Heights Hockey Claims Three Victories at NDCL Winter Invitational

Goals typically are not hard to come by for the hockey team, but that was especially true this past weekend. The Tigers found the back of the net 23 times to earn three wins in four games during the inaugural NDCL Winter Invitational at the Mentor Civic Ice Arena.

Cleveland Heights opened the tournament by shutting out Aurora, 8-0, Friday evening before dropping a tough 2-1 decision to rival Mayfield Saturday morning. The Tigers rebounded to score seven goals apiece in their final two tournament games, defeating Benedictine, 7-6, Saturday evening and Brunswick, 7-1, in the consolation game Sunday morning.

The 23 total goals represent the most by Cleveland Heights (9-8) in a four-game span in five years, since amassing 24 scores in four contests from Jan. 14-18, 2006.

First-line forwards Tyler Rudy (five), Ben Urbas (four) and Ian Kraus (two) combined to score 11 of the team’s 23 goals during the weekend tournament, with Urbas tallying a score in each game. The trio now has accumulated 16, 16 and 10 goals, respectively, this season.

Senior defenseman Aleksi Vihanto contributed his first career hat trick versus Brunswick, while senior forward Aleksi Kuuri (two), senior defenseman Sam Brown (two), sophomore forward Peter Century (two), freshman forward Isaac Brown (two) and senior forward Chris Hill rounded out Cleveland Height’s offensive onslaught during the NDCL Winter Invitational. For Century, it marked the first two goals of his career.

Opening the tournament in resounding fashion, the Tigers connected on eight goals in the final two periods against Aurora, outshooting the Greenmen 59-6. Goalie Aidan Hall earned his third shutout of the season.

Hall continued his strong play in the second game against Mayfield, recording 26 saves in a losing effort. Urbas accounted for the Tigers’ lone goal against the Wildcats, with all three goals in the contest coming by way of the power play.

Despite holding a 7-3 advantage in the third period, Cleveland Heights had to hold on to edge Benedictine by a single goal in the third game. It marked the Tigers’ .

Cleveland Heights concluded the tournament with a thorough dismantling of Brunswick by producing the game’s first seven goals. Vihanto became the fourth Cleveland Heights player to notch a hat trick this season, joining Rudy, Urbas and Kraus.

The Tigers return to action this weekend with a pair of Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League (GCHSHL) road games. Cleveland Heights takes on Garfield Heights at 3:30 p.m. Saturday before traveling to Boardman to battle Canfield at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Game 1 Summary:

Scoring

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Total

Aurora

0

0

0

0

Cleveland Heights

0

4

4

8

Goals:

Period 1

None

Period 2

Cleveland Heights – 0:22 – Ian Kraus (assisted by Tyler Rudy)

Cleveland Heights – 4:15 – Tyler Rudy (assisted by Ian Kraus and Ben Urbas)

Cleveland Heights – 4:31 – Ian Kraus (assisted by Tyler Rudy and Sam Brown)

Cleveland Heights – 7:35 – Ben Urbas (unassisted)

Period 3

Cleveland Heights – 6:16 – Tyler Rudy (assisted by Sam Brown)

Cleveland Heights – 6:41 – Isaac Brown (unassisted)

Cleveland Heights – 7:17 – Peter Century (assisted by Madi Kohr)

Cleveland Heights – 10:35 – Sam Brown (unassisted)

Saves:

Aurora – Ronnie Schwartz – 51

Cleveland Heights – Aidan Hall – 6

Game 2 Summary:

Scoring

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Total

Cleveland Heights

0

1

0

1

Mayfield

1

0

1

2

Goals:

Period 1

Mayfield – 11:19 – Dominic Horvath (assisted by Josh Berg and Jake Wolfe) (PP)

Period 2

Cleveland Heights – 13:06 – Ben Urbas (unassisted) (PP)

Period 3

Mayfield – 0:55 – Hunter Maggs (assisted by Jake Wolfe and Ryan Kristoff) (PP)

Saves:

Cleveland Heights – Aidan Hall – 26

Mayfield – Matt Mramer – 32

Game 3 Summary:

Scoring

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Total

Cleveland Heights

3

2

2

7

Benedictine

2

1

3

6

Goals:

Period 1

Cleveland Heights – 1:53 – Aleksi Kuuri (assisted by Isaac Brown)

Cleveland Heights – 5:11 – Chris Hill (assisted by Isaac Brown and Sam Brown)

Cleveland Heights – 9:03 – Sam Brown (assisted by Peter Century)

Benedictine – 12:19 – Robert Raspberry (assisted by Matt West)

Benedictine – 12:27 – Vince Carson (unassisted)

Period 2

Cleveland Heights – 5:40 – Ben Urbas (assisted by Sam Brown)

Benedictine – 7:25 – Vince Carson (assisted by Tom Hongosh and Blake Naida)

Cleveland Heights – 13:12 – Tyler Rudy (unassisted) (SH)

Period 3

Cleveland Heights – 1:58 – Aleksi Kuuri (assisted by Chris Hill and Aleksi Vihanto)

Cleveland Heights – 8:43 – Isaac Brown (assisted by Jake Deet and Aleksi Kuuri)

Benedictine – 11:31 – Tom Hongosh (assisted by Vince Carson) (PP)

Benedictine – 13:21 – Tom Hongosh (assisted by Blake Naida and Vince Carson)

Benedictine – 13:54 – Tom Hongosh (assisted by Vince Carson)

Game 4 Summary:

Scoring

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Total

Brunswick

0

0

1

1

Cleveland Heights

3

2

2

7

Goals:

Period 1

Cleveland Heights – 7:18 – Peter Century (assisted by Ben Urbas)

Cleveland Heights – 8:02 – Aleksi Vihanto (assisted by Tyler Rudy)

Cleveland Heights – 10:41 – Ben Urbas (assisted by Sean Robinson)

Period 2

Cleveland Heights – 7:06 – Tyler Rudy (assisted by Aleksi Vihanto)

Cleveland Heights – 14:21 – Aleksi Vihanto (assisted by Ian Kraus and Sam Brown) (PP)

Period 3

Cleveland Heights – 1:16 – Tyler Rudy (assisted by Ian Kraus and Sam Brown) (PP)

Cleveland Heights – 7:28 – Aleksi Vihanto (assisted by Isaac Brown and Tyler Rudy) (PP)

Brunswick – 10:09 – Jacob Cellura (unassisted)

Saves:

Brunswick – Steven Busch – 25

Cleveland Heights – Aidan Hall – 10