Athens Varsity Hockey Wins 2010 Blue Jackets Cup
Submitted By Stephanie Wood on Monday, February 22, 2010
Columbus,
Ohio – Athens Varsity goes undefeated in four games to claim the
2010 Blue Jackets Cup!
The Bobcats were off to a
rocky start as they faced Northeast Storm in the first game of the
tournament. Northeast was up by three seven minutes into play. The
tide turned at the end of the first period as Athens Senior, Alex
Gates, scored on a power play assisted by Pierce Reeves. The
momentum continued as Kyle Dean found the net with help from Ryan
Donnelly. Henry Smith tied the game with a beautiful short-handed
goal bringing the score 3-3.
The Storm scored again in
the 3rd period to take the lead but Bobcats Captain, Kevin
Deal, responded with another goal three seconds later assisted by
Smith. Northeast scored once again to take the lead with eight
minutes left in the game. The outcome was looking bleak as the
Bobcats worked hard but weren't able to score. Coach Jim Caesar
pulled Goalie, Alex Monterosso, with 1:30 remaining in the game and
Kevin Deal took advantage of the extra man to score again with just
seconds left to tie the game 5-5. Five minutes were added to the
clock for sudden death overtime and both teams fought hard to break
the tie but the clock expired. It was an NHL-like atmosphere as both
teams prepared for a shootout; Athens came out on top to win 6-5 with
a goal from Senior, Kyle Dean.
By game two of the tournament, Athens found their rhythm as they faced Hilliard Wildcats and finished the game with a four point lead 5-1. Athens goals were scored by Pierce Reeves, Kevin Deal (2 goals), Chris McGraw and Kyle Dean with assists from Will Angelos, Kevin Deal, Henry Smith and Andrew Newton. Goalie, Jake Bloomfield had 19 saves on 20 shots.
The much anticipated third game saw Athens facing league rival, Newark Generals, in the semi-final round of the tournament. Athens took the lead early in period 1 as Freshman, Tanner Wood, scored with an assist from Senior, Tyler White. Will Angelos gave the Bobcats a little breathing room with a sweet goal in period two with help from teammate, Dean to bring the score up 2-0. Athens offense racked up an incredible 37 shots on net while the defense held the Generals to a measly 12 shots in the game earning goaltender, Monterosso, his seventh shutout this season.
Newark Generals marched their way through the loser's bracket to face the Bobcats in the championship game on Sunday. The atmosphere was electric as both teams played an intense, physical game that remained scoreless until 3:20 to go in the first period as Ryan Donnelly took a pass from Pierce Reeves to score! At the end of the second period, the 'Cats remained in the lead 1-0. Athens fans celebrated as Kevin Deal scored early in the last period with the assist from Jake Schriner to put the 'Cats up by two. Schriner wrapped up the Blue Jackets Cup title for Athens as he deeked Newark's goalie to score short-handed shutting the Generals out 3-0. The Generals looked like they forgot their ammunition while they struggled with shots on goal as Athens defensemen, Dean, Schriner, Wes Gilkey, Chris Corrigan and Andrew Newton only allowed 13 shots the entire game. Jake Bloomfield was in net for Athens adding another shutout to his resume bringing his total to five for the season. Joel Chalfant, James Ervin & Nick Fischer added to the offensive rush for the weekend total of 128 shots on goal.
As part of their reward for winning the 2010 Blue Jackets Cup title, Athens will travel to Nationwide Arena on March 15 to watch the Columbus Blue Jackets take on Edmonton Oilers and will be recognized by the CBJ organization for their success. The 'Cats are currently 34-19-9 for the season and will play for the Buckeye Cup State Title the first weekend of March before they wrap up their season.
