Game Recap

2004 Midwest Thanksgiving High School Hockey Classic
@ the Chiller North
Friday, November 26th through Sunday, November 28th, 2004

Sophomore Nick Hess (Pickerington Central) scored 3 goals against Worthington Kilbourne leading the Prowlers to a 7-1 victory.

Prowlers split tournament games, but perform strong.

The 2004 Midwest Thanksgiving High School Hockey Classic hosted by St. Charles Preparatory School was held this past weekend, and the Ice Prowlers participated again for the second straight season. Again, the tournament provided an opportunity for the Prowlers to get a taste of competition outside of the seven team GCHSCHL, especially as they look forward to the first ever Buckeye Cup State Championship up for grabs at the end of the season. It was also a chance for the Prowlers to show where they stand in the high school hockey landscape of Columbus, Ohio.

Prowlers vs. the Marian Knights
In their first match of the tournament, the Prowlers faced Marian High School out of Mishawaka, Indiana. The Knights came into the match 10-1 on the season, and were last season's tournament runner up. The Prowlers knew that this game would be a challenge, but were not expecting a blowout. The Knights rattled off six first period goals and stormed on to a 8-0 victory before eventually rolling on to win the Tournament Championship trophy with a 4-3 win over Milton High School from Milton, Ontario.

Prowlers vs. the Hudson Explorers
After shaking off the effects of Friday night's game, the Prowlers were right back at it Saturday morning, this time against the team that defeated Marian in last year's tournament Championship, Hudson High School. The Explorers' Gordy Jones was in the net for Hudson, while freshman Miles McGrew got the start for the Prowlers. The two goaltenders kept the game scoreless until the senior captain Eric Willard and the Prowler power play connected at 8:58 of the first period (assisted by sophomore Cody Berkebile and senior alternate captain Eric Weinhold). The power play connected again at 6:19 when Berkebile's shot from the point was deflected in by Weinhold on the far post (assisted by Berkebile and junior Jeff Laird) to give the Prowlers a 2-0 lead.

The Prowlers continued to dominate play until they let their guard down with 2:30 remaining in the period. That's when Nate Jones scored to get the Explorers on the board with a controversial goal. It appeared that the Hudson player was released from the penalty box early, but the goal stood, and the Prowlers had to try and contain the Hudson attack for just a few minutes more. With senior alternate captain Anthony Kantor in the box for interference, the Explorers were able to get the equalizer on the power play. Then, with just 7 seconds remaining and the score tied 2-2, Stefan Kumor threw the puck past McGrew for the game winner to cap a two and a half minute 3 goal flurry for Hudson.

Prowlers vs. the Dublin Coffman Rocks
With a bad taste in their mouth, the Prowlers went on Saturday evening to face cross town rival Dublin Coffman High School. The Rocks were the Capital Hockey Conference Blue Jackets Cup Champions (varsity level) last season, while the Prowlers took home the GCHSCHL Blue Jacket Cup (club level) two seasons in a row. This was the showdown that the Prowlers had been waiting for. Coffman came into the game having only played two games this season (against Hudson and Marian) and had an 0-2 record on the season. The team was looking to rebound against the Prowlers, but the Prowlers had some business of their own to attend to.

Senior Jesse Betts was back between the pipes for the Prowlers and looked sharp. Kantor got the Prowlers on the board first at 10:24 when he tapped in a perfect pass from junior Taylor Walcutt (assisted by Walcutt and Berkebile). Just three minutes later though, senior defenseman Matt Schuh let Cody Weese slip through and he beat Betts on a shot that slipped through the goaltender. That would be all of the scoring for the first, and the only goal that Betts would let by in this match.

The Prowlers came out fired up for the second period and dictated play for much of the period before sophomore Nick Hess would drill home a bouncing puck in front of the Rock's net (assisted by Willard) to give the Prowlers a 2-1 lead. The third period saw more of the same from the Prowlers who got an insurance goal at 10:12 when senior alternate captain Mike Miller drove to the net and scored to give his squad a 3-1 lead that they would not let go of.

Prowlers vs. the Worthington Kilbourne Wolves
After proving their worth against the CHC Cup Champions, they went on to face another CHC team in Worthington Kilbourne High School. After dominating play for the first four minutes of the match, the Prowlers were caught off guard when Dan Petke's shot was deflected past goaltender McGrew to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead. That would be the only chance the team would have despite their goaltender John Merrill keeping his team in the game with some solid goaltending. In the end though, the Prowlers were just too much for the young team.

The Prowlers tied up the game with 3:38 of the first period when Walcutt put the puck past Merrill after a flurry of rebounds (assisted by Kantor and Mike Miller). His team then took the lead when Hess scored at the begriming of the second period (assisted by Weinhold). Junior Ben French scored his second goal of the season when he rifled a shot to the top corner past Merrill at 9:51 of the second. Hess followed that up with his second of the game just minutes later (assisted by Willard and Weinhold) to give the Prowlers a 4-1 lead going into the break.

The third period continued to see Merrill stand strong for the Wolves stopping several chances, but sophomore defenseman Jeff Laird was able to sneak the puck past him on a weird bounce from the point (assisted by Walcutt and Kantor). Nick Hess completed his Hat Trick with 2:44 remaining (assisted by Weinhold and Willard), and Kantor converted on a breakaway (assisted by Schuh) to finish the scoring at 7-1.

After defeating their Columbus area opponents and finishing the tournament 2-2, the Prowlers now get back into their league schedule with a showdown against Westerville on Friday (12/03/2004) at 6:40 PM at the Chiller North. The Warcats defeated the Prowlers 4-2 in their only league loss of the season(11/07/2004), and remain 2 points ahead and in first place in the GCHSCHL standings.