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High School Hockey Roundup

By Paul Evans, 03/03/18, 9:15AM EST

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State Tourney Edition - Day One

Right off the bat, I need to offer an apology to all our readers and high school hockey fans.  I committed a cardinal sin of journalism.  Everyone who writes has done it before at some point, but it's still gut-wrenching and embarrassing when it happens to you.

I forgot to save my work.

I was writing directly to the website as I was pushing the deadline to publish the first part of the high school state tournament series.  A dangerous game, as there is no auto-save in this case.   In my haste to finish, I made one absent-minded mouse click and... poof!  Gone.  Hours of work vanished before my eyes.

So for those of you who were eagerly awaiting this series (I'm sure there are two or three of you out there), but more importantly to all the players, coaches, and families for whom this time of year is the apex of the hockey season -- my sincere apologies for being an idiot.

That being said... on to the hockey!  You can find all the scores on the ISHSHA website, but we'll hit the highlights here after each round.

Class 4A

The most intriguing matchup of the night - Zionsville v. Carmel Gold - did not disappoint, if you were fortunate to stay up late to catch it.  These two heavyweights met for the fourth time this season, with the Greyhounds edging the Eagles by a single goal each time (two of the three previous meetings were decided in overtime).  Round four would prove to be just as intense, as Zionsville would jump out to an early 3-0 lead only to see Carmel claw back to even things up going into the final frame.  The two clubs slugged it out until the Eagles landed one with just two minutes left.  In desperation, Carmel added the extra attacker in hopes of sending this one to OT as well, but Zionsville would have none of it, depositing the puck in the empty net to seal the win.

The top tier started off with Michiana League rivals St. Joseph and Lakeshore-St. Joe's.  The clubs split the season series 2-2, with the Warriors winning the last two.  St. Joe's would come through when it mattered most though, edging their conference foe 4-1 to gain the advantage in pool play.

There are still two days left to play, but today's matchups could all but decide which teams will square off next weekend for the title.  Zionsville will look to carry over some of yesterday's magic as they take on Culver A, who defeated Penn 5-2 in round one.  On the other side of the bracket, Central Indiana handled Lake Central Blue 6-2, setting up a showdown with St. Joseph.  While anything can happen - and usually does in the state tourney - the winners of these two bouts will have the inside track to Fort Wayne.

Class 3A

Seeding in the second tier provided onlookers with the most head-scratching decisions, as the tournament committee placed Culver B (8-8-0 and last in the Illiana League) and Carroll (3rd place in the Fort Wayne League) in 3A.  The Chargers are a decent club, and their thrilling run to the 4A finals last year at least gave some weight to their placement.

Carroll proved they were worthy of the seed, slugging it out with Munster before finally succumbing to the Mustangs 7-6.  On the other hand, while we were hoping Friday's matchup between Culver B and Adams would shed some light on the committee's decision, it didn't.  CMA was soundly routed 4-0 by the Eagles, leaving us to still ponder why they were placed there to begin with.

However the highlight of the evening belonged to Bloomington and Crown Point, as the Bulldogs and Blades needed extra time to sort things out.  Crown Point would pull off the upset 2-1,  setting up today's showdown with Adams.

Class 2A

Games for Class 2A start on Saturday, so no results to report (obviously).  But here's a couple matchups you might want to check out...

Bishop Noll will be featured in the two most interesting matchups of the day, squaring off against Bishop Dwenger early before wrapping up the day's action with the Columbus Icemen.  As the #5 team out of the Illiana, the Warriors aren't considered the favorites in either contest.  But Noll showed enough promise early in the season that if they can recapture that level of play could certainly keep things entertaining.

None of the bouts on the other side of the bracket are noteworthy on paper, but that doesn't mean there won't be some great hockey to watch.  The Leo Lions, who could make a case that they should have been placed in 3A with Dwenger, are out to prove just that.  The Fort Wayne League is feeling a bit slighted, as the top two teams were placed in 2A, while #3 Carroll leap-frogged them both.  Don't be surprised to see these two rivals duking it out in the finals next weekend.  Hockey fans in Fort Wayne could only be so lucky.

Class 1A

With a handful of B squads in the mix, we expected to see some blowouts in this bracket.  Round one saw just that, as Homestead routed South Stars White 8-0, FW Bruins thumped Brebeuf 5-0, and Summit City made easy work of HSE B 7-2.  Westfield topped Lake Central White 3-1 in the only competitive match of the night.  Today's card should provide some more evenly matched contests, so we expect the action to heat up a bit and be worth paying attention to.