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High School Hockey Roundup

By Paul Evans, 03/05/18, 11:00PM EST

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State Tourney Edition - Day Three

Dear Teachers --

Please excuse _______ for being absent from school on Monday.  His/Her heart and soul were left on the ice in South Bend this past weekend and he/she needed at least a day to recover.

Sincerely,
INHockey.net

While we wouldn't recommend using this note unless your teacher happens to be a diehard hockey fan, everyone would have had the day off if it were up to us.  It's been a whirlwind three days of outstanding hockey, and we are flat-out spent... and we didn't even play!

**Stick Taps** to every player, every coach, every volunteer who worked from dawn until way past dusk, every ref who took mountains of abuse from psychotic fans for a measly couple of bucks and a love of the game, and every parent who logged thousands of miles and choked down loads of fast food meals in support of their favorite player.  When you play hockey, it doesn't just take a village... it takes an army.

But when you witness first hand the passion these kids have for the game, when they leave everything they have out on the ice -- you feel it's all worth it.

Class 4A

From top to bottom, this was probably the most exciting class of the four -- as it should be.  Not every game was a nailbiter, but it had all the drama you could ask for.  While just about everyone expected to (and will) see a Culver / Central Indiana final,  Zionsville and St. Joseph came thisclose to upsetting the whole apple cart.

Right out of the gate, sixth-seeded St. Joseph took down Michiana-rival (and favored) Lakeshore-St. Joe's 4-1.  Not to be outdone, the Eagles nearly stole the Cinderella role by topping Carmel Gold 5-3, their first win over the Greyhounds in four meetings this season.

The stage was all set for a couple of Saturday showdowns that could rewrite the history books... and almost did.  Zionsville scrapped and clawed to the final horn, falling 3-2 to  top-seeded Culver.  But this time around, it was St. Joe's turn to steal the spotlight, pushing the Knights to the bonus round before finally succumbing 1-0.  In the end, Central Indiana and Culver did what good teams do by closing out the final round with solid wins over LSJ and Carmel Gold.

While it would have been SO MUCH FUN to see a Zionsville / St. Joe's final, the title game will feature the top two seeds in the tourney.  Given the fact that just a few weeks ago, these same two teams battled to a 5-5 tie, you can bet that Culver and Central Indiana will give us everything we want in a championship bout ... and probably more.

Class 3A

Quite frankly, we were completely baffled when we saw the 3A bracket.  We expected at least one - perhaps two - teams from the Fort Wayne to be seeded here despite the overall struggles against teams outside their own league.  What we didn't expect is that that team would be the Carroll Chargers, who placed third in the FW.  The Chargers had a magical run to the 4A title game last year, but that's certainly not enough to warrant leap-frogging Leo and Bishop Dwenger.

But even that wasn't a perplexing as finding Culver B sitting in the seventh slot.  Yes, those same said Eagles who finished 8-8 and last in the Illiana.  If the objective is to put together the most competitive bracket from first seed to last, the tournament committee completely missed the mark.

Still, there's a good reason why we say "you don't play the games on paper."   Carroll traded blows with top-seeded Munster in round one, eventually falling to the favored Mustangs 7-6 in what would prove to be their best performance of the weekend.  Yet it would be Culver who would provide the biggest upset of the tournament, taking down Bloomington 3-1 in round two.

Having edged Bloomington 2-1 in OT on Friday night, Crown Point became everyone's favorite underdog by nipping second-seed Adams 4-3 the following morning.  The Bulldogs made sure lightning didn't strike twice and soundly thumped Culver B 5-1 to punch their ticket to the big game.

Slotted fourth in the division, HSE-A flew in under the radar, quietly taking care of business on the first two days to set up Sunday's skirmish with top-seed  Munster.  Unlike the heavyweight brawl the Mustangs survived on Friday evening, this one was more like a couple of welterweight prize fighters dancing and probing for just the right moment to throw a punch.  And while each team connected with a couple in regulation, it would be HSE who would land the final blow.

While the other three brackets each feature a top-two matchup, 3A is the working-man's class.  With a sixth-seed taking on a fourth-seed, we wouldn't be surprised to see a few lunch boxes and hard hats on the bench.  The team who swings the biggest sledgehammer walks away with the hardware in this one.

Class 2A

Having been slighted in the seeding and passed over in favor of Carroll, we fully expected Bishop Dwenger and Leo to play with a serious chip on their shoulder.  The Lions made easy work of their three opponents, steamrolling through pool play for the chance at winning a championship on home ice.

The Saints road was not nearly as smooth,  filled with more axel-crushing potholes than any Indiana street.  Dwenger won the 'battle of the bishops' over Noll 2-1 in OT, before crushing Evansville in round two.  The stars were aligned for an All-FW-League final, with the potential to blow the roof off the SportONE Parkview Icehouse.  But the Icemen had ice in their veins, going goal-for-goal through three periods and overtime before finally coming out on top 8-7.

A Lions v Saints matchup would certainly have been beyond rowdy, but this way Leo will most assuredly have the crowd in their corner when they square off against top-seeded Columbus.

Class 1A

Although the 1A lacked a certain je ne sais quoi, there still were some compelling storylines running through the bracket.  The Fort Wayne Bruins dominated the first two rounds, shutting out both Brebeuf and HSE-B to set up a Sunday showdown with Summit City, whose first two wins were equally as convincing.  In game three, the Bruins surrendered the only two goals they allowed all weekend, but it would be enough to hand the Panthers the victory and a shot at the championship.

Due to some qwerky (but necessary) scheduling, Homestead wound up as the first team in any class to advance to the state title game.  While they lost their final game to Lake Central White in a shootout, the Spartans needed only to take the game to overtime to earn the one point they would need to clinch the pool.

Homestead could also be the first team crowned this Saturday, as the championship round kicks off at 11am with the Class 1A final.  But in order to do that, they'll have to be careful not to catch the Panther by the tail.