High School Championship Night Recap

by Daryn Goodwin

High School Championship Night Recap:


The playoff matchups were already set heading into the last two games of the season.   Classical Academy and their deep roster looked impressive all season and clinched the #1 Seed and would face off against the #4 Seed Poway High School.  Poway was hit and miss all season with a lot of players missing some games, but when they weren’t playing with a skeleton crew, they looked very impressive.  I knew they’d definitely be a tough out, come playoffs.

Cathedral Catholic was secure as the #2 Seed and would face the #3 Seed SD Inline.  In their 2 regular season matchups Cathedral Catholic was the victor in both matchups.

The winners of the two semi-finals would play after they concluded for the SD Inline Hockey School Championship.

In the first semi-final Poway jumped out to a very commanding lead against Classical, scoring the first 3 goals of the game. Early and often.   Fast forward to the 3rd period, the 3-goal difference remained but the score would now be 5-2.  Classical continued to press.  

Very late in the game, it got interesting.  On their heels defensively in their own zone, Poway took multiple penalties.  Classical capitalized with a goal by Micah Griffith and a very late goal by James Sncheider to bring the score to 5-4.  Classical was not out of it and had all the momentum, but it was a case of too little too late.  Poway held them off to punch their ticket to the championship. 

The real difference in this game was the stellar performance by Poway Goalie, Jacob Behar.  He faced a barrage of scoring chances throughout the game and turned away almost everything, until the end.  More than half of the 36 shots he turned away were quality scoring chances.

Next up, Cathedral Catholic would face-off against SD Inline.  The SD Inline Team is comprised of players that don’t have a team at the high school they attend.  High school aged players that would like to participate, so we throw them together to give them that opportunity. 

#18 Kevin Telon had two nice goals early, as SD Inline jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.  Cathedral battled back and would tie the game 2-2 in this lower scoring affair.   SD Inline would regain the lead 3-2 on a goal from #8 Oren Barengoltz, assisted by #1 Michael Chalkin. 

SD Inline could not hold off the consistent pressure that Cathedral presented late in this game.  #2 Brady Nelson would find #4 Kellan Morneau on a nice goal to get back to even.

This game seemed destined for overtime, until it wasn’t.  With only a few seconds remaining, Cathedral Catholic would send a Hail Mary shot/pass from deep in the defensive zone.  The puck would find itself on the stick #21 Nathan Clark, who shovel directed the puck towards the net.  

SD Inline Goalie, Wyatt Amos, played great all game, but there’s nothing he could do on this play.  He made the initial stop, but the puck popped out right to #2 Brady Nelson, who was somehow all alone, and he tapped it into the open-net with less than half-a-second remaining in the game.  A very dramatic win for Cathedral Catholic and devastating loss for SD Inline.

From the first two games, I had a feeling our High School Championship between Poway High School and Cathedral Catholic would also be special.   Compared to the regular season, the teams in the playoffs showed a heightened intensity, displaying tighter defense, and focused goaltending.  True playoff hockey.

One of the league’s standout players, #91 Michael Nilsen would give Poway the early 1-0 lead just a few minutes into the contest.  It would remain that way until late in the 1st period, when #4 Kellan Morneau would answer for Cathedral Catholic with a dish from #37 Vison Ha.  We would go into the first intermission tied 1-1.  

Poway Goalie Jacob Behar continued his hot play from the semi-final, turning away 11 shots in the 2nd period alone.  With just under 4-minutes, a nice shot from #21 Nathan Clark did sneak by him to give Cathedral Catholic the lead. 

The lead was short lived, as Poway would answer with a goal by #73 Corban Hlavac assisted by #91 Michael Nilsen.  At the end of 2nd period, we would find ourselves how we started the game, tied.

Cathedral Goalie Jackson Mann also played stellar, turning away many high-quality shots from Poway.  This was truly an equal battle, and great game to watch if you didn’t have a dog in the fight and just appreciate equal competition.  Truly a great way to wrap-up our High School Season. 

As teams exchanged opportunities, the next goal would come with just 5 minutes left in the game, as Corban would score again for Poway.  Again, with the assist from the elder Nilsen.  Younger brother Marcus Nilsen was also a big part of Poway’s offense throughout the season. 

Up 3-2 late, I felt that Poway sort of changed their style of play.  What you would likely expect up a goal late in the game.  Too defensive, maybe?  Sort of like the “Prevent Defense” in the NFL that prevents teams from winning. 

I don’t disagree with the move.  It just didn’t work in this case, as #37 Vison Ha would score in the last minute of the game.  It was a great pass from #2 Brady Nelson, and Vison buried the opportunity into the far-side of the open net as Behar slid across.  It would take overtime to determine our High School Champions.

Both teams had quality chances early in OT.  By the way they advanced to the Championship with a goal with less than a second remaining in the game in the semi-final, and a goal in the last minute of the championship to tie it, I just sort of got the feeling that it was too good of a script for Cathedral Catholic to come this far and fall short.

The game-winner was not a garbage goal, more of a thing of beauty.  Vison Ha would make a left to right cross rink pass that Nathan Clark would one-time past Behar to seal the High School Championship Title for Cathedral Catholic.

It was a great season, and we couldn’t have asked for a better finish.  Thanks for playing SD Inline Hockey.