Great Lakes Hockey League Weekly
Shaker-US tilt key to GLHL race
As the Great Lakes Hockey League opens up the 2024 portion of the league schedule this week the league standings have really not started to take shape yet. There is plenty that will be decided over the next month or so heading into the Cleveland Cup tournament.
This will be a big weekend for Shaker Heights. If the Red Raiders are able to defeat visiting Gilmour Academy on Saturday evening, they will bring a 3-0-0 GLHL record into their Sunday game at University School, which already boasts a 3-0-0 mark in league play.
That game could/would determine which eastside team occupies the pole position in the GLHL points race heading into (and coming out of) the MLK Weekend Tournaments when the stretch drive really heats up.
The Preppers, ranked #2 in the state by MyHockeyRankings, made a statement last week with a 5-4 win over #1 ranked Saint Ignatius. Two late Wildcat goals in that game made it look closer than it was. Ignatius got to within a goal at the second intermission but Luke Palmer restored a two-goal US advantage just 15 seconds into the third period. Luca Garofalo also scored twice for University School in the win.
Despite #2 vanquishing #1, MHR still had Saint Ignatius as their top team when the rankings were updated Wednesday morning.
Shaker Heights, Gilmour, Padua Franciscan and Walsh Jesuit are all clustered between 12-17 in the rankings.
RECENT RESULTS
TUESDAY, DEC. 26
Shaker Heights 5, Walsh Jesuit 4 *
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27
Walsh Jesuit 6, Mentor 2
Shaker Heights 2, Rocky River 2
THURSDAY, DEC. 28
University School 5, Saint Ignatius 4
Rocky River 3, Walsh Jesuit 1
TUESDAY, JAN. 2
University School 11, Toledo St. John’s 0
THIS WEEK’S ACTION
FRIDAY, JAN. 5
Walsh Jesuit @ Padua Franciscan, 6pm *
Toledo St. Francis @ University School, 7:30pm
SATURDAY, JAN. 6
Gilmour Academy @ Shaker Heights, 7:45pm *
Holy Name @ Padua Franciscan, 8:10pm *
SUNDAY, JAN. 7
Shaker Heights @ University School, 5:00pm *
Gilmour Academy @ Walsh Jesuit, 6:10pm *
* GLHL League Game
GLHL TEAM NOTES
GILMOUR ACADEMY – Gilmour takes a 2-1-0 league record on the road this weekend. The Lancers will visit Shaker Heights Saturday and Walsh Jesuit Sunday as they try to keep themselves near the top of the GLHL points race…Gilmour has won two of their last three games, winning their final game of the Cornfield Cup, 4-1, over Carmel (IN) on December 10 and splitting a pair of GLHL contests against University School (3-1 loss on December 22) and Walsh Jesuit (2-1 win on December 23). Sophomore Blake Baskin scored the lone goal against US…The Lancers have not played since Christmas.
PADUA FRANCISCAN – Padua lost three games at a tournament in Pennsylvania last weekend, running their losing streak to five games, but an impressive 4-2 win over #6 St. Charles Prep at the Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament prior to that gives Bruins fans reason for optimism that the team can get things back on the rails…Padua hosts Walsh Jesuit and Holy Name at Brunswick Auto Mart Arena. The Bruins defeated the Warriors, 3-2, on December 9.
SHAKER HEIGHTS – The Red Raiders went 1-1-1 at the Walsh Christmas Tournament, defeating the host Warriors (5-4) and tying Rocky River (2-2) before dropping their tournament finale to Mentor (3-2). It was the third time that Shaker and Mentor – one of the top teams in the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League – played each other this season. Junior goaltender Michael Better stopped a combined 41 of 43 shots in a pair of wins over the Cardinals earlier in the season. Sophomore forward Connor Mayhugh leads the team with 11 goals on the season and has points in seven straight games, collecting 13 points (7-6-13) in that span.
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL – The Preppers posted a huge win over #1-ranked Saint Ignatius, defeating the Wildcats 5-4, on December 28. Despite the fact that MyHockeyRankings kept Ignatius in the top spot in the rankings, US removed any doubt that they are going to be serious contenders for the state tournament…Noah Caballero was between the pipes in the win over Saint Ignatius. It was the first time he allowed more than two goals this season (one of the four GA came with :03 left in the game)…Senior forward Sam Wade has 31 goals on the season and has lit the lamp at least once in 16 of 19 games. He scored 24 goals in the first 11 games of the season.
WALSH JESUIT – Walsh Jesuit has not won back-to-back games yet this season (the Warriors will try to fix that as they visit Padua and Gilmour this weekend) but that is a deceiving statistic because they have not lost more than two in a row either…Senior forward Dominick Calleri has four multiple-goal games this season including hat tricks in wins over Findlay (December 16) and Holy Name (December 22). Calleri’s 13 goals on the season lead the Warriors…Walsh goaltender Joshua Ellenberger has been in net for 14 games this season and has allowed more than two goals just three times. The junior has a 2.10 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest
