Cschl Tournament


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Cschl Tournament

Cschl Tournament

Prior to the season, the thought of West Chester hockey making school history and the second round in the ACHA national tournament (ranked seventh in the nation) would have been more than a worthy goal to reach for. But after a gallant defeat at the hands of a talented University of Illinois team in the second round, the West Chester Golden Rams left the tournament with a bitter taste, as they had their sights set on the larger goal; bringing home the school's first national hockey championship. On Wednesday, West Chester went into the first round match up as an underdog against the thriving sixth ranked Iowa State Cyclones. Entering the tournament Iowa had won nine straight including the CSCHL conference tournament. Riding solid goaltending from freshman Corey Hackney, who made 40 saves, along with the firepower of Jim Gehring and Pat Johnson, who scored two goals each, the Golden Rams stunned Iowa and sent them home shockingly early by a score of 6-3.

With an opportunity to join the final four, the Golden Rams were underdogs again. This time they had the daunting task of going through another CSCHL heavyweight, the number three ranked University of Illinois.

Illinois limped into the ACHA tournament after failing to win the CSCHL conference championship, despite being the number one seed. Yet they reversed their recent woeful play quickly in the first round of the tournament, trouncing 14-seed Washington and Jefferson University 5-0.

On Thursday, the 'David versus Goliath' game was underway. Halfway into the first period, Illinois struck with a goal from Nick Fabbrini. Their lead however did not last long as it was quickly equalized by a goal from West Chester's Jim Gehring, ending the first period with the score 1-1. In the second period, Illinois scored two quick goals, putting the Golden Rams on the ropes. Yet a clutch goal from Ed Devine six minutes later swung the momentum in West Chester's favor as they began to apply the pressure on the speedy Illini.

With five minutes left in the second period, West Chester gave up a devastating goal to Illinois' Alex Park, elevating the score to 4-2, and dimming the lights on the Golden Ram's season.

Instead of caving in to the pressure of being down two goals to one of the best teams in the nation, West Chester reacted. Only five minutes into the third period West Chester's Robert Bushman scored to put the Golden Rams back in the drivers seat and only one goal from tying the game. Illinois had other plans as they used their superior speed and offensive prowess to swarm West Chester goalie Corey Hackney. Adding goal after goal, the Illini relentlessly attacked, making the final score a lopsided 8-3, finally putting to sleep what was an amazing West Chester season.

What may be the most discouraging part about the loss to the University of Illinois was the fact that the other teams to reach the final four were Penn State University, the University of Delaware and Oakland University. West Chester has wins against Penn State and Delaware in the regular season, and Oakland is only ranked tenth in the tournament. Oakland is just an average team playing above their level, and could have fallen prey to a high caliber West Chester squad.

Despite the loss being extremely disappointing to the high reaching Golden Ram players, there is nothing disappointing about their record breaking season. Defeating the giants of the ACHA and proving to the rest of the country that West Chester hockey is a team to be reckoned with in the future. This amazing year was just the beginning.


Despite its status as a club sport, hockey is one of the most successful and most-attended sports at Ohio University. The team has won four Division I American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) national championships and is practically always among the top contenders for the national title.

During my time in Athens I was lucky enough to broadcast Ohio hockey games every year and to see some great Ohio teams play. I got the chance to know head coach Dan Morris fairly well, who is a great coach and hockey mind, through both covering his team and doing some coaching of my own for the Athens Youth Hockey Association. The Bobcats won the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) regular season title in the 05-06 and 06-07 seasons, but failed to win the league's end-of-the-year tournament, and to advance deep into the national tournament.

Of the four years I covered this team, it had what seemed like its least successful season in 2008-09, my senior year. The Bobcats finished fourth in the CSCHL standings and their record hovered around .500 for most of the season, which is unusual for this constantly successful team. Ohio had some experienced players, and one of the best goalies in the country in Paul Marshall, but for the most part the 08-09 Bobcats were very young, and it showed. For most of the season, the team just wasn't playing the typically solid hockey game Ohio is known for. The Bobcats did, however, start to click at just the right time - during the CSCHL tournament in Dearborn, Michigan.

Ohio's first game in the tournament pitted the Bobcats against fifth-seeded Kent State, the only other ACHA Division I team in the state of Ohio. The Bobcats won the game 2-1, but really controlled the play for most of the game, which was a good sign. After that win, though, it seemed like the tournament might end for Ohio, as it had to take on the top-seeded Lindenwood Lions. Not only did the Lions win the CSCHL regular season title, Lindenwood was #1 in the nation and finished the year with an incredible 36-2-1 record (spoiler alert: they won the ACHA national title). On this day, though, the Bobcats got the better of the Lions, winning the game 3-2 and setting up a showdown with Iowa State for the tournament championship. In the finals, it again seemed like Ohio's time had run out, as the team trailed the Cyclones 3-1 in the third period. The Bobcats did not quit, though, and three straight goals by Zack Barbis, Josh Fodor and Zach Tisdale gave Ohio a 4-3 win and its first CSCHL tournament title since 2005.

You may wonder why this event made my countdown. After all, the Bobcats had a bit of a down year by their standards, and after winning this tournament they went one-and-done at nationals. That, however, is the main reason why I think it was such a great moment. Sure, the Bobcats didn't dominate teams like they often do. They didn't even finish with a winning record in league play (8-9-1), but they didn't let that stop them. This young team made a ton of progress during the season and it paid off in the form of a league tournament title.

Another reason this championship is so impressive is the team's goaltending. Remember the goalie, Paul Marshall, who I mentioned earlier? He's actually so good that during the CSCHL tournament he was in China representing the United States at the World University Games. This meant that backup Chris Carlson played all three tournament games...and was outstanding. Marshall was usually the man in net for the Bobcats, regardless of who they were playing, so for Carlson to all of a sudden become the team's starter in a high-pressure postseason scenario, it would have been impressive if he simply kept games close. He not only did this, but he was the main reason Ohio won the tournament, especially the game against Lindenwood, a team that scored 122 goals in 20 league games during the regular season.

Finally, this made my list and cracked the top five because I got to experience this tournament with the players. I'm not saying I felt like I was a part of the team, far from it. I went on a handful of road trips with the Ohio hockey team during my college career and I always felt fairly awkward. We all went to the same school and were at the same stage in our lives, but for some reason I always felt weird. While this feeling didn't disappear, I did feel more welcome than ever before on this trip to Dearborn. Some of the players actually started to engage me in conversation at times and I didn't get the feeling that they thought I didn't belong with them, even though I wasn't really a part of the team. After spending the whole weekend with those guys, when they won the final game against Iowa State, I felt a tremendous amount of pride in our school and the team. The players knew they hadn't had the overall season they'd hoped for, but at that moment it didn't matter. They had accomplished something great that made the struggles of an entire season completely worth it. While I never experienced the same thing as an athlete, it was amazing to witness it first-hand.

With the countdown back underway, the next stop will head back to the professional ranks.