After a ten day break from competition, the NDCL Lions Hockey team returned to the ice on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10. First, the Lions traveled to Cleveland Heights on Jan. 9 and defeated the Tigers 2-1.
After a ten day break from competition, the NDCL Lions Hockey team returned to the ice on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10. First, the Lions traveled to Cleveland Heights on Jan. 9 and defeated the Tigers 2-1.
Then, on Jan. 10, the Lions celebrated senior night at Mentor Ice Arena with a 9-1 win over the Lakewood Rangers.
With the victories, the Lions remained undefeated at 8-0 (9-3-1 overall) in the Blue South Division of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League.
To remain unblemished, the Lions rose to the occasion in challenging circumstances on Jan. 9 against the Tigers.
In fact, the last three minutes of the contest were a whirlwind.
After 42 minutes of scoreless defensive hockey, Lions’ senior captain Colin Krajnak got his team on the scoreboard with 2:59 left in the game.
Trailing 1-0, the Tigers kept the intensity high in the final three minutes as they tried to get the equalizer goal and send the game into overtime.
The Tigers’ Brandon West scored the game-tying goal with just 13 seconds left to tie the score at 1-1.
Looking like this division battle would head to overtime, Lions standout sophomore Nic Davis got an assist from Krajnak after the face-off, raced down the left side of the ice and then found the back of the net with just 8 seconds left to propel the Lions to a 2-1 victory.
“We won it back (after the face-off), and I saw that the left side was open,” Davis said. “And then I just decided, (there was little time left), so I went down and shot a 5-hole and it barely got through. Then we held it and got the win.”
Taking the momentum to Jan. 10, the Lions took a 1-0 lead over the Rangers with 1:25 left in the first period when sophomore Josh Hollobaugh scored unassisted.
“The goalie went over to one side, and I tapped it in,” Hollobaugh said.
Looking like it might be a low scoring, intense contest after one period, the Lions had other ideas.
During the intermission between the first and second period, Hollobaugh emphasized that Coach Abood stressed playing at a faster pace and with more intensity during the second period.
Added Davis, “(Coach) said really go on their defense hard, they were really slow on their defense, so I realized that.”
Heeding Coach Abood’s message, the Lions took over the game in the second period. In fact, they scored four goals in the first seven minutes after intermission as they took a commanding 5-1 lead over the Rangers with 8:09 left in the period.
The Lions then added two more goals in the final three minutes of the second period to take a 7-1 lead.
Scoring three of the Lions six goals in the second period was Davis.
Davis has been the Lions leading goal scorer throughout the season. In 13 games played Davis has 19 goals.
“Nic is a leader on and off the ice,” Coach Abood said. “He is just always trying to make his teammates better.”
In addition to being a great scorer, Coach Abood emphasized that Davis is an excellent passer as well.
Involved directly in five out of the six goals in the second period, Davis assisted on goals by Nicolas Rosca and Krajnak.
In the third period against the Rangers, the Lions added two additional goals to make the final score 9-1. Scoring for the Lions in the third period were Hollobaugh and Krajnak.
In discussing his team’s performance on Jan. 10, Coach Abood said that the Lions came in to the contest highly motivated to play well for the seniors.
“I think they did it for the seniors,” Coach Abood said. “We have two seniors on the team, Klara Stergar and Colin Krajnak, and we really bonded this game because they wanted to make sure that we did win on senior night.”
Coach Abood said that the Lions demonstrated team chemistry by passing and communicating well.
“I was happy by the way the kids passed,” Coach Abood said. “I was very happy with the way they selected their shooting and how they talked tonight. They were really communicating very well. It was a collective effort.”
For the game against the Rangers, the Lions were led by Davis (6 points – 3 goals, 3 assists), Hollobaugh (3 points – 2 goals, 1 assist) Krajnak (3 points – 2 goals, 1 assist), Rosca (2 points – 1 goal, 1 assist), Wyatt Clemens Basham (2 points – 1 goal, 1 assist), Anthony Golden (1 point – 1 assist) and Luis Enrique Heredia (1 point – 1 assist).
With the Lions playing great, senior captains Stergar and Krajnak are excited about the rest of the season ahead.
“I am definitely looking forward to try to get into that Baron Cup spot and then try to get far in the playoffs,” Stergar said.
Added Krajnak, “We’re obviously a very young team, but we haven’t been to the Baron Cup in my four years here and that’s something I’ve always had my eyes on. I think this year we have a really good group to do it.”
