Last February, as the GLHL headed into the stretch drive, University School was struggling in its first season under Andy Gerow (‘10).  The Preppers were 11-14-2 following a pair of league losses at home to rivals Shaker Heights (1-0) and Gilmour Academy (3-1).

But things turned around at that point, with US finishing on an 8-1-1 run that included a berth in the Cleveland Cup championship game for the fifth time in six seasons and a trip to Columbus for the state tournament.

“It definitely was stressful early because we weren’t seeing the results in the win column,” Gerow admitted.  “But I think my coaching staff, players and myself all believed we had the talent in the room to achieve the goals we had set for ourselves before the season started.”

The bar is high in Hunting Valley, where Gerow has some big shoes to fill following the likes of Andre Lacroix and Bill Beard.

“We used those early losses to learn from our mistakes and get better so we were prepared to make the run that we did at the end of the season in the Cleveland Cup and State Tournament.”

The Preppers finished strong, going all the way to the Cleveland Cup final and the state tournament.  A defensive core of captain Jack Borrow, assistant captain Will Cha, Charlie Paine and Colin Counahan all logged major minutes during that run and they will all benefit from the experience they gained.

Three forwards eclipsed the 40-point plateau for the Preppers last season and all three have graduated, as has elite puck-moving defenseman George Brinn who was second on the team with 17 goals.  Those departures open the door for players to move up into prominent offensive roles and, with seven senior forwards to choose from, Gerow will not be without options.

“Up front we will look to assistant captain Beau O’Sickey, assistant captain John Pape, Nick Flowers and Andrew Rozenshtraukh to replace the scoring that we graduated,” said Gerow.  “I believe all four of these guys are up the challenge.”

O’Sickey (6-14-20) and Borrow (6-13-19), both seniors, are the top returning scorers along with juniors Flowers (9-10-19) and Pape (13-5-18).

Workhorse netminder Critter Coughlin graduated as well.  It will be up to a pair of seniors, Michael Holtz and Andrew Goodman, to defend the US crease.  Holtz appeared in eight games last year as Coughlin’s backup.

Both have played well in the early going.

The defensive group that will be responsible for making life easier on the new goaltenders will be fairly green as well.  The group is anchored by seniors Borrow, Cha and Paine.  Counahan, who was a regular as a freshman a year ago, gives Gerow four experienced blue liners to work with.  The rest of the group will be seeing varsity action for the first time. 

Senior Tristan Cavotta joined US from the Cleveland Barons U16 team.  He scored a hat trick in a 6-0 win over Linsly School (WV) on Sunday and leads the team with six points (3-3-6) through the first four games.

 

--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest