by Coach Elliott on February 3, 2025
The Northview WIldcats continue to push towards a successful season as they won 2 more games over the weekend to push their overall record to 16-5-4 and 7-2-0-1 in conference play. Senior John Delverne scored 3 goals over the weekend and fellow Senior Tegan O’Neill scored the game winner in the win over BG.
With the 3 goals Delverne leads the team with 27 goals and 47 points. Liam Elliott has also been red hot as the Sophomore leads the team in assist with 34 to go along with 10 goals for 44 points. O’Neill’s game winner Saturday gives him 17 on the year, good for 2nd on the team and 3rd in points at 32.
Northview is riding a 7 game winning streak and is unbeaten in 11 games after going 8-0-3. Before the new year the Cats traveled to Cleveland for a pair of top end tournaments competing at the Padua and Gilmour tournaments respectively. Their only loss came to #7 ranked University School 2-1 in the Padua Opener. With that 1 goal loss, Northview’s 5 losses have all come by 1 goal with 4 of them coming to teams all ranked in the top 10 in Ohio by Myhockeyrankings.
Defense and goaltending along with special teams have contributed to the strong season. Senior Holden Brighty moved back to defense over the holidays and along with seniors Cole Ames & Nathan Knapp and juniors Carter Tillman, Brennen Wiltshire, Boston Kopke and Wyatt Grohnke have helped hold opponents to just 54 goals through 25 games a 2.16 GA/gm. Goaltending has played a significant role in that goal total as Sophomore Gavin Smith has held down the crease for most games due to an injury to fellow sophomore Parker Palcisko. In 20 games ,19 starts, Smith has earned 10 wins and sports a strong 2.11 Goals against average and an 89.34 save percentage. Palcisko returned over the weekend and didn’t miss a beat to pitch a shutout in a 2-0 win over Shaker. He now has gone 5-1 over 6 starts and has a 2.25 GAA and a 90.32 save percentage. With him healthy the Cats have a strong and young goalie tandem. The PK has been excellent recently as well and has not only killed off 90.11 of their penalties on the season but scored 14 shorthanded goals while surrendering just 9 PP goals against.
Role players and secondary scoring has been solid also. Chase Bean has contributed 9 goals, Kolten Omey and Madden Brighty 8 each and Bode Briggs 7. The checking units have helped provide the depth that has carried the Cats through a demanding schedule. Northview will look to build momentum in the season’s final 4 weekends with just 10 games remaining in the regular season.
The Cats will play in their final tournament this weekend at Tamo with 4 games. Round robin play starts Friday night with a 5:00 game against St. Charles along with 2 games on Saturday. Rise and shine for Saturday morning affairs with Dublin Jerome @ 7:00 AM and then a 9:30 PM game with Cincinnati Moeller. The Cats will finish the weekend with a seeding game on Sunday with a time TBD.
by Coach Elliott on January 13, 2025
The Northview Wildcats were gracious host off the ice but not so much on the ice this past weekend as they took the Championship game in the Varsity Division of the Cold Turkey Thanksgiving tournament at Tamo
Friday Night the Cats opened up the tournament with Parma Padua Franciscan and let a strong effort slip away in a 3 to 3 tie. Junior Bode Briggs started the scoring and Senior Tegan O’Neill gave the Cats a 2 to 1 lead after a Padua goal tied it at 1. Padua tied it at 2 before O’Neill gave the Cats another 1 goal lead with his 2nd of the day. However, the Bruins would score in the 3rd for a 3-3 tie. Sophomore Gavin Smith played well in net.
Saturday morning the Cats renewed a rivalry with the Dayton Stealth. They also got a welcome sight with the return of sophomore goalie Parker Palcisko and with Senior Chase Bean scoring his 1st of the season. Dayton tied it but O’Neill kept his hot streak going with his 3rd in 2 days for a 2 to 1 lead. Zac Crandall found a loose puck for a power Play goal off a shot from fellow Junior Carter Tillman to push the lead to 3-1. Tillman would then find the back of the net off a real nice individual effort from Sophomore Madden Brighty for the final score 4 to 1.
That evening the Cats rolled to an impressive 7 to 1 win over Newark. Smith picked up the win and the Cats scored 3 in the 1st 4 minutes and 4 overall in the 1st. Seniors Bean, John Delverne and O’Neill made it 3-0 and Junior Jack Nowak scored his career 1st near the end of the 1st. Junior Kolten Omey would make it 6-0 with a pair in the 2nd. 1st he had a great individual effort for a short handed goal and the 2nd cleaning up a rebound off a nice play with O’Neill and Sophomore Liam Elliott. Senior Holden Brighty finished off the night with a Power Play goal for the final Margin.
The wins put the Cats into the championship game with a rematch with Padua. Junior Brennen Wiltshire opened the scoring just 1:12 into the opening frame to give the Cats the early lead, but just like Friday the Bruin played tough and found the equalizer in the 2nd. However the Cats wouldn’t let this 1 get away and Bean scored for the 3rd straight game for the eventual game winner and a 2 to 1 lead. Tha Cats team defense and strong goaltending from Palcisko kept the Bruins off the board and Delverne hit the net off a pass from Elliott and Ames for the clincher and Cold Turkey Championship.
The JV Cats also showed well over the weekend. They suffered their only loss to eventual Varsity B division winner Dayton with a late 3rd period goal for their only loss on the weekend 2 to4 with an empty net. They Capped off the weekend with a thrilling 6 to 5 win over the Blue Devils. With the goalie pulled and just over a second left to play the Cats Giffin Morran’s faceoff shot rebound was sent home by Sophomore Lennon Marlow for the exciting win. The JV Cats also picked up an impressive win over Trenton Prep and had a hard fought tie with Findlay in a 0-0 Draw. Smith picked up the shutout and Palcisko and Sophomore Jackson Hiatt also picked up a win each!!
