Columbus, OH – It’s playoff time! The action begins tonight around the Columbus area, as four games kick off the State Playoff action, starting with Troy battling Dublin Scioto at 6:30 at the Chiller North.

Here are the matchups heading into the first playoff bouts:

#22 Dublin Scioto vs. #23 Troy (Friday at 6:30, Chiller North)

            Under first-year Head Coach Rick Szabo, the Trojans are set to duel with the Dublin Scioto Irish. While both teams had a tough regular season, Dublin Scioto recently broke a state record with most goals in a game, as Pete Hrelec scored a whopping eleven goals in a Blue Jackets Cup Consolation game vs. St. Francis DeSales to break a record that stood over fifteen years (also tying Kyle Brown’s record with twelve points in a game). The Irish went 2-14-0 in conference play, whereas the Trojans went 2-8-0. For Troy, they’re led by senior captain Zak Uhlenbrock and senior Connor Bell in net. For the Irish, John Jones patrols the crease and Matthew Gast leads Scioto with 26 conference goals and 41 total in regular season play.

            The winner of the Irish/Trojans battle gets #1 Upper Arlington, a team that won the Blue Jackets Cup and remains undefeated after only suffering one draw at the hands of Saint Charles.

#9 Oxford Talawanda vs. #12 Springboro (Friday at 6:45, Chiller North)

            The Talawanda Brave are coming off a strong showing at the SWOHSHL Tournament, claiming their first conference trophy in eleven years. First-year Head Coach Zach Sens leads a very strong Brave squad against a stacked Springboro team, led by Nate Reynolds in his second season. In the regular season, both teams walked away from the Goggin Ice Arena with a draw, but Talawanda claimed a pre-season win at South Metro. Both teams have depth; both teams have good goalie tandems (Emenacker and Bader for Talawanda; Hauboldt and B. Houser for the Boro); both teams should be close to full-strength. This match should be one for all the hockey fans to see, with Slade Surikov (BORO) and Reid Benamati (Brave) providing the offensive fireworks.

#11 Thomas Worthington vs. #13 Beavercreek (Friday at 8:30, Chiller North)

            Beavercreek fell just short of a conference trophy, as the Beavers were runners-up in the SWOHSHL Tourney, falling in the championship game to the previously-mentioned Talawanda Brave. Head Coach Greg Gutterman has a very good core of hard-working players, two strong goalies in Duford and Bordas, and Captain Cole Gutterman leading the way for the Battlin’ Beavers. For the Cardinals, Jorge Bare has amassed a 23-10-1 record in net with Will Pischel scoring 44 goals on 22 assists in 33 plays (which is a two point-per-game average if you like math.)

            The winner of Talawanda/Springboro has the winner of this contest, Saturday at 7:30 at the Ice Haus (the only part of the Columbus bracket that doesn’t have a top-seeded team awaiting straight after the first round.)

#14 Dublin Coffman vs. #16 Archbishop Alter (Friday at 8:45, Chiller North)

            For Head Coach Kevin Berry, he’ll lead an Alter squad that has depth, a strong core of offense and defense against the Rocks squad that went 5-9-2 in Capital play. Both teams dropped a semi-final decision in their conference tournaments, with Alter falling to their neighbors in the Beavercreek Beavers 2-0; Coffman falling to Saint Xavier in the Consolation Blue Jackets Cup. Dublin Coffman

            The winning team out of this match squares off with another Dublin team, in the fifth-seeded Jerome Celtics.

#15 Olentangy vs. #17 Bishop Watterson (Saturday at 11:30AM, Ice Haus at Nationwide Arena)

            Bishop Watterson finished just two points behind Columbus Academy in their year in the Capital’s Blue Division. The Eagles will take on a Braves squad that dealt with injuries through most of the season. Olentangy went 7-18-1 overall and 5-10-0-1 in Capital play; Bishop Watterson finished 7-9 in conference decisions and 11-14-1 overall. Both teams have scored over sixty goals on the season (66 by BW to Olentangy’s 61), but the Eagles have allowed fewer goals to their Braves opponents (63 to 91.)

            The winner of this Braves/Eagles match-up has #4 New Albany.

#10 Saint Xavier vs. #24 Elder (Saturday at 1:30, Ice Haus at Nationwide)

            A former SWOHSHL match-up, Saint Xavier is celebrating a Blue Jackets Cup Consolation Championship in their first year as members of the Capital Hockey Conference. Both teams combined are graduating twenty-five seniors, with thirteen donning the purple of Elder. The Bombers went 9-7-0 in their first year in the CHC, whereas Elder went 1-9-0 in the SWOHSHL. This is the only Cincinnati vs. Cincinnati battle in the whole tournament, as two familiar foes (and former home-sharers of the Northland Ice Center) battle once again. Will Alex Hill keep the Panthers at bay, or can Tyler Siuda snare a win over their Capital brethren?

            This Cincinnati battle will send either the Bombers or Panthers to Chiller North on Sunday at 2:00 to tangle with #6 Olentangy Orange.

#18 Columbus Academy vs. #19 Sycamore (Saturday at 3:30, Ice Haus at Nationwide)

            Head Coach Mike Wells sends his Sycamore team to battle at the Ice Haus against the Vikings of Columbus Academy. Both teams were tops in their division, with the Aves claiming the Gold Division in the Southwest; Columbus Academy the Blue Division of the Capital. The Vikings gave Springboro a battle (and at one point, a two-goal deficit) but eventually fell in Overtime to the Panthers. The Aves claimed a shut-out win over Centerville to open up Tournament play, but couldn’t overcome a strong Talawanda squad. The Sycamore Aves has dealt with a short bench quite well, going 7-3 in conference games and arguably have one of the strongest goalies in Southwest Ohio in Marty Kahn.

            The #2 St. Charles Cardinals await the winner on Sunday at 4:00 at the Ice Haus.

#20 Gahanna-Lincoln vs. #21 Centerville (Saturday at 4:00, Chiller North)

            For the Centerville Elks, five seniors will hit the ice to tangle with a solid Golden Lions opponent. The Centerville Captain Riley Hrin has been the heart and soul of the Elks with his unselfish play, along with Joe Numbers patrolling the pipes each and every battle, and first-year Elk in John Hall leading the way in scoring. For Gahanna-Lincoln, most of the pride is younger, under-classmen, led by Seniors Matt McElligott in net for over 1,500 minutes and Hayden Sindledecker scoring a team-leading 36 goals up front. This has been a good series in the last few seasons (and as a personal note, Gahanna-Lincoln was the first opponent for Centerville when I began broadcasting for the Elks four seasons ago at the Easton Chiller). Can the Golden Lions herd up the pride and wear down Centerville’s short bench, or will it be the hard-working Elks taking one away in Columbus?

            The winning team has #3 Olentangy Liberty back at the Chiller North on Sunday at 4:00.

#8 Archbishop Moeller vs. #25 St. Francis DeSales (Saturday at 5:30, Ice Haus at Nationwide)

            The Crusaders are led by first-year Head Coach Brad Gibson, taking over for longtime coach Mike Reeder. Moeller was the only non-Columbus team to reach the Championship bracket of the Blue Jackets Cup, finishing just two points better than their new Cincinnati conference foes in Saint Xavier. Overall, the Fighting Crusaders went 9-5-1-1 in Capital fun, and 14-15-3 overall, with the help of Brennan Morton Strauss leading the White Division in the CHC with a .912 save percentage. The Crusaders take on Saint Francis DeSales for the second time this year, coming off a 14-0 win in Central Ohio to wrap up regular season play. The Stallions went 0-16-0 in conference play this season.

            The victors have #7 Olentangy Berlin Sunday at 6:00 at the Ice Haus.

My favorite to represent Columbus: #1 Upper Arlington: This undefeated Golden Bears team has one tie on the season (to St. Charles) and a whopping amount of wins. This team plays strong, doesn’t commit a lot of mistakes, and has only allowed thirteen goals in the regular season (thanks to a strong tandem of Alderman and Sexton). I personally don’t see this Upper Arlington train stopping anytime soon and is my prime candidate to represent Columbus for just the second time in the sport’s history in the Final.

Strong Contenders: #2 St. Charles, #3 Olentangy Liberty: These two teams also give Columbus a strong representation for the Final Four. For St. Charles, they were the only team to hand Upper Arlington a decision outside of wins with a 3-3 tie late in the regular season. While the Redbirds fell short in the Blue Jackets Cup for the trophy, this is a team that will be tough to play and battle with.

For Olentangy Liberty, a team that went 22-6-5-1, the Patriots have been a strong foe for years now. This Patriots squad was one of few to hand the Cardinals a loss but couldn’t deal one back to Upper Arlington the night after.

In the Blue Jackets Cup, these two teams tangled with a two-overtime decision in the Semis. They would meet up again in the District Semifinal Sunday, March 1st if the Cardinal and Patriots clean sweep their games, which means that could set up another battle with #1 Upper Arlington, barring any upsets from the top of the bracket.

Upset Candidate: #7 Olentangy Berlin: This strong team definitely caught fire in January and was a fun team to see at South Metro against Springboro, with their strong depth amongst the bench. I have a feeling that if Berlin can get past their older brethren in Olentangy Liberty, this Berlin squad can give everyone fits and could a nice run in just their second year of existence.

            By the way, congrats to Talawanda (SWOHSHL), Upper Arlington, and Saint Xavier for winning their conference tournaments! Here’s to a fun trip throughout the playoffs and I’ll be back to recap the Columbus side of the playoffs as we head into March.

--- Lee W. Mowen for Ohio Hockey Digest

Dayton, OHIO – As we enter the halfway point of the last full month of regular season action, the two conference races continue to heat up in Southwest Ohio. With the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend signaling a break in league play and a non-conference tournament for all, it’s a perfect time to cover the two conferences. We start off with the Southwest Ohio High School Hockey League and the two divisions.

The Talawanda Brave (20-2-1) continue a strong, impressive season with a 6-0 conference start with four games left to play in the SWOHSHL to lead the Red Division. The Brave have taken down Beavercreek twice, Centerville, and Alter on the road, as well as Troy and Elder at home in cross-divisional play. The Brave will host Centerville on the 26th of the month, followed with a Thursday Night affair with Alter at the Goggin. The Brave also have a road game at Sycamore on the 24th to resume SWOHSHL play.

Speaking of the Aves, Sycamore (10-10-0) currently leads the Gold Division at 6-2. The Green and Gold Aviators have completed their home-and-home series with Troy and Elder, with the second game vs. Mason closing out January. Along with the previous-mentioned bout with Talawanda coming in to Sports Plus, the Aves also have a non-conference tilt in Springfield at the NTPRD Chiller against Gahanna-Lincoln.

Also in the chase for the Red, the Beavercreek Beavers have been strong this season, also with a 6-2 mark with a season sweep over Centerville and Alter (the last Knights v. Beavers battle being decided in overtime), while going 2-0 against Gold Division foes in Troy and Sycamore, with the league game against Elder and Mason to go (the Frozen Creek match-up between the Beavers and Comets doesn’t count towards the SWOHSHL record as cross-division foes only count for one game. Beavercreek won 11-0 in the Frozen Creek match-up.)

Alter is officially 5-3 in conference battles, coming off an 11-2 home decision against Mason. The Knights have played Centerville twice (three times counting the DiPaolo Tourney game in Oxford), Beavercreek twice, Talawanda once, and Sycamore, Elder, and Mason for cross-division play. Alter still has the road game at Talawanda and a road trip to Troy to finish off conference play.

Centerville is 1-6 in the SWOHSHL this year, with a road trip to Talawanda and home games against Elder and Mason to go. The Elks are coming off two tough losses at Sycamore 6-3 with the Aves scoring four goals in the last four minutes and a 4-1 loss at Troy on the Trojans’ Senior Night.

Mason and the Comets are currently 1-3-1 in five SWOHSHL battles, with several games left on tap for Team 45040. With road matches at Beavercreek, Sycamore, and Centerville, and a date at Heritage Bank Center (the home of the ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones) with the Elder Panthers, the Comets have plenty of hockey left before the SWOHSHL Tourney.