New Albany OLib

The high school hockey season is nearing its peak, with the regular season complete and tournament play on the horizon. Capital Hockey Conference varsity teams will battle for the Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth from Thursday through Sunday, while the OHSAA state tournament follows with the final four being held at Nationwide Arena on March 8-9.

The Capital Hockey Conference Red Division standings have been tight all season, but New Albany and Olentangy Liberty finished tied for first in the 16-game slate with matching 13-2-0-1 records (27 points). Upper Arlington followed with an 11-3-2-0 mark (24 points), with Olentangy (8-3-2-3, 21 points) and St. Charles (5-3-6-2, 18 points) not far behind.

Dublin Jerome won the White Division with an 11-1-3-1 record (26 points) with Olentangy Orange (10-6-0-0, 20 points) and Dublin Coffman (9-6-1-0, 19 points) following.

Quarterfinal action in the varsity version of the Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth will take place Thursday, with semifinals Saturday and the final Sunday. The championship game will be held Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the OhioHealth Ice Haus.

New Albany Wins First Title

For the first time in program history, the New Albany Eagles have won the Capital Hockey Conference. Their season was capped off by a 3-1 win against St. Charles on Saturday night.

“It means the world for these boys,” head coach Matt Buss said. “I think we had goals in place, and winning the league is something that we've never done as a program. To be able to see the hard work pay off is just unreal, and I couldn’t be happier for these boys.”

Their clinching win came off of the back of their senior goaltender, as Ryan Myers turned in a 43-save performance against the Cardinals. Myers has been instrumental to the Eagles’ success this season.

“Ryan Myers puts in more work than I've ever seen any goalie put in in my entire life.” Buss said. “He works unbelievably hard, and his hard work pays off.”

The first period in this matchup resulted in no goals despite high-danger chances on both ends of the ice. Both goaltenders had excellent periods as St. Charles’ Dylan Bell stopped 14 shots and Myers turned away 11.

The second was all New Albany as they used the middle frame to pull away from the Cardinals with a pair of goals. The first, scored by senior forward Payton Gorsuch, was a showcase of the production their top line has given the team throughout their season.

The next goal was an impressive individual effort by senior forward Will Yoho. He took on a St. Charles defender at the blue line and turned it into a breakaway, beating Bell on his backhand.

St. Charles looked to get back into this one with an early third-period goal by junior forward Michael Pagnotto to cut the New Albany lead down to 2-1. The Cardinals put on heavy pressure for much of the remainder of the final frame, but their comeback efforts were ended by a major penalty with 3:02 left to play before New Albany clinched the victory with its third goal.

“When we put the work in that we do, we're not really worried about who's on the other side. We focus on our guys and play our hockey the best we can do,” Buss said.

--Garrison McDaniel

Olentangy Liberty Finishes Strong

New Albany shares their spot atop the standings with Olentangy Liberty, as the Patriots won their last 13 games of conference play to get back to the top.

The 2023 state champions finished things off over the weekend with a pair of high-scoring wins, taking down Dublin Coffman by a 7-6 score in overtime Saturday before coming back Sunday to post an 8-5 victory vs. Cincinnati Moeller.

Liberty didn’t have such top players as seniors Jake Struck and Andrew Leonard at the start of the season because they were on the school’s football team that won a state championship, but their returns have sparked the Patriots. Head coach Jonathon Falvo said he didn’t have his full roster on the ice until Jan. 10.

“At the beginning of the year, we had a lot of injuries, and our football guys were busy winning a state championship,” Falvo said. “We have a lot of players that saw their role for next year and got a chance to experience the varsity game early on in the season. It’s been great to see my kids develop their roles in the future while we’re trying to peak at the right time. I think we’re in a good position to do that.”

The finale on Sunday was a back-and-forth affair, as the Patriots got out to a 6-1 lead only to see Moeller respond with four goals to make it a one-goal game. Olentangy Liberty was able to add a pair of tallies to finish out the game with the win, and Falvo said he hopes his team can learn from its ups and downs as it enters tournament play.

“Our goal going into the season was to learn how to win close games, and with every team it takes challenges and putting yourself in difficult situations,” Falvo said. “When you put yourself in close games and one-goal games, you learn how to win those games, which will help during single-elimination tournaments.”

The Patriots have the No. 2 seed in the Blue Jackets Cup behind New Albany, and Falvo noted the upcoming weeks will be a challenge because of the depth of quality squads in Central Ohio. He believes Liberty's combination of talent and experience means it can reach its goals.

“I think we’re in a very good spot,” Falvo said. “We deserve to be in the conversation with the top teams in the state. The Capital Hockey Conference has developed this season and has been very, very tight. We have six of the top 10 teams in the state. I think going into this, we’re in a good position, but it’s going to be a challenge going forward.”

--Jeff Svoboda

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