For Kenston Bombers Hockey, this season has been about preparing to defend their first Baron Cup Championship.
Game photos click here.
For Kenston Bombers Hockey, this season has been about preparing to defend their first Baron Cup Championship.
In order to do that, the Bombers have focused on improving throughout the season.
The Bombers began the 2025-2026 season with two early victories, but then dealt with the ups and downs of two losing streaks as they were 4-10-1 midway through the season.
However, since the start of the new year the Bombers are playing good hockey as they are 4-3-1 in their last eight games.
Bombers Head Coach Tom Moores said that he has seen a lot of improvement.
“We were on a good curve until tonight (a 4-2 loss to Strongsville on Jan. 23),” Coach Moores said. “We’re definitely going in the right direction, we’ve got a plan. Our goal all year is to build for the Baron Cup, that’s why you play.”
He continued: “I thought the last few games we’ve improved in areas that we needed to. Tonight (against Strongsville) we took a little bit of a step back, (but) we didn’t quit, so I am proud of the kids for that.”
Added senior captain J.C. Pustai, “(The past few games) have definitely been a learning curve.”
“I’ve seen the effort getting better, we’re pushing ourselves. Defensively, we have really progressed and I think that’s shown with our scores, keeping pucks out of the front of the net, and keeping it low. Tonight (against Strongsville), we just couldn’t pull through (offensively). We played great defensively.”
Although the Bombers lost to the Strongsville Mustangs, 4-2 on Jan. 23 at the Pond, they won the two preceding games on Jan. 18 and Jan. 22.
On Jan. 18, the Bombers traveled to North Olmsted where they defeated their rival, the Chagrin Falls Tigers, 6-5, in the Battle of 422 via 480.
In defeating the Tigers, the Bombers took an early 1-0 lead after the first period. They then extended their lead to 5-2 at the end of the 2nd.
The Tigers did not give up though, as they rallied for 3, third period goals. However, the Bombers got a game winning goal by Pustai.
Towards the end of the contest Newpher said that the Bombers slowed down a little with the lead which allowed the Tigers to come back in the third period.
“We thought we had a comfortable lead and we all just started slowing down a little bit,” Newpher said. “They got two quick ones and momentum. And then me and John knew that we had to go out there and go score another one to seal the game, and that’s what we did.”
Newpher said that the Bombers were happy to get the victory over their rival.
“We came out with the victory (against Chagrin) and that was kind of what we were looking for,” Newpher said.
Against the Tigers, the Bombers were led by seniors Newpher and Pustai who both had 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) and sophomore Nicholas Niazov who also had 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists).
Then, the Bombers followed up their win over the Tigers with a 4-3 victory over the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders on Jan. 22 at Kent State Ice Arena.
In the contest against the Rough Riders, Coach Moores felt that the Bombers played their best game of the season. In particular, he emphasized that the Bombers did a good job maintaining possession of the puck and competing with great effort all over the ice.
“(The victory over the Rough Riders) was definitely one of the highlights of the season,” Coach Moores said. “It was just a complete game, it was a really good game. We competed all over the ice and we kept control of the puck in their end for quite a while.”
Added Pustai, “We played great last night (against Kent). I think that was definitely the best hockey we’ve played. We’ve had tough battles with them throughout the whole year and last night we finally pulled away, and beat them.”
Pustai said that the Bombers did a good job on their power plays and moved the puck well against the Rough Riders.
In fact, Pustai scored both of his goals on power plays. His goals were scored in the five hole, and in the top right corner.
Leading the Bombers offensively in their victory over the Rough Riders was senior Charlie McBride (4 points – 1 goal, 3 assists), J.C. Pustai (2 points – 2 goals), Niazov ( 1 point – 1 goal), Graham Crawford (1 point – 1 assist), Nick Macias (1 point – 1 assist) and Trey Wieland (1 point – 1 assist).
As the season continues, Pustai said that he is looking forward to defending the Bombers’ Baron Cup Championship.
“(Looking forward to) showing everybody up,” Pustai said. “Letting them know that we are the reigning Baron Cup Champs. And we got something to prove.”
