Braves Take SWOHSHL, And Streak into District Playoffs
The Talawanda Braves Hockey team is red hot, having won nine consecutive games, and heading to Columbus for the district playoffs next weekend. The Braves had their minds first on repeating as SWOHSHL Champs this past weekend. The Braves defeated Troy in the championship game 6-4 Sunday, in anti-climatic fashion, after a dramatic win over Moeller, 4-3 in overtime, Saturday to earn a berth in the final. Talawanda had knocked out St. Xavier 4-0 on Friday night to advance to the South Championship against Moeller. With the 3-win weekend, the Braves improved to 18-7-3 overall, and have gone 12-2-1 over their past 15 games. With momentum on their side, they hope to improve on last year’s district final knockout and advance to the State Final Four at Nationwide, in Columbus.
Talawanda 4 St. Xavier 0
Talawanda stifled the St. X offense early with a strong fore-checking effort and the Braves pocketed two scores late to take the first period lead, 2-0. Drew Hoover scored first on a set up from Ryan Gann at 12:17. Hoover returned the favor with a perfect set up to Gann 45 seconds later and the Braves were rolling. An energetic Willy Davidge also earned an assist on the play. Braden Park scored on a nice give-and-go with Patrick Gray at 2:00 minutes of the second to extend the lead to 3-0. Park would score his second goal while on the power play at 10:22 of the third to ice the win and eliminate the Bombers from the league tournament. Alan Dowler stopped all 19 shots he faced to earn the shutout.
Talawanda 4 Moeller 3 (OT)
The Braves skaters took the first 40 minutes off and left their fate in the hands of a busy Alan Dowler in net. The Braves were outshot 11-2 in the first but the game was scoreless after one period. But the Crusaders broke things open with two quick scores to start the second period to lead 2-0. The Braves responded with just 13 seconds left in the period to narrow the margin to 2-1. Drew Hoover cashed in a loose puck after Zach Phillips and Braden Park peppered the Moeller goal.
The late score seemed to ignite Moeller in the third period. They jumped on Talawanda 43 seconds into the stanza and gained the ominous two goal lead at 3-1. Shortly after the score, Brave netminder Alan Dowler, made an unbelievable paddle save of a sure Moeller score into a gaping net. The save would be huge as the Braves turned their attention towards a comeback. At 10:09 Ben Hoover wired home a short-handed bullet with helpers from Phillips and Park and the Moeller nail-biting would begin. Talawanda called a time out to rally some fresh legs. Drew Hoover received a Pat Gray pass at the enemy blueline and unloaded a howitzer past the stunned Crusader goalie and the game was tied with 1:41 to play. Ben Eckhoff assisted on the tying marker and OT was in the picture. Moeller was not finished in regulation, as they got behind the Brave defense for a breakaway with 50 seconds to play but Dowler slammed the door shut.
In overtime, each team had two shots. But it was Ben Hoover’s blast at 2:43 that proved too hot to handle for the Moeller goalie. The laser ripped off the chest of the goalie and Zach Phillips pumped home the juicy rebound to send the Braves into an improbable celebration.
Talawanda 6 Troy 4
Troy drew first blood in the championship game sniping a goal just 36 seconds after the singing of the national anthem. The Braves responded like a heavyweight champ after taking a jab and responded with three straight scores. Troy would score again to make the score 3-2 in a wide open first period of action. Braden Park pounced on a Pat Gray rebound at 3:32 for the first Brave marker. Drew Hoover, from Ben Eckhoff at 6:02, and again from Ben Hoover and Erik Humfleet at 8:39, scored the Braves next two goals. Talawanda outshot Troy 13-8 and controlled the game after one period. The Braves then went on another 3 goal burst, with Park scoring on the power play on assists from Humfleet and Ben Hoover at 2:51. Humfleet broke in alone and scored on a nifty deke at 5:40 after receiving a Phillips pass. Phillips then scored at 8:28 with help from linemates Gray and Park and the Braves led comfortably 6-2. Talawanda gave Troy hope with a defensive gaff with 36 seconds remaining in the second and settled for 6-3 lead heading down the stretch. Troy would get their 4th marker 5:30 into the third period, but it was too little and too late for the Trojans to unseat the defending league champion, Talawanda Braves.