STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – The Edwardsville High School hockey team that competes in the Mid-States Club Hockey Association had a great showing in the Chipotle-USA Hockey National High School Division I Championship tournament that ended on Monday at Strongsville, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
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The Tigers finished second in the Olympic pool in the Group Stage of the tournament to qualify for the quarterfinals, where they lost to the Edina, Minn., Junior Gold A team 11-3 and were eliminated. But Edwardsville had a great showing throughout the tournament.
“We really played well,” said Tigers head coach Jason Walker. “We played against some of the best high school teams from around the country, and we really played well all week.”
Senior captain Mitchell Oberlag especially played well in the final game of the group stage, scoring all three goals on the power play in a 3-1 win over Lake Central Blue of St. John, Ind., that vaulted the Tigers into the quarterfinals.
“He was outstanding,” Walker said. “Everybody played well, up and down the lineup. It was a total team effort.”
The Tigers started their tournament on the right foot with a 2-0 win over Viewmont High School of Bountiful, Utah. Matt Kocarnik got the first goal at 3:19 of the first on assists from Drew LaRose and Logan Corzine, then Kyle Meehan scored an insurance goal 3:35 into the third, assisted by Mark Tucker. Mason Young stopped all 13 Vikings shots as Edwardsville outshot Viewmont 43-13.
Edwardsville lost its next game to Bishop O’Connell High of Arlington, Va., 4-1, as Oberlag scored the only goal for the Tigers at 8:06 of the third period. Alexander Vouras scored twice to help the Knights to the win that evened the Tigers’ record at 1-1-0 in the group.
Then came Oberlag’s big game against Lake Central Blue that put the Tigers into the quarterfinals and eliminated the Indians. In the quarterfinal, the Hornets jumped out to a 5-2 lead after the first period, then scored six unanswered goals in the second to take an 11-2 lead before the Tigers scored a power-play goal in the third to make the final 11-3 score.
Oberlag scored twice more, once on the power play, while Parker Terch scored the final goal of the game for Edwardsville.
Overall, the Tigers did play very well, and the team enjoyed the experience.
“It was a blast all the way around,” Walker said, “and it was a great way for our seniors to go out, and it was also a great experience for our younger players.”
If there’s a moment that stood out in the tournament for Walker, it was the final game of the group stage against Lake Central Blue.
“I’d say just winning our third pool game to clinch the quarterfinals was the top moment,” Walker said. “Everyone just played so well.”
As for the seniors on the team, it was their last time putting on the Edwardsville sweaters, as they were all a very important part of the program that made their mark in the Mid-States league against some of the best teams in the St. Louis area.
“We’ll miss all of them,” Walker said, “but they all had an outstanding career here, that’s for sure.”
And at the same time, younger players are ready to step up and make their contributions to the Tiger program during the 2019-20 season and beyond.
“I’m thinking we’ve got a lot of young kids who have the opportunity to come up and play,” Walker said, “and we’re really excited about it. We’re all looking forward to it for sure.”
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