North Olmsted’s Terry Legg (goal) gets some help from defenseman Mike Tomko (22) as Matt Konyesni (18) and Chad Murphy (7) look on as they wait for the puck to clear. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

Eagles put talons to Cougars at the 'Q'
By Matt Pawlikowski
Sports
Published Jan. 10, 2007

It wasn’t the Stanley Cup, but for a period, North Olmsted’s players played like it was. But can you blame them?

The Eagles game against Lake Catholic was no ordinary contest. It was the first game to be played on the ice at Quicken Loans Arena in over a year. Not to mention the team got to dress in a professional locker room, and throughout the contest, there was a huge state-of-the-art scoreboard showing all the replays with loud music playing.

Some may call it a case of big time nerves, but perhaps even better, as coach Tim Murphy said, his players just got caught up in the moment.

“I think the highlight of the game for the kids was walking into the locker room, then walking out the tunnel to the ice,’’ said Murphy. “It was a big deal for them. To be able to play in a venue like this, compared to our rink, they were definitely wide eyed.”

Although North Olmsted started well, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Dan McBride and a penalty shot from Sam DeJoy, Lake made a game of things, utilizing their speed.

In the second period with the game tied at 2-apiece, Lake Catholic appeared to take the lead with 8:47 left but the Cougars were called with interference. Three minutes later at 5:59, Lake’s Josh Vance was able to tickle the twine off a shot from behind the net that ricocheted off Terry Legg’s leg, putting the Cougars up 3-2.

North Olmsted wasn’t done, though, and with 2:19 left in the period, on a breakaway, Logan Beach, with a great slap shot from the left side of the net, scored to tie things up.

DeJoy’s second goal of the game at 4:42 in the third, off a pass from Chad Murphy proved to be the game winner.

“He cycled it down low, and it popped out right in front,’’ said DeJoy. “I just banged it in.”

Despite his goal, DeJoy refused to take credit for the win.

“We played strong offensively and defensively and had strong goaltending, and that is why we won,’’ said DeJoy. “It took us a period to get used to the surroundings, but after the second period, we started playing hockey again. I think we were definitely watching ourselves on the jumbotron.

The North Olmsted High School hockey team celebrates following a 4-3 victory over Lake Catholic High School Sunday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena.

DeJoy’s goal may have sealed the win for North Olmsted, but from that point on, it was a defensive challenge for the Eagles. Legg’s play in net became another key factor into the Eagles coming away with the win. On the night the goalie stopped 22 shots, but it was the barrage he withstood in the final minutes, that handed North Olmsted its 15th win of the year.

“Terry played real well, especially in the third period when we were sagging a bit, and kept us in there,’’ said Murphy. “He really stood back and played really, really well.”

Lake Catholic pulled its goalie with just under a minute to play and had an extra man on the ice. It enabled the Cougars to put even more pressure on Legg and his defenders, but he did not waver, and stopped the eight shots that flew his way.

“For the first four or five minutes, I sort of lost focus, with the big tron up there,’ said Legg. “But in the third period, I kept the bottom of the net, kept my gloves up, and chased things that came up high.

The Eagles, who sit at 15-4, are off until this weekend, when the Southwestern Conference Tournament returns to the North Olmsted Recreation Center.

“It will be a very competitive tournament again,’’ said Murphy. “We’d like to win it, but there are some good teams in our conference.”