83 Goals and Counting…
Kenston’s Carriero can light the lamp with the best of them
There have been some notable goal-scoring exploits by high school hockey players in Ohio this season. Amherst Steele sniper Jacob Kramer went over 200 career goals recently and Lakewood’s Will Holden set a new school record with 141. Pete Hrelec of Dublin Scioto establish a new single-game state record when he fired home 11 goals on February 12 against Columbus DeSales.
But there has not been a more lethal goal-scorer in the state over the last two seasons than Kenston senior forward Val Carriero.
Carriero has scored 83 goals this season and surpassed 100 points for the second campaign in a row. Over the three varsity seasons he has scored 178 goals and added 97 assists for 275 points.
Bombers head coach Tom Fritsche appreciates Carriero’s goal-scoring prowess as much as anybody and has certainly benefited from it. What coach would not love being able to send that kind of skill over the boards when his team needed a goal?
Any player who scores at this rate can shoot the puck, but his coach says it’s his skating and puck control more than anything that leads to goals.
“His speed is definitely the primary skill,” said Fritsche. “He is also very shifty side to side. He can control the puck while moving at high speeds through heavy traffic.”
Carriero is so dynamic with the puck on his stick that one challenge that has arisen for Fritsche is to get the other four players on the ice with him engaged in the play. They have the best seat in the house to see him work his magic, but they can find themselves watching too much.
“Every season it is a battle to get the other kids on the ice to realize they need to skate with him instead of just watching him,” Fritsche admitted. “As the season progresses, they start to figure it out and then everyone gets in on the scoring.”
Carrriero, who developed his game in youth hockey with the Cleveland Jr. Barons, has tortured goaltenders around the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League for three seasons, piling up 50 goals and 93 points in 34 league games.
He is attending The Ohio State University in the fall to study agriculture and possibly play for the Buckeye’s ACHA team.
The 83 goals he scored this season are the most ever by a player in Northeast Ohio, topping the 80 scored by Rocky River’s Eric Sperli in 2011-12. Only one player in Ohio high school hockey history has scored more goals than Carriero: Kyle Brown of Millbury Lake, who scored 96 in 2004-05. It was Brown’s single-game record of 10 that fell to Hrelec.
Kenston (12-20-0) went out in the first round of the Baron Cup at the hands of Strongsville (4-2). They opened play in the Kent District with a 9-4 win over Canfield (Carriero had a hat trick) and go up against Walsh Jesuit in the next round on Saturday.
Fritsche knows the Bombers will need to be more than a one-man show if they are to advance against elite competition.
“Val has always scored, but the past few games we have received goals from a handful of other players, which is always good to see,” said Fritsche. “Walsh is a very good team and we will have to play great defense if want to have a chance to win.”
Although Carriero can be an attention-grabber with his scoring exploits, there is another player who might be just as important to Kenston’s playoff chances. Goaltender Jason Hildebran, who sharpens his skills facing Carriero in practice, stopped 92% of the shots he faced in 12 Red Division games this season.
“Our goalie is one of the best in the state and Val can score a few goals,” Fritsche said ahead of Kenston’s district playoff game against Walsh Jesuit. “So, if those two play awesome we have a chance.”
--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest
