Prowlers not favorites in GCHSCHL

As seen in ThisWeek News
Thursday, November 17, 2005

FORREST CLARKE
ThisWeek Staff Writer

By K.F. Hawking/ThisWeek PRPC's Geoffrey Killan (back), a junior at North, tries to prevent a shot by Danny Marie of Hilliard/Southwest.

By K.F. Hawking/ThisWeek Nick Miller (left) of PRPC and Hilliard/Southwest goalie Matt Bridger collide during the first period of their game last Sunday in the Chiller at Easton. Miller, a senior, is one of nine players on the Ice Prowlers roster from North. Central is represented by four players. PRPC defeated Hilliard/Southwest 6-3.

AT A GLANCE: Coach: Marty Laroche, fourth season Next game: Friday vs. Westerville at Chiller North Key players: Cody Berkebile, Loren Chrisman, Ben French, Nick Hess, Geoffrey Killan, Jeff Laird, Justin Lohrman, Taylor Markell, Tom Newhard, Brian Rossi, Taylor Walcutt and Austin Zurbriggen

At 2-1-2 overall after defeating Hilliard/Southwest 6-3 last Sunday, the Pickerington-Reynoldsburg-Pataskala-Canal Winchester club hockey team was in unfamiliar territory.

The Ice Prowlers, who went 73-18-4 in the last three seasons, are not the favorite to win their third title in four seasons in the Greater Columbus High School Club Hockey League. They won their second consecutive league title by defeating Olentangy 7-6 in the final of the Blue Jackets Cup to finish 24-5-2 in 2004.

Last year, the Ice Prowlers earned the club's second consecutive regular-season championship at 21-3-0. But they lost to Westerville 4-3 in three overtimes in the final of the Blue Jackets Cup.

The top four teams advanced to the inaugural Buckeye Cup state championship tournament, so PRPC had a chance to redeem itself. However, it lost 1-0 to eventual champion Medina in the first round before defeating Youngstown Mooney-Ursuline in the second round to finish 28-8. With five points, PRPC failed to qualify for a semifinal.

The Ice Prowlers lost only five graduates, but those five accounted for 64 goals and 17 years of starting experience. One was Anthony Kantor, who was the league's scoring leader (21 goals, 40 assists, 61 points).

"The guys we lost not only scored a lot of goals, but logged a lot of minutes for us in different roles," said fourth-year coach Marty Laroche, a former Columbus Chill center whose team averaged 5.5 goals last year.

"We're going to be young and inexperienced, but we've still got four or five guys to provide the offense. This year, those guys will have to do it night-in and night-out, whereas last year we could rely on seven or eight guys."

The top two are junior Nick Hess (33-22-55) and senior Taylor Walcutt (33-19-52), who were second and third in league scoring last year.

Other top players are seniors Ben French (6-10-16) and Nick Miller (6-5-11), juniors Cody Berkebile (14-22-36), Brian Rossi (4-14-18) and Max Matsanoff (3-6-9) and sophomores Austin Zurbriggen (5-6-11) and Luke Wilkins (4-5-9).

"We're looking for a few others to step up and pick up the torch," said Laroche, whose team will play Westerville on Friday at the Chiller North. "It will be up to them to adjust, chip in when they can and play smart defensively as well."

Junior Geoffrey Killan, sophomore Tom Newhard and freshmen Adam McGrath and Brad Noskowiak have played well in the early going.

With sophomore Miles McGrew (1.64 goals-against average, .911 save percentage) moving to Michigan, the goalie position remains the biggest question mark for the Ice Prowlers.

Junior Justin Lohrman, who logged 42 minutes last year, did all of the goaltending for a team that had outscored foes 17-15 in its first five games. The other victory was 1-0 over Olentangy on Oct. 30 as Walcutt scored with 1.2 seconds left.

"(Lohrman) is a hard worker and good learner," Laroche said. "Everybody goes through that where they have to get acclimated to the speed of the next level."

Other goalies include juniors Darren Coykendall and Nick Stypinski, who will rotate between the varsity and the junior varsity. PRPC has 40 players and is fielding a j.v. for the first time.

Top players on defense include senior Jeff Laird, junior Loren Chrisman, sophomore Zach Wiard and freshman Ryan Straker.

Also on the team is sophomore Taylor Markell. His brother, Ryan Markell, had 34 goals and 37 assists in the 2003-04 season. Ryan played for the Junior Blue Jackets the last two years but now is with the Cornwall (Ontario, Canada) Junior A Colts.

"Now that these guys are seeing more ice time than they're used to, it's just a matter of them adapting to it and making the best of their opportunities," said Laroche, whose team will play Hilliard/Southwest on Sunday at the Chiller at Easton.

"We have a lot of strong candidates, but they have to step up individually and say I'm going to be that guy."

Behind two goals from Hess, PRPC tied Westerville at 5 on Nov. 6. It swept Hilliard in four games last year, but lost 4-2 to the Panthers on Nov. 4 as Killan and Noskowiak scored.