Game Recap

Buckeye Cup State Championship Tournament
Ice Prowlers home versus the Mooney/Ursuline Thunder
@ the Center Ice Sports Complex (Canton, OH)
Saturday, March 5th, 2005

PROWLERS FINISH SEASON WITH A 9-0 WIN OVER MOONEY/URSULINE

After a tough 1-0 loss to the Medina Bees (3/4/2005) in their first Buckeye Cup State Championship Tournament game, the Prowlers knew that their fate was no longer in their own hands. The team had to rely on Lakota East (CHSHL) to hold the Athens Bobcats to just two tournament points in their game to even give the Prowlers a chance at making it into the Championship Rounds of the tournament. Athens didn't help their league foe any and went on to win their game 6-0 and eliminate the Prowlers from contention before the team even stepped on the ice for their final Preliminary Round game.

With that, the Prowlers had the task of finishing their season without hoisting a trophy for the first time under three year coach Marty LaRoche. Winners of the 2003 and 2004 Blue Jackets Cup GCHSCHL Championships, this would be the final game for the five Prowler seniors, and a chance for the team to end on a high note.

Their opponent, the Mooney/Ursuline Thunder (5-4-1) were granted a bid to the tournament as the number five seed from the North Coast High School Hockey League (NCHSHL) after the Mason Comets, the number four seed out of the Cincinnati High School Hockey League (CHSHL), declined their invitation. The Thunder were defeated 5-2 in their earlier game by the Villa Angela St. Joseph Vikings, and were looking for their first win of the tournament.

The Prowler offense that was non-existent against Medina came to the forefront on this night. The team threw a total of 69 shots on John Yuhaniak in the Thunder goal while the Prowler defense limited Mooney/Ursuline to just 9 shots in the game. Freshman Miles McGrew started the game for the Prowlers and stopped both shots against in the period while his teammates scored 4 goals on 22 shots in the first.

Freshman Austin Zurbriggen started off the scoring (assisted by sophomore defenseman Brian Rossi) at 12:01 of the first period. The Prowlers dictated play the entire game, and found themselves on a 5-on-3 power play with just over four and a half minutes to play in the period. Senior alternate captain Anthony Kantor lit the lamp (assisted by senior alternate captain Eric Weinhold and freshman Brandon Goettel) with the two man advantage to give his team a 2-0 lead. The team followed that up when sophomore Nick Hess scored another power play goal (assisted by sophomore Cody Berkebile and Rossi) at 2:57, and then senior captain Eric Willard scored an unassisted goal with the teams skating four a side just 27 seconds later.

The second period started off with more of the same when senior alternate captain Mike Miller scored on the power play at 12:27 (assisted by sophomore Max Mattsanoff). Zurbriggen then scored his second of the game 26 seconds later on a nice play cutting hard to the net and tapping home a perfect pass from Berkebile (assisted by Berkebile and freshman Luke Wilkins). Junior Taylor Walcutt scored his first of the night at 8:13 of the second period (assisted by Berkebile) to make the score 7-0 Prowlers before McGrew was replaced in goal by sophomore Justin Lohrman with 7:07 remaining in the period. The Thunder nearly scored with just over six minutes remaining when they attempted to ice the puck while shorthanded and it was misplayed by Lohrman, but sophomore defenseman Loren Chrisman was able to race back and sweep the puck off of the goal line at the last minute averting the goal and preserving the 7-0 score. Hess capped off the second period scoring at 5:43 scoring his second power play goal of the game (assisted by Weinhold) and pushing the score to 8-0.

The only goal in the third period came on the power play when Walcutt scored his second of the game (assisted by Mike Miller and junior Jeff Laird) at 6:38 to put the Prowlers at 5-for-6 on the man advantage in this contest. The team went on to win the game 9-0 and finish the inaugural Buckeye Cup State Championship Tournament with 6 points in the standings.

This was the final game in the purple and white for the Prowler seniors. They include three year Prowler and alternate captain Anthony Kantor (Pickerington North), three year Prowler Matt Schuh (Pickerington Central), three year Prowler and team captain Eric Willard (Reynoldsburg), three year Prowler and two year alternate captain Mike Miller (Canal Winchester) and four year Prowler and alternate captain Eric Weinhold (Pickerington North). The team wishes its seniors the best of luck in their future endeavors and thanks them for the time that they committed to Prowler Hockey.