CANFIELD REACHES NEW HEIGHTS
By Matt Maher
BOARDMAN, OH – While it may feel like spring outside, Canfield reminded us we’re still in February when they hosted Cleveland Heights in the final game of the hockey regular season. With the excitement of senior day and the great memory of the 8-0 victory the cardinals found against these Tigers on December 10th, this team was ready to play and with another 8-0 victory on Sunday afternoon, it’s safe to say they absolutely were ready for this one.
It didn’t take long for Canfield to get on the board because less than 2 minutes into the game Christian Morrison got one past Tigers net minder James Betti. Just under 3 minutes later CJ Glista passed the puck to Scotty Tucker who tucked one home to help the Cardinals extend their lead. With under 5 minutes to go Canfield would find yet another tally, this time off of a tip from Charlie Boris who took the feed from JJ Boris. Peyton Nottingham never faced a shot in the first frame while Betti faced 23 and stopped 20 of them.
Cleveland Heights stepped up their defensive play in period 2 and held Canfield to just 14 shots and James Betti stopped all of them. Canfield allowed just one shot from Cleveland Heights late in the period on a small breakaway that Nottingham showed absolutely no fear on when batting it aside. These two teams started to look a little more even in this period, though Canfield still maintained possession for the majority of it, Cleveland Heights did start to look more comfortable.
While the Tigers should be happy with their 2nd period, they should forget completely about the third where Canfield put up 5 goals off of 13 shots. Not even a minute into the period Ty Novotny put one past Betti with an assist from Owen Olovsky at the 12:08 mark it would be Gavin Rupert’s turn to cash in with the helper from Charlie Boris. Grayson Orlovsky found the next one up high for a beautiful score with no assist needed. The next two came later and a minute apart from each other both from Owen Orlovsky with the first having Grayson Orlovsky credited with the assist and the second going unassisted.
Despite how this season went the Cardinals did find some very impressive wins including the series sweep of Cleveland Heights where they outscored the Tigers 16-0! Owen Orlovsky showed everyone his skill with a 4 point night with his 2 goals and 2 assists while Grayson Orlovsky and Charlie Boris both finished with 2 points. Cleveland Heights will finish off their season when they visit Notre Dame Cathedral Latin on February 10th at 6:15PM while Canfield gears up for their first Baron Cup playoff game against Chagrin Falls, that game’s date and time are still being determined.
