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Recent GCHSHL Blue East News

Clear #1 Seeds Established for All Four OHSAA Regions

By Scott Harrington 02/15/2023, 11:00am EST

This season's final look at the MHR rankings for Ohio

The top four teams in the Ohio high school rankings each reside in a different region of the state playoff structure, leaving open the possibility of all four ending up in Columbus for the state tournament in March.

Saint Ignatius won a tournament at Notre Dame to solidify their status as the state's top-ranked team.

#2 Olentangy Liberty continued their dominance, posting three consecutive shutouts on their way to the Blue Jackets Cup title as tournament champions of the Capital Hockey Conference. The Patriots (33-1-1) have not lost since November.

Sylvania Northview defeated #5 St. Edward last weekend and, as a result, moved up to #3.

University School, now ranked #4, played in the Great Lakes Hockey League's tournament final for the sixth time in 10 years and won the Cleveland Cup for the first time, defeating #6 Gilmour Academy, 3-2. 

There were upsets aplenty in the GCHSHL tournament as Benedictine won the Baron Cup for the first time since 1971, defeating Amherst in the championship game.

The unranked Comets knocked out #25 Rocky River and #16 Mentor before falling to the Bengals, while Benedictine also eliminated #23 Hudson in the semifinals.

There is no tournament in the Northwest Hockey Conference, but regular season champ Northview added to their resume with the road win at St. Edward.

And Beavercreek, ranked #34 in the state, defeated Elder and Troy to win the SWOHSHL tournament championship. The Beavers will open the regional playoffs in Columbus against Gahanna Lincoln.

Teams that saw a boost in their ranking this week in addition to Northview included Olentangy Berlin, Shaker Heights, St. Xavier and New Albany.

Baron Cup finalists Benedictine and Amherst sit just outside the Top 25 along with Western Reserve Academy, Dublin Coffman and Thomas Worthington.

How 'bout hockey?

The other day, Blade hockey writer Mark Monroe sent out a tweet that was news to many in the Ohio pucks community.

“Just saw that the 1st of the 2 high school hockey state semifinals at Nationwide Arena in Columbus is being held at 9 in the morning on March 11,” he wrote. “Way too early for a game of that significance.”

Brooke Binder is Last Line of Defense for Rough Riders

By Jim Smith / Portage Sports 12/28/2022, 12:30pm EST

Workhorse goaltender backstopping Roosevelt wearing special #62

The Kent Roosevelt ice hockey team has played 17 games in span of 33 days thus far in their 2022-23 campaign.

That equates to 51 periods of ice hockey.

As the sole goaltender on the Rough Riders’ roster, sophomore Brooke Binder has played nearly every minute — she sat out for two minutes to allow for an extra skater in one game — of every period the team has skated this season.

And, by the way, she also shut out the opponent in overtime in the Adam S. Hamilton Memorial Tournament championship game and held on to guide Roosevelt in a shootout victory in that event.

In total, Binder has played 776 minutes of a possible 778.

Drawn to the position after seeing goaltending gear online as a youth hockey player in elementary school, and requesting her dad, Chris, purchase the gear, Brooke moved from playing defense to goaltender.

“I just tried and really liked it. That’s how it started,” Binder said. “I’ve pretty much been a goalie the whole time.”

Read the full story at www.portagesports.com

 

 

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