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North Royalton faced off against Riverside in NCHSHL action on December 20th and the two teams skated to a 3-3 tie. The Bears finally showed some moxie as they fought back from a three goal deficit, out shooting the Beavers 37-20, to earn the tie. The Bears found themselves in familiar territory as Riverside scored early to take the lead. The Beavers added two more before North Royalton answered with one of their own, a power play tally scored by Cam Cook assisted by Timmy Orlosky. The Bears cut the Riverside lead to one with just over three minutes left in the middle period when Paul Jablonski netted his 1st of the game assisted by Dylan Kovach and Mike Ambrose. Jablonski scored his 2nd of the game midway through the final period, tying the game at 3 apiece, assisted by Nicolai Kolasinski and Nick Magro. Despite many chances in the final frame and in OT for the Bears, they couldn't get the game winner and were forced to settle for a split. The Bears now sit at 3-3-1 in the North Coast HS Hockey League and 10-5-2 overall. Next up for North Royalton- the Lake Catholic Cougar Holiday Extravaganza- in Mentor, OH, December 26-28th.
The North Royalton Bears lost to the Jackson Polar Bears, 6-2, in league play on Wednesday, December 17th at Center Ice in Canton, OH. North Royalton came out quick and controlled play throughout the opening period outshooting Jackson 11 to 6 but still found themselves trailing, 2-1, at the end of the 1st period. The Bears 1st period goal was scored by Nick Magro with assists being awarded to Brian Fielding and Dylan Kovach. The 2nd period did not go any better for the Bears whose defensive struggles continued as they surrendered 3 goals on only 9 shots against. Trailing, 5-1, entering the final period the Bears replaced their net minder pulling Joey Fratantonio (11 saves/16 shots) and replacing him with freshman, Collin Mischak (11 saves/12 shots). The goaltending switch seemed to spark the Bears, albeit briefly, as they came out flying to start the 3rd scoring in the opening minute of the period. North Royalton’s goal was scored by Dylan Kovach assisted by Jacob Krosky and Nick Magro. Jackson weathered the Bears early flurry and netted their 6th and final goal midway through the final period. The loss drops the Bears to 3-3 in the North Coast HS Hockey League and 10-5-1 overall.

The North Royalton Bears needed overtime to get passed the Euclid Vikings, 3-2, on Saturday, December 13th. The score was hardly a representation of how close the game actually was as the Bears outshot the Vikings 57-16. Euclid scored the game’s first goal, on the power play, with just under a minute remaining in the opening period and took the lead into the break. North Royalton answered halfway through the middle frame when Jeremy Gripp’s shot from the blue line snuck by the Euclid net minder. The Bears took the, lead early in the final period, when newcomer Colin O’Connor buried a Jeremy Gripp rebound for his 1st goal in a Bears uniform. Despite only tallying six shots in the final period Euclid was able to get one of them past Bears keeper, Collin Mischak, to tie the game at two apiece. North Royalton’s Nicolai Kolasinski scored the game winner for the Bears taking and burying a nice feed from Dylan Kovach. Kolasinski’s goal was a special one, not just because it was an OT game winner, but because just a shift earlier he sustained an arm injury that ultimately landed him in the emergency room.

The Bears took to the ice on December 14th, facing off against rival Media in league play, falling to the Bees, 6-0. The two teams battled through a hard hitting and fast paced opening period with Medina netting the only goal. Medina found the net for their second score just a minute into the middle period and the score remained, 2-0 Medina for most of the period. With just under 90 seconds remaining in the period the Bees exploded scoring three times in just 88 seconds to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Medina added their 6th and final score of the game midway through the final period. Despite giving up six goals, many on 2nd and 3rd shot attempts, junior net minder Joey Fratantonio played very well stopping 32 of 38 shots in the loss.

The Bears overall record now sits at 10-4-1, 3-2 in the North Coast HS Hockey League.

The North Royalton Bears improved their record to 9-3-1 overall and 2-1 in the North Coast HS Hockey League with three victories this past weekend.

The Bears topped the Great Lakes Freeze in non-league play on Friday, December 5th, 11-1, at Kent State University. After an early goal by the Freeze, North Royalton answered with 11 straight tallies. Anthony Picciano and Cam Cook each netted hat tricks while five other Bears added single scores. Freshman, Collin Mischak, played well in net for the Bears stopping 14 of the 15 shots faced.

North Royalton returned to action on December 6th skating against the Euclid Vikings in league play. Senior Captain Paul Jablonski led the way for the Bears, who cruised to a 10-2 victory, with three goals and 2 assists.

Next up for the Bears, on December 7th, were the Ohio City Wildcats. North Royalton picked up right where they left off just a night earlier, scoring 9 times en route to a 9-0 win over the visiting Wildcats. Cam Cook continued to impress netting another hat trick, giving him 10 goals on the season. Timmy Orlosky and Jacob Krosky each showed they can do more than just score goals as the pair each earned 3 assists on the night. Junior net minder, Joey Fratantonio, picked up his 2nd shutout and 4th win on the season playing solid between the pipes for the Bears.

Next up, the Bears will play a pair of games at OBM Arena- December 13th v. Euclid at 840pm and December 14th v. Medina at 5:30pm.

Sports on Tap sits down and talks to the Head Coach of the North Royalton Bears Hockey program, Jeff McCarthy who is in his 5th season! They talk about how he started at North Royalton H.S, the North Coast H.S. Hockey League, Cleveland Suburban Hockey League, their team and alumni who are playing in college, how the season started, and much much more! Listen Now!
 
 http://sportsontappodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2014-12-04T20_06_19-08_00