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GLHL Weekly - Cleveland Cup Preview

By Scott Harrington, 02/14/20, 10:45AM EST

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Chase for The Cup down to four teams

The Great Lakes Hockey League will crown its post-season champion at Strongsville’s OBM Arena this weekend and the winning team will claim the Cleveland Cup.

Three different teams have won the Cleveland Cup over the past three years:  Saint Ignatius (2017), Gilmour Academy (2018) and Holy Name (2019).

Gilmour and Holy Name are still alive, but face off in the early semifinal Friday evening.  The Lancers earned the #1 seed for the second year in a row and, as such, received a first-round bye.

Holy Name, meanwhile, had to get past University School to get here.  The Preppers made it to the final of five of the first six Cleveland Cup tournaments, but Milo Henry scored six goals to spark the Green Wave to a 7-4 win on Tuesday, keeping the Namers' title defense alive.

Sean Kolenich scored two second period goals to lead St. Edward past Padua Franciscan, 7-3, in Wednesday’s early quarterfinal.

Walsh Jesuit scored a minor upset of Shaker Heights, ranked #10 in the state, with a 3-2 win in the late game.

Shaker Height’s Max Benincasa tied the game, 2-2, early in the third period, but Walsh Jesuit’s Aiden Cook responded with the game-winning goal just a minute later. It was his sixth goal of the season. 

Walsh’s sophomore netminder Zach Firment (29 saves) made it stand up for the final 9:44 of the game.

The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m. for Saturday’s championship game.  The GLHL All-Star Team, as well as the yet-to-be-announced 2019-20 GLHL Player of the Year, will be honored during the first intermission Saturday.

GLHL TEAM NOTES

GILMOUR ACADEMYGilmour Academy won the GLHL regular season title for the second year in a row.  Head coach John Malloy’s team has a combined record of 79-20-6 (.781) over the last three seasons...Senior Justin Evans won the GLHL scoring race (league games only), by scoring two goals—including the game-winner—Saturday against University School and passing Holy Name’s Brennan Dickey by a point...GA only allowed eight goals in eight league games.  Toby Herlong’s 1.37 goals-against average and .943 save percentage earned him recognition as the All-GLHL Goaltender...Gilmour will open play in the Kent District on February 22 against the winner of Kent Roosevelt-Chagrin Falls.

HOLY NAMEHoly Name took the first step in their defense of their 2019 Cleveland Cup title with a 7-4 quarterfinal win over University School on Tuesday.  Milo Henry’s six goals in that game give him 36 on the season.  He and Patrick Ehlert joined Brennan Dickey on the All-GLHL Team, giving the Namers half of the players recognized.  Dickey picked up four assists Tuesday and now has 87 points (43-44-87) on the season...The Namers will play North Olmsted on Sunday, February 23 to begin play in the Brooklyn District Tournament. 

PADUA FRANCISCANPadua Franciscan has struggled to put the puck in the net this season, but the Bruins scored nine times over their  last three games and have only been shut out once in their last 15 games after getting blanked eight times before Christmas.  Junior forward Andrew Lampa figured in eight of those nine goals (4-4-8).  Lampa is Padua’s second-leading scorer this season with 21 points (6-15-21)...Padua drew Avon Lake in the Brooklyn District (Feb. 23).

ST. EDWARDSix St. Edward skaters produced double-digit goal totals in the regular season and five of them are juniors: Noah Schultz leads the Class of 2021 goals parade with 14, followed by Lucas Newton (12), Jack Monsour (12), Sean Kolenich (12) and Jack Sullivan (11), giving the Eagles scoring depth for this year and a solid base to build on for 2020-21...St. Edward blue liner Tyler Fowles, who is second on the team with 21 points (8-13-21) is an All-GLHL Team member...St. Edward was seeded #2 in the Brooklyn District and will face the Parma-Lakewood winner on Feb. 23.

SHAKER HEIGHTSThe Shaker Heights skaters—seniors Devin Campbell and Mark Sauerland and junior Logan Mears—all headed into the final weekend of the regular season in a three-way tie for the team scoring lead.  Sauerland picked up an assist on the Raiders final game against Gilmour to take the team lead with 36 points (18-18-36)...Congratulations to Shaker head coach Matt Bartley who was named the 2019-20 GLHL Coach of the Year...The Red Raiders open Kent District play against Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin on Saturday, February 22.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOLUniversity School suffered one-goal losses in the Cleveland Cup championship game each of the last two years:  a 2-1 setback against Holy Name a year ago and a 3-2 overtime loss to Gilmour Academy in 2018.  Following their elimination on Tuesday, US will now face Twinsburg in its first game of the Kent District tournament as they attempt to return to the state tournament for the sixth year in a row...Senior forward John Pape was named to the GLHL All-Star Team.  Pape leads the Preppers in goals (16) and points (29) this season.

WALSH JESUITWalsh Jesuit entered the post-season on their first three-game winning streak of the season and extended it to four games with a 3-2 win over Shaker in the Cleveland Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.  The Warriors will try to keep it going this weekend.  They also know they will take on the Kenston-Canfield winner Feb. 22 in the Kent District.