Walsh Jesuit marked the halfway point of their Great Lakes Hockey League schedule with a 4-4 deadlock with University School on Saturday, December 23 at Cleveland Heigfhts Community Center.
Ironically, the Preppers started their league schedule with the game that could directly impact the league's finish.
Max Miotke ensured a quick start with a tremendous effort to gain the puck at the outer right hash, then stickhandling around the net to exploit an opening between defenders to the middle for a wrister as partner Steven LeVasseur set a screen. US evened it up straight away in the first stanza and then in the second period went ahead 2-1 with excellent passing and convergence on loose pucks in the slot . Jonathan Gabriel would be the answer to Prepper precision, with his second hat trick in two weeks. Matt Morris teed up the first of three with a clean face-off win, to the top of the circle. The second put Walsh ahead 3-2, as Drew Rossiter intercepted a pass at the defensive blue line to hit a streaking Gabriel on the left side.
US scored the next two and with the Warriors taking a late penalty, it looked like the game might slip away. Thankfully Gabriel wasn’t done, pulling into the high slot to score shorthanded with just 3:40 left.
The Warriors pressed hard for a fatigued team that played the previous evening, out-chancing the Preppers 5-1 in overtime. The one chance for US was deadly, but was answered by Jakari Desphy’s game-saving, point-blank stop with a sliding right pad on a back-door chance. The teams will meet again January 20 at Kent State.
Walsh Jesuit High School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and other school-administered programs.