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Sylvania District Update

By Scott Harrington 02/24/2020, 3:30pm EST

Northview-St. John’s thriller highlight of OHSAA post-season so far

With only 11 teams in the Sylvania bracket, the field was whittled down pretty quickly during the first week of playoff action.

In what was expected to be a very competitive and difficult bracket to predict, there were three play-in games followed by four quarterfinals and – boom – we are down to four teams:  Sylvania Northview, Perrysburg, Toledo St. Francis and Bowling Green.

How are two of the top four seeds, #2 Toledo St. John’s and #4 Findlay, out of the tournament so soon?  Well, the Titans went up against top seed Northview right out of the gates, losing in overtime on Friday, and the Trojans were the victim of one of only two legit upsets that happened across the state last week.  Finlay was eliminated by Bowling Green, 6-4, in a quarterfinal game on Saturday.

St. John’s and Northview each scored three times in the second period Friday, then played through a scoreless third, sending the game to sudden-death overtime tied, 4-4.  Griffin Muir scored the winner for the Wildcats just :52 into the extra session, ending the Titan’s season.

The decision by St. John’s head coach Matt Bollinger to place his team on a collision course with Northview in the quarterfinals, when conventional wisdom would have been to place his team on the opposite side of the bracket to avoid the #1 seed, will be second-guessed a lot I’m sure.  You can hear his reasoning here and it makes sense on a lot of levels.  If the Titans had won, he would have been a genius, so it’s not fair to play Monday Morning Quarterback here.  It was a bold move and it almost worked.  He should be commended for it.

Luke Johnson scored a hat trick for Bowling Green, including an insurance goal with 3:01 remaining, and Gavin Sudlow made 41 saves in the Bobcats’ upset of Findlay.  A Nick Powers goal with :19 left in the second period gave BG a three-goal lead heading into the second intermission.  The Trojans came out hard in the third, peppering Sudlow with 21 shots and scoring three times, but the Bobcats held on.

In the other quarterfinal match-ups, Perrysburg squeaked by Sylvania Southview, 7-6, and Toledo St. Francis edged Anthony Wayne, 4-2.  That sets the stage for semifinal games Friday (Northview-Perrysburg) and Saturday (St. Francis-BG) at the Tam-O-Shanter.

2020 Sylvania District Preview

By Scott Harrington 02/21/2020, 12:15am EST

Your guess is as good as mine…

While clear favorites have emerged in the Brooklyn, Kent and Columbus districts, things seem like they are pretty much going to be up for grabs at the Tam-O-Shanter in Sylvania. 

Three teams from the Northwest Hockey Conference were tightly clustered in the 8-10 spots in the final state coach’s poll:  Toledo St. John’s, Northview and Toledo St. Francis.  Findlay has to be considered in the mix as well and Anthony Wayne, coming off a strong first season in the Red Division, would like nothing more than to make a post-season statement.

Adding to the uncertainty of trying to project how things will play out is the fact that the top two seeds will square off in the quarterfinal round on Friday night.  Toledo St. John’s, the #2 seed, placed themselves in a play-in game against Maumee that sent the winner up against #1 seed Sylvania Northview.  The Titans defeated the Panthers Monday, 12-2, and now we will see two of the favorites from Northwest Ohio go head-to-head on Friday in what should be a very intense hockey game.

St. John’s head coach Matt Bollinger explained the strategy to Ohio Hockey Digest:

“Recent history between our programs has been very favorable for Northview when it comes to district final games,” Bollinger said.  “So instead of playing the long game and potentially meeting them in a place of relative comfort for their program, we decided shake it up and get after them early.”

A very bold move to be sure, but in a bracket as unpredictable as this one, you can see the logic.

Northview and St. John’s tied for the NHC regular season title, so they make sense as co-favorites here.  The Titans won the division race last year, but the Wildcats knocked them out in the tournament and represented the district in Columbus.

St. John's, Northview hockey split NHC Red title

By www.toledoblade.com 02/13/2020, 3:30pm EST

Titans repeat, Wildcats last atop NHC in 2012

Northview and St. John's Jesuit battled to a draw for the Northwest Hockey Conference Red Division title.

The Wildcats and Titans each finished with 20 points in league play.

St. John's repeated as champions of the Red, while Northview captured the program's first league title since 2012.

St. John's coach Matt Bollinger, whose Titans were the preseason favorites, said the title is a signal the program is doing something right.

Read the full story at www.toledoblade.com

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