National Invitational Scholastic Showcase

          Niagara Wheatfield entered the National Invitational Scholastic Showcase from the Western New York Large School Club League as a team with a perfect 5-0-0 record in league play to test it’s level of play against some pretty good competition. People who follow the Falcons will tell you that forwards Nick Melligan and Kevin Ogiba come with a pedigree and reputation that has led Western New York to a string of championships in the Empire State Games including in the 2007 games. In their opener against powerful St Rita (28-5-1) of Illinois, the Falcons rattled off 6 unanswered goals for a 7-3 victory, then on Saturday against 2007 Flyers Cup champions Holy Ghost Prep, Niagara surrendered a 5-1 lead giving up 4 goals in the 3^rd for a tie game and overcame the Firebirds in overtime 6-5 on a goal by Melligan and then dismantled 8-time Pennsylvania champions Meadville 8-2 in the nightcap. Head Coach Tom Beamish’s roller coaster and resume building ride continued into the Governor’s Cup semi-finals with a thrilling 5-3 victory over Illinois Blackhawk Cup Red State Champions, as the Falcons killed off some late Spartan surges to gain a spot in the finals.

          North Broward Prep coach Mel Andrews hails from the State of New York and has been coaching hockey for over 20 years and when the opportunity came to bring North Broward Prep to Jamestown to compete against some excellent competition, the Eagles jumped on a plane and were off to test their 2007 Florida State Finalist and Panthers Cup Champion finishes from a year ago. North Broward Prep opened up with a 5-2 victory over perennial Illinois power Fenwick and then held off 5-time Pennsylvania State Champions Bethel Park in a thrilling 2-1 contest on Saturday morning. This trip got even more interesting on Saturday evening as the tiebreaker system of the NISS was put to the test once again as Bethel Park, Prairie Ridge and the Eagles were all in the hunt for a spot in the Semi-Finals. Bethel Park took care of Fenwick 6-2, but only took 4 points out of a possible five leaving them with 8 ½ points in the 4^th tiebreaker. When Prairie Ridge scored late in the 3^rd period to defeat North Broward Prep 3-2, both teams ended up at 2-1-0 with Bethel Park with a win and loss each amongst the three teams tied and both had earned 9 ½ points, sending the bracket to a 5^th tiebreaker a five player shootout to determine the spot in the semi-finals. The Eagles Tom Fuller redeemed his team for a late penalty in the Prairie Ridge with the clinching goal in the shootout and North Broward marched forward into the Medal Round.

       The plot thickened Saturday evening as assistant coach Peter Worrell’s [NHL’r of the Florida Panthers] van keys came up missing at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena and with the Buffalo Sabre’s Rob Ray no where in sight, it was discovered that semi-final opponent New Trier Green was the culprit in the mix-up and thanks to NISS Registrar Larry Kempert, the keys were located and 2007 National Invitational Scholastic Showcase. NBP went on to defeat New Trier Green in a heartstopping shootout 4-3.

          Niagara Wheatfield and North Broward Prep battled through the opening period to a scoreless tie as goaltenders Zack Andrews of the Eagles and Mike Slawich of the Falcons made several nice saves.

           Niagara went on the games first power play and made it count as Nick Melligan found a rebound to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead at 10:31. Prep’s scoring machine Steven Gutowitz was whistled for a boarding penalty and given a misconduct penalty putting North Broward Prep in a hole at 5:56 of the 2^nd period. Wheatfield made that hole even bigger as Nick Melligan scored a goal at 3:17 of the 2^nd period on a beautiful wrist shot from the top of the circles to make it 2-0. The Eagles were looking for a break and to cut Niagara’s momentum and they got one as Jake Dauermann’s long shot hit a seem in the glass and came right back to him to deposit into an empty net and cut the lead to 2-1 with a whole period to play with just :40 remaining in the 2^nd.

           On to the third period and the game was in the balance, but Nick Mulligan showed why he was named the National Invitational Scholastic Showcase Most Valuable player as he took control of this contest almost single-handedly scoring a huge goal with 13:58 and gave Niagara Wheatfield a 3-1 lead.  Melligan added the exclamation point with 11:06 to go in the hockey game with a rocket wrist shot up under the crossbar past Zack Andrews to give the Falcons a 4-1 advantage. Goaltender Mike Slawich shut the door on the North Broward Prep offense and Kevin Ogiba added three assists in the hockey game of note and the Falcons claimed the 2007 NISS Governor’s Cup at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena. 

Ø      Logan Blackwell – Hamilton Southeastern – Forward 

        The semi-finals matchup between defending Illinois champs Glenbrook North and 2007 NY Semi-Finalist Niagara Wheatfield opened up like a basketball game with three goals in the first two minutes as Nick Burns gave Niagara 1-0 lead 45 seconds into the contest  and then the Spartans Matt Vishny and Danny Carroll scored six seconds apart to give Glenbrook a 2-1 lead. The Falcons Chris Weinholtz tied the game at two apiece on a tap-in with 7:11 to go in the opening period.

        Niagara seized the lead in the game as Kevin Ogiba scored twice in the 2^nd period at 12:27 and then again with 1:31 to go in the 2^nd period to extend the Falcon lead to 4-2. GB North’s Adam Goldblatt scored with 44 ticks left in the middle period to cut it to 4-3 and make it anyone’s hockey game heading to the 3^rd period. After GB North attemoted to kill off a 5 on 3 power play in the middle of the 3^rd of Niagara’s, their hopes were dashed as Mark Lucatra scored with 3:48 to play to give the Falcons a 5-3 victory and a date with North Broward Prep in the Governor’s Cup finals 

          New Trier Green raced to a 3-0 lead on goals by Robert Lovato, Kevin Hoff and Mark Harris. North Broward Prep rallied to tie the contest on goals by Jake Dauermann, Mat Duncan and the game tying goal by Steven Gutowicz with 1:41 remaining in regulation time. After a scoreless two overtime periods the game went into a shootout.