Recent St. Edward (GOHL) News
Inaugural Greater Ohio Hockey League Tournament This Weekend
Saint Ignatius will host 8-team bracket in Brooklyn
*** UPDATE: FRIDAY'S QUARTERFINAL GAMES HAVE BEEN POSTPONED***
The inaugural season of the Greater Ohio Hockey League will come to a crescendo this weekend at the Brooklyn Recreation Center as eight of the top programs in Ohio gather together in one place for the league’s first championship tournament. The event will see a total of 12 games played over three days, culminating with Sunday’s 4:00 championship game, the winner of which will claim the Ohio Cup.
Based on this week’s MyHockeyRankings, the GOHL boasts the top five teams in the state and seven of the top nine.
With a full Consolation Bracket in place, all eight teams will play three times over the weekend, supplementing the seven-game regular season slate that saw each member play the others one time.
Findlay and Bowling Green move up within Top 10
Despite #2 University School defeating #1 Saint Ignatius, 5-4, a few days before the New Year, the Wildcats held onto their position as the top-ranked team in the Ohio High School Athletic Association by a slim margin in this week’s MyHockeyRankings.
The game was also a crucial match-up in the newly-formed Greater Ohio Hockey League (GOHL) as US handed Ignatius their first loss in the league standings. The Preppers and St. Edward are now both 5-1-0 in the GOHL while Toledo St. Francis is 4-1-0 in what is starting to look like a four-team race.
The #3-5 spots in the rankings are also occupied by GOHL teams: #3 St. Edward, #4 St. Francis and #5 Olentangy Liberty. The defending state champion Patriots are followed closely by Capital Hockey Conference (CHC) rival St. Charles Cardinals at #6.
The Cardinals (11-5-1) have rebounded this season after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign that saw them lose more games than they won.
Liberty's Alexander Thinks GOHL Will Help OHSAA Retain Talent
COLUMBUS, OH --- 2023-24 is the inaugural season for the newly formed Greater Ohio Hockey League (GOHL). The eight-team league consists of perennial powers St. Edward, St. Ignatius, University, Gilmour, Liberty, Upper Arlington, Toledo St. Francis and Toledo St. John’s.
St. Edward and St. Ignatius are independent of any other league affiliation after leaving the Great Lakes Hockey League in recent years. The other six will also compete in their current leagues: University and Gilmour in the Great Lakes Hockey League, Liberty and Upper Arlington in the Capital Hockey Conference, with St. Francis and St. John’s in the Northwest Hockey Conference.
The GOHL season will consist of one game against each team in the league. League play will determine seeding for a league tournament.
The tournament will rotate between Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo. The 2023-24 season tournament will be held in Cleveland.
The opportunity to play against top competition had to be a strong incentive for these high schools banding together in the GOHL. “We were honored to be asked to join this league as to take our schedule to the next level” stated Liberty coach Kevin Alexander.
Long-term, we may see more players following the high school path as opposed to other avenues. Coach Alexander continued “It’s early but we hope more travel and AAA kids see this as a great option. Every kid who decides to play now has the hardest schedule and goes against the best competition in Ohio High School Hockey.”
Currently, the myhockeyrankings.com rankings have GOHL sitting in the top 5 spots for Ohio high school teams. Odds are high that this year’s state champion will come from this group of eight.
December 20 had a rematch of the teams from last year’s state championship, Liberty vs. University. Although Liberty is the state reigning champion, University came out on top in this matchup, 5-1. The top point-getter for US was Sam Wade (1 G, 2 A). Two goals were registered by Anthony Messina.
--- Earl Hosack for Ohio Hockey Digest
