Game Recap

Blue Jackets Cup GCHSCHL Championship Tournament
Ice Prowlers home versus the Olentangy Braves
@ the Chiller North
Saturday, February 19th, 2005

Prowlers drop game to Westerville

After defeating Olentangy 4-0 in the second round of the Blue Jackets Cup Tournament, the Prowlers moved on to play their arch rival this season, the Westerville Warcats (#2, 18-3-2). The Warcats had finished only 2 points behind the Prowlers in the regular season after the two clubs had split the season series at two games a piece (4-2 Westerville on 11/07/2004, 4-3 Prowlers on 12/03/2004, 8-3 Westerville on 12/12/2004 and 5-2 Prowlers on 01/21/2005). The Warcats had started the tournament off defeating Newark (#7, 1-20-2) by a score of 11-2 in the first round, then defeated Athens (#3, 16-5-2) 3-2 to advance to the semifinal round. This was going to be a tough game, with the winner gaining a bid to the Blue Jackets Cup Final.

Goaltending proved to be key in this match up. In the first period, they kept the score tied at 0-0 with freshman Miles McGrew stopping 8 Warcats shots, while his counterpart Bill Sorokas stopped all 16 shots that the Prowlers threw his way.

With penalties playing a major key in this game, the Prowlers started the second period short handed with junior Taylor Walcutt in the box for four minutes. The Warcats capitalized when Tony Franco scored a power play goal just 25 seconds into the period. The goaltenders again held their ground with the score 1-0. McGrew stopped the next 9 shots in the period while Sorokas stayed sharp stopping the Prowlers next 11 shots to keep the score at 1-0 in the Warcat's favor after two periods.

The Prowlers tied the game up at 11:13 of the third period when Walcutt threw the puck at the net sneaking one by Sorokas (assisted by sophomore Cody Berkebile). The Prowlers looked to take the lead halfway through the period, but the referee signalled no goal after a scrum in front of the net and the game remained tied at 1-1. As the game wound down, the Prowlers found themselves short handed by two men when senior alternate captain Mike Miller was called for holding at 5:18 and Walcutt was charged with hooking at 4:06. The Warcats power play again took advantage with Sean Hundley scoring on the 5-on-3 man advantage, just 4 seconds before the first penalty expired to give the Warcats back the lead at 2-1. Then, just 24 seconds later, Jack Staley scored on the 5-on-4 man advantage to give the Warcats a 3-1 lead that they would not relinquish.

With the loss, the Prowlers drop into the loser's bracket of the tournament for the first time under head coach Marty LaRoche. They will face off Sunday morning (2/20/2005) at 7:00 AM against their previous opponent, the Olentangy Braves (#4, 10-3-1) who defeated Athens (#3, 16-5-2) 2-1 in an overtime shootout late Saturday evening. The Prowlers won that season series 4-0 (6-0 on 11/12/2004, 3-0 on 1/23/2005 4-2 on 2/4/2005 and 4-1 on 2/13/2005) and defeated the Braves 4-0 in their second round game of this tournament. A win against Olentangy would give the Prowlers a rematch with Westerville and a chance to defend their 2004 Blue Jackets Cup Championship.