Day 1 of the GCHSL Baron Cup begins at 4:30 pm Monday, beginning seven days of non-stop hockey action between 24 of the region’s best programs.
Here are the first three matches of action:
Baron Cup III 4:30 PM
#1 Avon Lake vs. #4 CVCA
Avon Lake (22-3-1, 11-0-1)
The Shoremen dominated the Blue North Division, winning all 11 league games. Avon Lake started the season 16-1-1, before losing two games in a row against Olmsted Falls and Avon, two of the toughest teams in the area.
Avon Lake bounced back after those two losses and enters play riding a six-game win-streak.
Junior Jared Aslaksen leads the Shoremen in scoring, netting 45 goals and recording 20 assists. He has eight hat tricks on the season.
Patrick Graney, also a junior, is second on the team with 19 goals and a team-high 24 assists.
Avon Lake’s goaltending duo of junior Cameron Stepka and freshman Dylan Aslaksen has been outstanding this season, as each of them have 11 wins and the pair has combined for six shutouts on the season.
CVCA (11-14-1, 6-5-1)
The Royals come into play as underdogs, having already lost both head-to-head meetings with Avon Lake during the regular season. Avon Lake beat CVCA 6-1 and 4-1 in those two games, but the playoffs are a new season altogether.
CVCA is led by a pair of seniors, Captain Hayden Dickerson and forward Noah Polanski.
As juniors, both of them were named to the Blue North Division First Team. Sophomore forward Christian Beckett was named All Division Second Team as a freshman.
Head Coach Doug Fairchild was named Blue North Coach of the Year in 2016.
Baron Cup II 6:30 pm
#1 Avon vs. #4 Bay
Avon (25-5-1, 10-0-0)
The Eagles were the powerhouse of the White North Division, winning all 10 league games.
Senior Zach Zwierecki has been a leader every step of the way, scoring 56 goals and recording 34 assists on the season, leading all of Lorain County in goals and points.
Fellow senior Shane Docherty has a great connection with Zwierecki, passing for a team-high 36 assists.
Avon goaltender Danny Fielding, a junior, owns a save percentage above 90 for the second-straight season. Fielding recorded back-to-back shutouts in Avon’s last two wins.
Bay (13-10-1, 5-5-0)
When it comes to the Rockets, junior Jake Gaudino does a little bit of everything.
Gaudino leads the team in scoring with 30 goals and 15 assists. Two of Bay’s five league losses came in games where Gaudino was not available to play.
Bay has a tough match ahead, as the Rockets lost all three games against Avon, but Gaudino told NEO Sports Insiders after clinching the fourth seed in Baron Cup II that he and his teammates hope to “pull off the miracle.”
Along with Gaudino, junior Chris Eifert has been a reliable player, too, tallying 13 goals and 14 assists.
Senior goaltender Spencer O’Connell is as impressive as most in the region, and owns a 90.6 save percentage.
Bay reached the Baron Cup III final in 2016, falling to Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, 5-2.
Many of the same players on this team know they have the odds stacked against them facing a tough Avon squad, but the Rockets played great in last year’s tournament, and we’ll see what they have in store for 2017.
Baron Cup II 8:30 pm
#1. Chagrin Falls vs. #4 Orange
Chagrin Falls (19-4-1, 9-0-1)
The Tigers were the dominant force of the White S0uth Division, going unbeaten in ten league games. Chagrin Falls tied with Notre-Dame Cathedral Latin, the reigning Baron Cup III champs.
Chagrin Falls is powered by a well-balanced scoring group, including David Herpst and Tommy Mallak, who have each scored 38 points on the season.
Schaffer Berg (29 points), Joe Conway (26 points), and Matthew Rice (24 points) also have made key contributions all season long.
Goaltender Ben Winovich owns a 90.3 save percentage, allowing an average of 2.24 goals per game.
Orange (10-9-0. 5-5-0)
The Lions made a solid run in the 2016 Baron Cup, reaching the semifinals after defeating Olmsted Falls in the first round.
They ran into a tough Cleveland Heights team and were eliminated, but will look to go farther in 2017, if they can get past a tough Chagrin Falls team.
Orange lost both head-to-head meetings, falling by scores of 3-0 and 3-1 in the regular season. The Lions are led by Scott Hill, who has recorded three hat tricks on the season, including a six-goal game against Sycamore.
Orange enters play after winning back-to-back games against two tough teams, NDCL and Benedictine. Goaltender Max Rekhson has been reliable between the pipes all season long.
Follow @NEOSportsInside on Twitter for updates from all three games and check out our recaps after each game. See you at the Brooklyn Ice Arena!
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