The North Olmsted hockey team kept the pressure on the Jackson Polar Bears much of the game in last Saturday’s 8-3 win at the North Olmsted Recreation Center. Here, Mike Minch, 10, waits on the backside as his teammates pressure Jackson goalie Geoff Saltarelli. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Eagles skate to strong start
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published Dec. 2, 2009

Before the season started, North Olmsted head hockey coach Tim Murphy felt his team was fundamentally sound and ready to compete.

After the first four games of the 2009-10 season, it would be hard to argue that point.

The Eagles defeated Elyria Catholic, Massillon Jackson, Normandy and Brecksville in the first rounds of the Bruce Anderson Memorial Tournament at Ries Ice Arena last weekend. That fast start put North Olmsted in the championship game this past Monday against Elyria Catholic.

Last Friday night, North Olmsted downed EC, 6-3, in the tournament’s opening round. The Eagles actually hosted a game the following morning, drilling Jackson, 8-3, at the North Olmsted Recreation Center. Later Saturday night, they returned to Ries and skated past the host team, Normandy, by a 5-1 score to make it into the championship game.

To top off their fast start, the Eagles edged Brecksville, 3-2, in an early-season meeting of the two Southwestern Conference Tournament favorites.

“EC was tough, and I thought we played pretty well,” Murphy said last Saturday after his team’s win over Jackson. “We came out with a lot of energy and a strong effort last night. Today we played OK, but we weren’t quite as sharp.

“In the locker room going into the third period, we had talked about some things we wanted to do,” Murphy said. “The first couple of minutes we weren’t getting those things done. We have to realize that we have to pay the price and execute our game plan.

“It’s too early in the season for anything less than that. We can’t afford to back off,” he added.

The Eagles weren’t backing off much at all in the first period, taking a 3-0 lead after the first 15 minutes of play.

At the 1:38 mark, North Olmsted took the lead on a goal by junior forward Mike Konyesni on the back side. The assist went to senior Chad Cullinan, and the Eagles had a lead it would never relinquish.

North Olmsted scored on a breakaway at 4:37 as senior Sean McBride got the puck past Polar Bear goalie Geoff Saltarelli. McBride was assisted by junior Ryan Sutton and senior Thomas Mooney, but Jackson soon made it apparent it wouldn’t go away without a fight.

At around the 6:10 mark, the Polar Bears started to put some pressure on the Eagle defense and senior goalie Dan McBride. McBride made a number of saves, one coming on a breakaway.

But North Olmsted regrouped and scored with 3:32 left in the period on a goal by junior Ricky Henley. Sutton and Mooney were credited with the assists as North Olmsted had a 3-0 lead at the intermission.

North Olmsted sophomore forward Tim Musat tries to avoid getting tripped up as he bears down on Jackson goalie Geoff Saltarelli during last Saturday’s win over the Polar Bears.

If there was any doubt of the outcome, the Eagles cleared all of that away with three more goals in less than two minutes early in the second period.

At 3:34, Sean McBride scored off an assist from seniors Mike Minch and Kyle Swansegar. Then at 4:03, Minch scored a goal off an assist from McBride and Swansegar. One minute later, Minch scored on a breakaway, thanks to assists from McBride and Mooney for a 6-0 advantage.

Jackson finally scored at the 5:32 mark on a goal by Alex Royer, but the Polar Bears were looking at a 6-1 deficit at that point.

At the start of the third, North Olmsted started out slow for the first minute, but then came to life on Konyesni’s second goal of the game on a nice backhand shot to make it 7-1. Mooney and Sutton were credited with the assists.

Jackson scored on a power play goal when goalie McBride was called for tripping at 2:25. But the Eagles responded with their eighth goal of the game, an unassisted shot from the right wing by junior Casey Jones at 7:35.

The Polar Bears added their final goal in the game’s final minutes. They closed out tournament play at 1-3, beating Brecksville, 5-4, and losing to EC, 6-5.

For the game, McBride registered eight saves to move to 2-0 on the season, his first as the team’s goalie. He went on to register 17 saves later that day in the Eagles’ win over Normandy.

In that game, Sutton led the offense with a pair of goals, with single goals coming from Sean McBride, Mooney and Swansegar. On Sunday night, Swansegar, Mooney and Minch scored the goals, with McBride getting eight saves against Brecksville. Bees goalie Johnathan Miller had his hands full, recording 18 saves.

Overall, Murphy was pleased with his team’s offensive output.

“Konyesni’s off to a good start for us,” he said. “And we’re getting goals from some different players. I think we’re already getting to the point of developing a third line, which will help us down the road.

“Jackson did some things that stressed us out in a few areas, though,” Murphy admitted. “They played hard and came at us in spurts. They were a more solid team than I first thought.

“But in the end, we were a step faster most of the time. The team that gets to the puck first is usually the team that wins,” he added.

Elyria Catholic advanced to the finals after its wins over Jackson and Normandy. The Panthers (2-1-1) defeated the Invaders, 8-2, last Sunday night.

North Olmsted will begin Red East Division play this Friday at 9 p.m. when they travel to Thornton Park to take on Shaker Heights.