'We’ll be back': St. Charles shut out by University School in OHSAA hockey state semifinal
Frank DiRenna
The Hunting Valley University School hockey team scored twice in each period and ended St. Charles’ season Friday by winning the state semifinal 6-0 at Nationwide Arena.
The Preppers, who also defeated St. Charles 3-1 on Jan. 12, jumped out to a 2-0 lead on shorthanded tallies by Anthony Messina and Sam Wade. Messina scored 2:23 into the first period, and Wade followed at the 3:03 mark.
“That was extremely deflating,” St. Charles coach Danny Greiner said. “We knew they were going to be aggressive on the (penalty kill). We were doing well in the first period and then those two quick goals came and it kind of set us back, and then we were climbing uphill the rest of the game.”
Wade called the early goals a key moment for his team, which advanced to Sunday’s championship against Cleveland St. Ignatius.
“We come in prepared for all occasions,” he said. “We knew what they wanted to do on the power play, so we knew what we had to do to get chances off that. It doesn’t matter if you’re shorthanded. As forwards, you should be trying to score at all times.”
The Preppers added goals by Luke Palmer and Sam Robinson in the second period against junior starting goalie Bren Gronbach. Sophomore Dylan Fansler replaced Gronbach following the fourth goal and allowed goals by Ethan Roberts and Robinson in the third period.
Gronbach finished with 14 saves and Fansler had 13. University School goalie Noah Caballero made 17 saves.
“I told the juniors, sophomores and freshmen that we’ll be back here next year and remember what this feels like and let’s not feel it again,” said Greiner.
The Preppers (33-3) will have a chance Sunday to erase the memory of a 6-2 loss to Olentangy Liberty in the 2023 state final. They're seeking their first title since 2009 and third overall.
St. Ignatius (27-8) beat Toledo St. Francis 6-4 in the first semifinal Friday. The Wildcats will play for their first championship since 2019 and eighth overall.
Trying to become central Ohio's second OHSAA hockey champion, St. Charles (24-12-3-1) was playing in its first state tournament since 2014.
“These guys are my best friends,” Cardinals senior forward Sean Moore said. “Playing with them every day has been so fun. It’s been the greatest experience of my life playing with these guys, and I’m going to miss all the underclassmen. It was a great time. It was a good ride.”
The Cardinals struggled a week after defeating Liberty 4-2 in the regional final.
“We talked in October, early November of what our goals were,” Greiner said. “The first one we listed was win the Columbus region, and we did that. We wanted to win the state championship, so we came up short on that, but we achieved one of the goals we set out for this year.”