Great Lakes League Weekly
Holiday Tournaments in Full Swing
The Thanksgiving Tournaments are in the rear-view mirror and the Christmas Tournaments are not yet upon us, but that is not stopping teams in he Great Lakes Hockey League from getting some premier competition this week at events both inside and outside the region.
Gilmour Academy travels to the Cornfield Cup at Culver Academy in Indiana, Holy Name and St. Edward will be in Niagara Falls for the Father McNamara Tournament, and Shaker Heights hosts the 49th annual Thornton Park Tournament which also includes Padua Franciscan.
There are two league games on the docket this week with University School involved in both of them. The Preppers visit Padua at OBM Arena in Strongsville Friday evening. Both teams are looking for their first league win and the Preppers can jump over three teams and into sole possession of second place in the GLHL with a win.
University School will then battle Walsh Jesuit on the ice at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday prior to the Cleveland Monsters game.
LANCERS GIVE 4x STATE CHAMPS A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY—46 saves from junior Tobias Herlong kept Gilmour in the game Wednesday against Saint Ignatius but, in the end, they fell 2-1. GA head coach John Malloy was happy with how his team played as the game moved along. “Saint Ignatius is a strong team and deserving of the accolades as the top Ohio high school team,” he said. “But I like our chances as we progress.”
SHAKER HOSTS 49th ANNUAL THORNTON PARK TOURNAMENT—The Shaker Heights Red Raiders host the Thornton Park Tournament this weekend. The longest-running tournament in Ohio high school hockey is a single-elimination/loser’s bracket competition that includes the hosts, Padua Franciscan and Bowling Green, plus five of Shaker’s old rivals from the Red Division of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League.
“We are the only tournament I know of with the format,” Shaker head coach Matt Bartley said of the eight-team bracket. “It’s definitely fun to have a different tournament format and just something that has been a tradition.”
“Logistically it is more difficult since the result of each game influences the next one,” he said. “But we feel it is worth it.”
TEAM NOTES
GILMOUR ACADEMY
Gilmour Academy tested themselves against four-time defending state champion Saint Ignatius at the Gilmour Ice Arena on Wednesday. “Tobias Herlong was brilliant,” said head coach John Malloy. “He kept us in the game for the first half and gave us a chance to get our feet under us. He made a ton of saves, three saves that were exceptional and one which was ESPN top 3.” Malloy said the Lancers got better as the game went on and had some great chances to tie it – including a possible goal that was not called...Junior Frankie Valenti scored twice and Dylan Stefan kicked out 20 US shots for the shutout in a 3-0 win over the Preppers December 4. Valenti’s two goals put him in a four-way tie for the team lead (5) with two other junior forwards—Charlie Tuggey and Luke Robertson—and senior defenseman Justin Evans. Robertson leads the team with 13 points (5-8-13) in eight games played.
HOLY NAME
Holy Name lost a pair of league games last weekend (but looked good doing it in their new uniforms). The Namers continue to be a high-octane offensive team, scoring 29 goals through their first six games (4.83/game) but they are giving up 30+ shots per game. Junior goaltenders Brendan Greller (.894) and James Light (.896) are doing their part and have posted similar save percentages. Light made 43 saves in a 4-2 loss to St. Edward last Saturday (1 ENG).
PADUA FRANCISCAN
Padua Franciscan faced Mentor Thursday in a Thornton Park quarterfinal game and was diverted to the consolation bracket with a 7-0 loss to the Cardinals. Their busy week continues against University School at OBM Arena Friday night. It is the 2019-20 Home Opener for the Bruins, who have played at tournaments in Kent and Columbus since opening their season with a GLHL contest at Walsh on November 23. The Bruins will return to Shaker to continue play in the Thornton Park Tournament Saturday and Sunday.
ST. EDWARD
The St. Edward Eagles posted a 4-2 win over Holy Name in a raucous Ries Rink on Saturday night. Junior forward Lucan Newton scored a pair of goals and senior goaltender Nate Cappellazzo stopped 30 of 32 shots. The Eagles have benefitted from balanced scoring through their first six games with nine players with between 3-5 points. Newton and freshman Ethan Kritzer scored in the final minute of the second period to give the Eagles a two-goal lead.
SHAKER HEIGHTS
With a pair of one-goal wins and a scoreless tie in league play, the Shaker Heights Red Raiders have put themselves out in front in the early stages of the GLHL race. “Our players are having a lot of fun and it's exciting for them to be in first place for now,” said Shaker head coach Matt Bartley. “There are a lot of good teams in the league so I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of close games this year”. The line of junior Mark Sauerland and seniors Devin Campbell and Logan Mears did a number on the Strongsville Mustangs on Sunday. Sauerland notched a hat trick with help from Mears (1-3-4) and Campbell (1-2-3) in a 6-3 Shaker win. The Red Raiders and Mustangs will go up against each other again on Friday in a Thornton Park Tournament quarterfinal game.
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
University School won their opening game at the 14th annual National Invitational Scholastic Showcase last Friday, defeating Bethel Park (PA), 4-1, but they dropped their next two contests to Glebrook South (IL) and Holy Ghost Prep (PA). The event in Jamestown, NY drew 16 teams from six different states and Ontario.
WALSH JESUIT
Walsh Jesuit rebounded from a 2-1 loss to Springboro in Cincinnati last Friday to knock off Archbishop Moeller (3-1) and St. Xavier (5-1) before returning home. Senior captain Nate Colasanti recorded his second hat trick of the season in the win over St. Xavier and leads the Warriors with seven goals...Sophomore Brody Lerch stopped 34 of 35 shots in the win over St. X and now boasts a .928 save percentage on the season.
GLHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LUCAS NEWTON, ST. EDWARD
Lucas Newton, a junior forward from St. Edward, is the Great Lakes Hockey League Player of the Week for the week ending December 8.
Newton scored twice in the second period of the Eagles’ 4-2 win over Holy Name at Ries Rink on Saturday. His first goal tied the game and his second gave St. Edward a 2-1 lead with 58 seconds left in the second period.
New St. Edward head coach Tim Sullivan has quickly gained an appreciation for what Newton brings to the rink every day.
“Luke has worked very hard on and off the ice to improve his game,” Sullivan said. “It was nice to see him tally two goals against Holy Name to seal a great victory for our team.”
Newton leads the team with four goals on the season and is tied for the team lead in points (5). He showed some offensive spark as a sophomore a year ago, scoring six goals and assisting on three others in just 15 games of varsity action.
The Bay Village native also skated for the Team Ohio U16 Premier team this fall.
PREVIOUS WINNERS:
Brennan Dickey (Holy Name), December 1
GLHL ALUMNI BIO: WILL McGOUGHRAN, PADUA FRANCISCAN ‘15
Former Great Lakes Hockey League Defenseman Will McGoughran, now in his junior year at Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA, was a stalwart defenseman for Padua Franciscan before playing NCAA hockey.
“Will was a captain and a talented player for us,” said Padua head coach Perry Cohagan. “What has always differentiated Will from everyone else was his extraordinary work ethic.”
Cohagan not only witnessed McGougran’s exploits in high school hockey first-hand, he saw him continue to work his way up the hockey ladder after he left Northeast Ohio.
Following his time at Padua, McGoughran played two seasons of junior hockey with the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings of the United States Premier Hockey League while considering opportunities to play college hockey. It was during his time in Wisconsin that his career came to a cross-roads with a serious knee injury.
“A lot of players work hard,” Cohagan said. “But Will went above and beyond, always striving to make himself better no matter what the sacrifice. It really showed through when in his first junior hockey season he had knee surgery.
Most would have hung up the skates, but McGoughran worked hard to rehab the knee and it propelled him into college hockey—first at Framingham State and now at Anna Maria.
“He is a role model for all young hockey players,” said Cohagan.
