WOW! What a weekend of games, so far. If you haven't seen the Day 1 and Day 2 recaps, we posted them in separate articles and you can find them by checking out the news feed on the home page. I wanted to come back and revisit our Day 3 schedule, now that we know how the past two days have played out.
The 4 A games begin at 9:00 AM on Saturday at Pop Weaver (Fairgrounds).
| Time | Teams | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | #1 Carmel vs. #8 Columbus | Fairgrounds |
|
10:45 AM |
#2 Culver A vs. #7 Bloomington | Fairgrounds |
| 12:30 PM | #4 Lakeshore/St. Joe vs. #5 Carroll | Fairgrounds |
| 2:15 PM | #3 Zionsville vs. #6 Penn | Fairgrounds |
Who would have thought Carmel would be playing for parting gifts? I still believe Carmel Gold was the best team coming into the tournament but I absolutely love the fact that Carroll and Lakeshore/St. Joe brought their "A games" and made big statements. As a result, we have our game watch for today.
Game Watch: Lakeshore/St. Joe vs. Carroll
Carroll comes into this game with 6 points and Lakeshore/St. Joe comes in with 5 points. An OT win by Lakeshore is the only thing that can muddy the water. As it stands, Carroll leads the goal differential category by a large margin so even with an OT loss (which would tie them up with Lakeshore/ST. Joe at 7 points), I think Carroll would advance to the championship. Regardless, this is going to be a GREAT game.
Game Watch #2: Culver A vs. Bloomington
As I said previously, Culver always does well in the state tournament and this year they find themselves a point behind Bloomington in the standings. This game is much like the first in that an OT win by Culver muddies the water. But here's the difference, Culver is leading the goal differential category, so in the event of an OT win, they would advance to state.
The Blades have played an incredible tournament so far and I certainly didn't expect for them to be a win away from the state championship. I wouldn't quite call them a Cindarella team, since they've played well all year, but there's always something magical about a seven-seed team playing for a championship.
The 3 A games begin at 11:30 AM on Sunday at the Fuel Tank in Fishers.
| Time | Teams | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11:30 AM | #1 Lake Central Blue vs. #6 St. Joseph | FT-1 |
|
11:45 AM |
#2 Evansville vs. #5 Westfield | FT-2 |
| 1:15 PM | #3 Central Indiana vs. #4 HSE A | FT-1 |
This division has seen some great hockey. With only 6 teams, there wasn't a pool A or B, it's just the top 2 ranked teams heading to state. As it stands right now, that would be St. Joe and Central Indiana. However, HSE A is still in the mix and that HSE A vs Central Indiana is the most important game in class 3 A today.
Game Watch: HSE A vs. Central Indiana
Talk about muddy water, if St. Joe loses to Lake Central and HSE A wins, we're looking at a three way tie for the top. And with the goal differentials all being really close (4,3,3 respectively), IHSHA will have to dig deep here.
Look, if you want to see some nail biting, pacing, and experience all the glorious gut wrenching agony over tournament finals, then BOOM! This is your game. Go forth, watch, and be happy, Hoosier Hockey Faithful.
The 2 A games begin at 8:00 AM on Sunday at the Fuel Tank in Fishers.
| Time | Teams | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | #1 Riley vs. #8 South Stars | FT-1 |
|
8:15 AM |
#2 Munster vs. #7 Leo | FT-2 |
| 9:45 AM | #4 Bishop Dwenger vs. #5 Crown Point | FT-1 |
| 10:00 AM | #3 Adams Marian vs. #6 Valpo |
FT-2 |
I think the class 2 A seedings are a prime example of why using myhockeyrankings.com to seed the teams has some drawbacks. But that's a topic for a later post. The class 2 A games have been fantastic. I had a chance to cover this group yesterday and watch the games and between the Stars/Dwenger shootout and the dramatic third period comeback for Valpo, it was brilliant!
Game Watch: You Pick it!
Each game has ramifications for the state championship so you can't go wrong here. I'd be curious to see how the compete level stands up between Crown Point and Dwenger, since the Crown Point Bulldogs have been completely dominant so far with a 10 goal differential.
The 1 A games begin at 1:30 PM on Sunday at the Fuel Tank in Fishers.
| Time | Teams | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1:30 PM | #1 Culver B vs. #8 Brebeuf | FT-1 |
|
3:15 PM |
#2 Carmel Blue vs. #7 Homestead | FT-2 |
| 3:30 PM | #3 Bishop Noll vs. #6 FW Bruins | FT-1 |
| 5:15 PM | #4 Lake Central White vs. #5 Summit City | FT-2 |
I like the 1 A bracket because you simply have no idea what's going to happen. It mirrors the 2A bracket in that first second and third teams in each group have 6, 3, and 3 points, respectively. So, again, there is a lot to be decided today.
Game Watch: You Pick it!
You can't go wrong here, Hockey Faithful. If I was a betting man, I'd take Bishop Noll and Culver B to be your state championship match up. Both teams sit atop their respective "pools" and both teams lead the goal differential by a large margin. Bishop Noll should dispatch the Bruins fairly easily today and Culver B should handle #8 seeded Brebeuf.
But still, anything can happen and with the way this tournament has gone, it will!