The fourth-seeded Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Royals upset top-ranked Avon Lake 3-1 in the Baron Cup III opening game, as it took less than two hours for the tournament to already take a wild twist.
Avon Lake (22-4-1) outscored CVCA 10-2 in their two head-to-head regular season meetings, winning both contests, but Royals coach Doug Fairchild believes his team has grown significantly since those two matches.
CVCA sure looked like a different team right out of the gate, as junior forward Bayley McRitchie put the Royals on the board less than four minutes into play, assisted by freshman defenseman Jack Perrotta and sophomore forward Christian Beckett.
Avon Lake could not answer back for the next 11 minutes and CVCA maintained a 1-0 lead heading into the second.
Much like the first period, the Royals jumped on the board quickly to start the second, thanks to senior forward John O’Connor, who made it 2-0 with 12:30 left in the second.
While Avon Lake tried to collect itself, CVCA stunned the Shoremen once again with 9:57 left in the period, as Beckett netted home an unassisted goal to give the Royals a 3-0 advantage.
The Shoremen finished out the second period strong, as Hunter Hall scored the first goal of the night for Avon Lake with 3:07 remaining in the frame.
Hunter Hall scores a much-needed goal to put @Shoremenhockey on the board with 3:07 to play
(Graney + Kelly Assists)@CVCAHockey leads 3-1 pic.twitter.com/SP2qrpv1lb
— NEO Sports Insiders (@NEOSportsInside) February 6, 2017
Leading 3-1 after two periods of play, CVCA spent much of the third frame in its own defensive zone, but senior goaltender Brooks Montgomery turned away every shot that came near and the Royals defenders continued to hold off the Shoremen.
Avon Lake coach Fran Sullivan pulled goaltender Dillon Aslaksen with just over two minutes to play, but it was to no avail and CVCA pulled off the upset, finishing the way they started, putting together three periods of outstanding play on both ends.
4th seeded @CVCAHockey upsets #1 Avon Lake
Final score
CVCA 3
Avon Lake 1 pic.twitter.com/VHzbEnY8pB— NEO Sports Insiders (@NEOSportsInside) February 6, 2017
Coach Fairchild could not have been more proud of his players.
“Avon Lake is a really deep, great team, but at one point this season, we were 1-10-1 through 12 games,” said Fairchild.
“We went on a trip together as a group and these kids just really started to jell. They decided they were just going to play for each other no matter what happened. We’re 11-4 now in our last 15 games.”
Some of the credit for that turnaround has to go to Montgomery, who made 27 saves between the pipes, putting together another solid performance.
“He’s incredible. He’s another reason why we went 11-4,” the coach stated.
“That kid never played a game in net until Presidents’ Day Weekend last year. He’s our soccer goalie and (last year) we had an issue with another goalie who couldn’t play and (Montgomery) decided to try out. He’s gotten better and better ever since. I may be biased, but I think he’s the best goalie in our league.”
The NEO Sports Insiders Star of the Game was Beckett, a sophomore who was named to the All-Division Second Team as a freshman and leads the team with just over 40 goals on the season.
Beckett scored a goal and an assist in the win, earning praise from his coach.
“He’s been our leading scorer by a ton and he jumped on that one (in the second period). He’s a really talented kid and he’s just going to get better. He didn’t make any mistake on that one.”
Along with Beckett, Fairchild was quick to point out some of the players who may not have shown up in the scoring department, but did the little things all night and were key components to the win.
Senior forward Noah Polanski was matched up with Avon Lake’s leading scorer, Jared Aslaksen, who netted 45 goals on the season.
Polanski, an All-Division First Team player as a junior in 2016, kept Aslaksen off the board, shadowing the junior all game long and keeping him from doing damage.
“Noah’s a great kid. He’ll give up all the scoring and all the personal stuff just to shut him down,” said Fairchild.
CVCA senior captain Hayden Dickerson didn’t score a point in the win, but his leadership is another reason Fairchild believes his team came away victorious.
Dickerson, also an All-Division First Team player in 2016, rallied the Royals during the second intermission with a 3-1 lead and 15 minutes of hockey remaining.
“He’s an amazing kid. He just sets the tone,” the coach said.
“He told the guys, ‘This is our game. We’re gonna’ do this. I believe in you.’ He literally gave that ‘I believe in you speech’ to the guys in the room and he’s just a great leader… a tremendous kid.”
CVCA will have a long lay-off between games, as the Royals take on the winner of #2 Lakewood vs. #3 Mayfield on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 pm in the Baron Cup III semifinal.
For Avon Lake, a remarkable run comes to an end, as the Shoremen went 11-0-1 in GCHSL play during the season, only to lose their first league game in the Baron Cup.
Sullivan knew his team didn’t play its best brand of hockey, but gave credit to a great performance from CVCA.
“I told my guys before the game, we beat them twice, which means nothing. We’ve got a whole new game here today,” said Sullivan.
“I thought they did a great job capitalizing on our mistakes.”
Sullivan believes his team may not have been as well-rested as he would have hoped, coming into play for a third-straight day after two weekend games.
“I thought maybe we were a little tired and I’ll take full blame for that because I scheduled a game on Feb. 5, not knowing we’d be in the Baron Cup. In the end, those are just excuses, but we just didn’t play the game we needed to play.”
“I just said to them, ‘Remember this feeling, because it sucks.’ I talked to the guys over and over again about appreciating the moment and not being (overwhelmed). We have a lot of freshmen and it’s like 22-year-olds going into their first Super Bowl, they think they’re going to get there every year.”
“Hopefully we can build upon this for next year, but the bottom line is we had a really nice season.”
After going 6-22-0 in 2015-16, 22-4-1 is certainly nothing for the Shoremen to be ashamed of and Avon Lake has at least one more game left in the District Tournament coming up. The draw will take place Wednesday, Feb. 8.
CVCA will find out who it faces in the Baron Cup III semifinal after Wednesday night’s match between Lakewood and Mayfield.
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