December 30th 2007 - By Jeremy Church
The Culver Military Academy varsity A hockey team made its annual trip to the Lawrence (Mass.) Academy Tournament in mid-December and captured its fourth title in six years against arguably the top competition among east coast prep schools.
Kicking off the trip with a pre-tournament 6-4 win at previously-unbeaten Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, the Eagles then earned a hard-fought 5-4 decision over host Lawrence Academy in a shootout. CMA dispatched of The Hill School 7-1 before rallying to defeat perennial powerhouse Cushing Academy 4-3 for the title. The win improved the Eagles to 11-1 in their last 12 games against eastern boarding schools.
The victories added to what was already a hot start to December for CMA, which improved to 6-1-1 since the first of the month and entered the Cushing Academy Tournament from Dec. 28-30 on a 10-2-2 tear after a modest 2-2 start to the year.
CMA also has earned key victories against nationally-ranked under-18 teams Belle Tire (4-1) and St. Louis (1-0 and 5-3). While Belle Tire at No. 11 and St. Louis at No. 19 were impressive additions to the win column, top-ranked and defending national champion Shattuck-St. Mary’s visit to Culver on Dec. 1 and 2 provided some of the best high school hockey the Midwest will see all season. The Eagles followed up a tough 3-1 loss in game one with a 1-1 tie the next day, actually holding the lead in the third period before a late SSM goal tied it. Overall, CMA outshot Shattuck 24-20 in the second game and held the visitors from Minnesota without an even-strength goal on the weekend.
A strong senior class leads the way for coaches Al Clark and Dan Davidge this year, highlighted by Cory Hibbeler, Steven Hoshaw, Anthony Olson, Sebastian Geoffrion, Chris Darnell, Nic Dowd and Tyler Quartuccio. Junior David Gerths’ play at forward and classmate Jason Torf’s performance in net have been critical to several wins thus far.
Clark, still at the helm 31 years after he stood on the bench for CMA’s first varsity contest, coached his 1,200th game on Nov. 3 and earned his 800th win one day later. The Eagles have won more than 70 percent of their games since the program was founded under his guidance.
Varsity B
Continuing its shift from varsity high school competition to games against the top under-16 Midget Minor teams in the nation, the varsity B team’s early-season schedule has proved to be quite formidable. Coaches J.J. Schmiedlin and Jeremy Church send 15 freshmen and sophomores onto the ice, sometimes leading to a few lumps when the schedule features at least a dozen games against teams ranked in the top 20 nationally. Top-ranked Compuware, No. 2 Detroit Honeybaked, and No. 4 Little Caesars all stand in the Eagles’ way this season, as well as five total games with defending U16 national champion Belle Tire (No. 7) and national runner-up Shattuck-St. Mary’s (No. 22).
Juniors Dominic Panetta and Tommy Ott, along with sophomores Frank DeAugustine and Blake Saylor lead the small list of returning players for the varsity B team, but an influx of talented newcomers led by sophomore goaltender Matt Mahalak hopes to jell in time to provide the varsity B team with its 10th state championship in 19 years and the program’s 20th overall since 1979. The team headed into the Detroit Honeybaked Tournament from Dec. 27-30 with a 10-5-2 overall record.
Junior Varsity
The junior varsity team had a tough act to follow after watching most of the players that helped it record back-to-back top three finishes in the Indiana state 5A tournament move on in the Culver program.
Still, first-year head coach Dave Ruhly and assistant Mike Weddington have seen progress in a team featuring 13 freshmen on the roster. The Eagles have stood toe-to-toe with two of the top four varsity teams in the state this season, falling by 3-2 and 3-1 counts to Carmel Gold and Mishawaka Marian, respectively, in games that were tied late in each contest.
The Eagles have been led by veteran junior Ken Harris, sophomores Connor Bartelman, Ryan Stec, and Austin Carlson, and freshmen Alex Haygood and Joe Barnett. They entered the New Year with a 10-9-1 record.
Girls Hockey
The Culver Girls Academy varsity team has bounced back from a sub-par season to enter 2008 already with more victories than last year. The Eagles have earned impressive wins against Victory Honda U19 and Chicago Mission U19. Senior Kelly Alyea (23 points in 21 games), sophomore Corrine Henning (18 points) and senior Riley Smith have paced CGA so far. Junior Stephanie DeSutter has been a rock on the blueline, boasting a plus-28 rating. Fellow junior Lauren Fields features a stellar 1.59 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage in net for coaches David Girard and Mike Norton.
The junior varsity team has responded to new coaches Jeff Badalich and Samantha Ritt in positive fashion. The group went 6-5-1 through the first half of its schedule and hopes to record just the second winning season in the eight-year history of CGA junior varsity hockey.
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