretched glove of  Ignatius' goalie Benny Savarino. Barrow's goal would send the game to overtime.
 
A scoreless first overtime period saw a St. Francis de Sales' penalty with 42 seconds remaining, that would allow St. Ignatius to start the second overtime with a 4 vs. 3 man-advantage. This was all the Wildcats would need as Langermeier would score the team's final power play goal 37 seconds into the second "sudden-victory" overtime period. 
 
Toledo St. Francis de Sales' fourth-straight state tournament appearance is tied for third in OHSAA history.  Bowling Green completed the task 10 years in a row between 1995-2004.
 
St. Ignatius' six state championships ties them for second all time with Bowling Green. The Wildcats now trail only Lakewood St. Edward's 11 state titles.
 

Toledo St. Francis de Sales tops Hunting Valley University School 3-1, advances to fifth state ice hockey final


COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two goals in the third period secured a 3-1 victory for Toledo St. Francis de Sales over Hunting Valley University School in a 2018 OHSAA ice hockey state semifinal at Nationwide Arena on Friday.
 
With the victory, St. Francis de Sales (26-6-1) advances to its fifth OHSAA ice hockey state final and will take on the winner of Dublin Jerome and Cleveland St. Ignatius in the state championship on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
St. Francis de Sales held a 44-20 advantage in shots on goal over University School (24-8-3), which was making its 14th appearance in the ice hockey state semifinals.
 
Leading the way for St. Francis de Sales was senior Ben Mitchell, who scored two goals on six shots. Knights’ freshman Brody Pavlica scored one goal in the contest. Sophomore Nick Coward notched two assists, while senior Jay Ostrander recorded one assist.
 
For University School, senior Andre Berglund scored the Preppers’ goal, while senior Adam Alt notched an assist.

 

Cleveland St. Ignatius moves on to sixth ice hockey state final with 6-1 semifinal win over Dublin Jerome


COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cleveland St. Ignatius (29-9-1) advanced to its sixth OHSAA ice hockey state championship with a 6-1 win over Dublin Jerome (29-7-3) in a state semifinal at Nationwide Arena on Friday afternoon.
 
The Wildcats will take on Toledo St. Francis de Sales (26-6-1) in the state championship on Saturday at 2 p.m., a rematch of last year’s state final.
 
St. Ignatius held a 35-16 shot on goal advantage over the Celtics, who were making their second appearance in the ice hockey state tournament.
 
Tying the OHSAA ice hockey state semifinal record for goals in a game was St. Ignatius senior Bain Kurtz, who scored four goals to power the Wildcats to victory in their ninth trip to the ice hockey state semifinals.
 
Jerome saw junior Trent Belli score a goal on assists from junior J.P. Weaver and senior Brian Wheeler.
 
St. Ignatius and St. Francis de Sales will meet for the second year in a row in the ice hockey state championship. St. Ignatius was victorious over St. Francis de Sales a season ago in the state final, 5-1.