OHSAA state hockey tournament features familiar faces

The four teams that will compete for Ohio High School Athletic Association state hockey championship this weekend certainly know the way to Nationwide Arena.
Cleveland St. Ignatius, Hunting Valley University School, Sylvania Northview and Powell Olentangy Liberty have combined for 45 appearances in the state final four, plus 11 of the crowns handed out since the year 2000.

In other words, there won't be many surprises for the quartet of squads looking for a state crown, and it's also fair to say it's anyone's tournament to win. All four of the teams heading to Columbus have at least one win against a team that has qualified, as iron has sharpened iron all season.
Another thing that is certain is that there will be a new champion. Gates Mills Gilmour Academy, which won it all a season ago, failed to advance to Columbus, as did last year's runner-up, Toledo St. Francis.
The first semifinal will take place Saturday at 9 a.m. as University School will take on Northview. St Ignatius and hometown entrant Olentangy Liberty will then battle at noon, with the state championship game set for noon Sunday as well.
Both semifinals and the championship game will be streamed live on the
NFHS Network
, which is available for a $10 monthly subscription. Blue Jackets Radio Network's Bob McElligott and Dylan Tyrer will call the action during the livestreams of the semifinals and championship contest.
What follows are capsule previews of each team going into the state championship tournament.

Hunting Valley University School Preppers (28-8-1)

University School is one of the state's traditional powers, with 16 appearances in the final four weekend, most of any team to advance to Columbus. The Preppers won titles in 2003 and '09, and this year's squad enters on a nine-game winning streak. University School has two wins and a tie in three games this season against its semifinal foe, Northview.
"We tested ourselves early, and from those early games, we had some tough losses and had some mistakes that we really watched on film and got better from," head coach Andy Gerow said. "We hit our stride in the middle of December. We found different ways to win, and that became the theme as we got into the new year and into the playoffs. We have a great group that starts with our captains, and everybody is contributing and pulling the rope in the right direction."
State tournament results (Kent region): 10-0 win over Chardon Notre Dame Cathedral Latin; 3-0 win over Chagrin Falls Kenston; 4-1 win over Shaker Heights; 6-3 win over Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit.
Top scorers: 21 Sam Wade (28-29-57); 15 Luke Palmer (26-18-44); 12 Samonte Martin (18-14-32); 11 Anthony Messina (5-25-30)
Goalies: 30 Noah Caballero (21 games; 1.30 GAA, .939 save percentage), 35 Cooper Pettipiece (14 games; 1.56 GAA, .917 save percentage)
Coach Gerow on the matchup with Northview: "We know we're in for a battle. They have 10 or 11 seniors. They have a great group that works extremely hard. They have guys who can finish pucks. Their goalie is one of the best in the state, so it's going to take everything in our power to be able to get a win. We're looking forward to it."

Sylvania Northview Wildcats (24-8-3)

Northview has become one of the top teams each year in the always competitive Northwest Ohio bracket, as the Wildcats have 13 final four appearances including state titles in 2012 and '14. Northview has won 12 in a row coming in including a come-from-behind victory over defending state runner-up St. Francis in the regional final, and their season results include a win over St. Ignatius. The team is also playing for the memory of senior Aiden Carter, who took his own life in August.
"I've worded it as we are playing with Aiden still, and Aiden is with us every single day," head coach Steve Elliott said. "We take his jersey everywhere we go. It hangs on our bench and was on the ice at the end of the (regional final). We're playing with him; not for him necessarily because this season is about all of these kids. It's about Aiden as well, but I don't think we ever wanted to make it just about we're playing for him as much as we are playing with him."
State tournament results (Sylvania region): 10-0 win over Toledo Whitmer; 4-0 win over Bowling Green; 3-2 win over Toledo St. Francis
Top scorers: 9 Drake Symbolik (24-31-55); 17 Benny Seals (28-23-51); 6 Landon Elliott (11-33-44); 14 Tryston Harrell (23-17-40)
Goalie: 33 Austin Nowak (33 games; 1.37 GAA, .943 save percentage)
Coach Elliott on the matchup with University School: "We know we have pretty strong overall team defense, and we'd like to think our goalie Austin Nowak is arguably the best in the state. He's been the backbone of our team for two straight years, and (he) had an incredible season again. We expect him to be doing his thing, and I expect it to be a tight-fought game, low-scoring, and the team that can capitalize on a couple of breaks is probably going to be the one to pull out a victory."

Olentangy Liberty Patriots (34-1-0)

A Columbus school has never won a state championship, with the closest bid coming in 2019 when Dublin Jerome became the first team from the area to win a game at the final four. Olentangy Liberty thinks it can go all the way, though, after a tremendous regular season that includes a pair of wins over Northview, 29 straight victories and a dominant regional run in which the Patriots outscored teams 43-4 over four games.
"This is the hardest-working team out of all the years I've been at Liberty," head coach Kevin Alexander said. "In practice, they've stayed hungry. I will tell you it's maybe the most talented Liberty team we've had, but we've also had to push these guys really hard. They keep coming back for more. They've gotten some big heads over this big stretch run, so it's taken a little bit of pushing and prodding by the coaching staff this year, but last weekend we finally realized they might have been listening all along."
State tournament results (Columbus region): 17-0 win over Troy; 11-1 win over Beavercreek; 5-2 win over Columbus St. Charles; 10-1 win over Upper Arlington
Top scorers: 5 Charlie Hughes (31-34-65), 21 Jake Struck (22-42-64), 8 Jacob Kempa (21-23-44), Eric Bauermeister (16-25-41), Brian Savage (26-15-41)
Goalies: 1 Robert Cook (22 games; 1.46 GAA, .896 save percentage); 70 Thomas Morgan (13 games; 2.33 GAA, .889 save percentage)
Coach Alexander on the matchup with St. Ignatius: "I like our chances, but I will tell you we are definitely the underdog. Every kid can play on Iggy, every kid can score, every kid can shoot, every kid can skate. I like our chances because we've built a mix of about four former really high-level AAA players to go along with some kids that have been with our program that have had three years under us. I like our chances a lot better than when Liberty was (in the state semifinal) back in 2017."

Cleveland St. Ignatius Wildcats (24-6-3)

For a while, you could have joked that this tournament could be renamed the St. Ignatius Invitational, as six of the Wildcats' seven state titles came from 2010-19. But this is St. Ignatius' first appearance in Columbus since the '19 crown, and the squad will be looking to get back to the top of the mountain. Unlike most Ohio schools, the Wildcats play mostly out-of-state opposition, but they have beaten University School as well as traditional rival Lakewood St. Edward this year.
"This group that we have this season has never been down there," head coach Pat O'Rourke said. "It's fresh and exciting. I know it never gets old for me. I was super excited (when we won the regional final). Once you get a taste of it, you want to keep going down there. It's been three or four years. I know we are lucky to get down there frequently, but even a one- or two-year gap stinks."
State tournament results (Brooklyn region): 10-0 win over Westlake; 11-0 win over Bay Village Bay; 4-0 win over Cleveland Benedictine; 3-1 win over Parma Padua
Top scorers: 25 Bia Savarino (22-14-36), 24 Dario Piazza (18-18-36), 3 Johnny Rogers (12-20-32), 17 Zach Baker (11-16-27)
Goalies: 30 Nolan Francis (23 games; 1.50 GAA, .940 save percentage); 33 Jack Utrup (9 games; 1.93 GAA, .908 save percentage)
Coach O'Rourke on the matchup with Olentangy Liberty: "It's real difficult. I think they are so confident right now they could probably take on the Boston Bruins. They haven't lost since Thanksgiving weekend. They're flying high, they are super confident in what they are doing, and why shouldn't they be? Watching film was like watching a horror movie. They're really solid -- good goalie, good defense, good forwards. If you find a weakness, let me know."