GEOFFREY LAPSEVICH, ST. EDWARD

With a dozen of the top programs in the state gathered at OBM Arena in Strongsville for the Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament December 17-19, it was St. Edward sophomore Geoffrey Lapsevich who stole the spotlight, scoring six goals, including a hat trick in a 5-2 win over Shaker Heights to open the tournament for the Eagles.

Lapsevich narrowly missed another hat trick the next day, scoring twice in a 5-0 win over Olentangy Liberty. He added one more against Sylvania Northview on Sunday.

For the season, Lapsevich is second on the team in goals (8) and points (13).

Gilmour Academy bounced back from a five-game losing streak (Dec. 3-11) to win four of five between Dec. 11-19 heading into the Brother James Memorial Tournament…The Lancers have been competitive within the GLHL and are ranked in the Top 10 in the state despite scoring just 28 times in their first 17 games. No single GA skater had scored more than three goals on the season…Senior goaltender Ian Anderson and junior Evan Underwood have combined for a .923 save percentage.

Holy Name had a good showing at the Padua Tournament, giving the host Bruins everything they could handle in a 1-0 loss in the tournament opener and picking up their first win of the season over Toledo St. John’s…Junior goaltender Mathias Sizov surrendered seven goals against defending state champion Toledo St. Francis, but stopped 80 of 82 shots (.976) in his other two starts in the tournament. Despite having just four games on the books, Sizov is among the GLHL leaders in saves (158) and save percentage (.924)…The Green Wave will participate in the Great Lakes Conference tournament January 3-9 as the #2 seed behind Rocky River.

After several years of hosting the most competitive in-season tournament in the state but not being a factor on the ice, Padua Franciscan had their strongest showing in some time at the Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament, losing just one of four games (1-1-2), defeating GLHL rival Holy Name and earning quality ties against #10 Olentangy Liberty and #11 Sylvania Northview – the two teams directly ahead of them in the state rankings…Junior forward Shane Helman has scored 17 goals on the season, denting the twine at least once in 10 of his 13 games played. He leads the team in goals, points (26) and PIM (41)…The Bruins will open their league schedule with a home-and-home series against Shaker Heights Thursday and Sunday.

Shaker Heights has played one of the toughest schedules in the state this season. All 16 of their games have come against teams ranked in the Top 25 and Matt Bartley’s crew has added to a rugged league schedule with five tournaments where they have faced tough non-league competition…Tyler Lencewicz became the first GLHL player to hit the 20-goal plateau this season, figuring in both Shaker goals (1-1-2) in the Raiders’ 3-2 loss to Walsh Jesuit in the championship game of the Greg Shupe Memorial Tournament…Padua and Shaker have already met twice this season, splitting a pair of non-league games.

Prior to their Christmas break St. Edward picked up a league win at Gilmour, then won their first two games at the Padua Tournament, but a 3-1 loss to Upper Arlington in their Saturday nightcap kept them out of the championship game. The Eagles finished off a strong week with a 4-0 win over a quality Sylvania Northview team. The Eagles are idle until a home-and-home GLHL set with University School January 7 and 9…Senior forward Jack Mansour is leading the team in goals (9), assists (10) and points (19)…Head coach Tim Sullivan has another three-headed monster in goal this year as sophomore Johnny Satanek joins junior Jackson Miller and senior Ethan Payne. None of the three has a goals-against average above 1.79 or a save percentage below .919. Payne and Miller shared the net with since-graduated Evan Wrightsman a year ago.

University School won all four of their games at the Padua Tournament but, with four undefeated teams in pool play, had to settle for a third-place consolation game against Toledo St. Francis which they won, 4-0, to extend their winning streak to seven games. That streak came to an end with a 1-0 road loss at Findlay on December 21…The challenging schedule continued for US this week at the Brother James Tournament where St. Francis paid them back in a 4-0 loss.

Walsh Jesuit rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Shaker Heights and claim the title at the 2021 Greg Shupe Memorial Tournament. It was the third time the Warriors have played Shaker this season in a non-league game (2-0-1). Their GLHL contest with the Raiders isn’t until the final day of the regular season on February 5…The Warriors filled a gap in their league and tournament schedule with a trip to Cincinnati to play St. Xavier and Archbishop Moeller. A 2-0 loss to Moeller on December 19 snapped a five-game winning streak. Following a 1-5-1 start to the season, it appears Walsh is back on track as they head back into league play in January.