Streaking Gilmour Academy Skates Into State Hockey Semifinals

The Gilmour Lancers are back in the state hockey tournament thanks to some solid defense and opportunistic offense. Throw in the fact that they play smart hockey and you have all the elements needed for a run at a state title.

Gilmour shut down Shaker Heights 4-0 in the district finals at Kent State University Friday night, earning the Lancers another shot at a state championship. Gilmour went to Columbus in 2008, losing to Lakewood St. Edward in the finals.

“This team is fundamentally solid from top to bottom,” said Gilmour head coach John Malloy. “We have three lines that we feel comfortable about using at any time. We play well as a team and we play smart.”

The Lancers can’t get much hotter as they are unbeaten in their last 15 games, taking a 35-8-2 record into Saturday’s 3 p.m. state semifinal against St. Edward
at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The Eagles nipped Padua by a 1-0 count in Saturday’s district final. The other game pits Toledo St. Francis against Powell
Olentangy Liberty. The winners of each semifinal will met at noon Sunday for the state championship.

“We’ve played the number two, three and four teams from Chicago, we’ve played
the top two teams in Indiana and one of the top teams from Pittsburgh,” said Malloy. “We’ve been consistent all season and have been in every game but one.”

Chris Deming scored a pair of goals for the Lancers in the win over Shaker, which
upset top-seeded University School in the district semifinals. John Tobbe and Andrew Krall also netted goals for Gilmour while goaltender Oliver Flesher turned
away 26 shots on goal. The Lancers have allowed a mere two goals in their last four games.

“We would have liked to have had more shots,” said Malloy. “But we had one power play and scored on it, which we did against Lake Catholic.” For the season, Gilmour is converting an amazing 43 percent of its power play opportunities.

“Shaker had been playing under the radar and caught us by surprise,” said Malloy. “When they beat us that woke us up. We didn’t want to be caught in the same trap.”

Krall, Deming and Matt Grider all scored goals in the Lancers’ 3-1 conquest of Lake Catholic in the district semifinals. Grider, John Tobbe and Joey Lencowitz all scored a pair of goals in an 11-1 opening round win against Kenston.

Gilmour’s balanced lines and a solid defense, anchored by the standout play of Flesher, have been the difference to this point in the season.

“You’ve got to take care of the defensive end at this level of play,” said Malloy, who seeks his 500th career win in Columbus Saturday afternoon. “A lot of the scoring chances you see during the regular season aren’t there any more.”

The Lancers hope to add on to their unbeaten streak next weekend by doing what
has become second nature for the team this season.

“We’ll go out and play our style of hockey and make adjustments if need be during the game,” said Malloy.