February 17th 2008 - Varsity A
The Culver Military Academy varsity A hockey team continued its dominance of east coast prep schools just prior to the new year, winning four more games to capture the Edward G. Watkins Tournament title at Cushing Academy.
The Eagles defeated Noble & Greenough (5-2), Pomfret (7-1), and Canterbury (7-1) before blanking Berkshire 4-0. CMA now has won 14 of its last 15 games against eastern prep schools.
The Eagles returned to campus and swept defending Michigan Division I state champion Orchard Lake St. Mary’s before traveling to Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Minnesota. CMA rebounded from a tough 4-1 loss to tie SSM 4-4, holding the lead until two minutes remained in the game against the No. 1 high school team and U-18 Tier 1 program in the country.
Coaches Al Clark and Dan Davidge saw CMA enter its contests against the Indiana Ice on Feb. 9 and 10 with a 21-7-4 overall record. The Eagles close the season with tough contests against the LA Selects and Little Caesars at the Madison Capitols Gold Medal Classic in mid-February, before ending with home games against the St. Louis Amateur Blues, and then hosting their annual Midwest Prep Invitational March 7 through 9. This year’s event features Northwood from New York, St. Andrew’s College School from Ontario, Kimball Union Academy from New Hampshire, Upper Canada College from Toronto, Wyoming Seminary from Pennsylvania, and St. Francis from Buffalo, among others.
On the college front, thanks to his performance out east, senior defenseman Tyler Quartuccio committed to Bentley College in Massachusetts, joining fellow blueliner Steven Hoshaw (Alaska-Fairbanks) as players bound for Division I colleges so far. Expect more from a senior class numbering more than 20. At least six other Eagles have drawn significant interest from big-time programs at this point.
Junior David Gerths has averaged nearly 1.5 points per game, followed closely by senior Nic Dowd. Junior goaltender Jason Torf has been excellent in net and senior Cory Hibbeler has joined Quartuccio to form a defensive pairing that has shut down some of the top players in the country this season.
Varsity B
The CMA varsity B team faced significant challenges during the first half of the season, as the Eagles ended 2007 with an 11-8-2 record. Gaining experience playing against the nationally-ranked opponents on their schedule, following the systems more consistently, and simply demonstrating a much better work ethic paid off through the first 10 games of 2008 , however, with the Eagles losing just once entering Feb. 9 and 10 games at 2007 U-16 national runner-up Shattuck St. Mary’s.
Coaches J.J. Schmiedlin and Jeremy Church watched their team sweep Team NXI, the Milwaukee Admirals, and the Cleveland Barons at home and earn a signature 5-4 victory against Detroit Little Caesars, which was ranked No. 3 in the country at the time. That win followed a 1-1 tie against Detroit Honeybaked, ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Varsity B traveled to SSM with an 18-9-4 mark, with games against the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Amateur Penguins, Team NXI and the Cleveland Barons still remaining on the regular-season schedule. The Eagles then will try to win their third consecutive Indiana class 5A state title in March, despite returning only two players from the team that earned the championship last season.
Junior Varsity
Just like his varsity B counterpart, the junior varsity team has turned its season around after a challenging first half. The Eagles entered their games against Detroit De La Salle Collegiate junior varsity with just two losses in their previous 12 games, taking a 19-11-1 mark into their contests against the Pilots on Feb. 9 and 10.
The team enjoyed home sweeps against Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, both of which defeated the Eagles earlier in the season. CMA also defeated Mishawaka Penn and earned two close wins against Birmingham Brother Rice. They close out the regular season Feb. 23 and 24 at Western Reserve Academy varsity, still awaiting word on whether or not they will be included in the 5A bracket of the state tournament for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The team has enjoyed back-to-back top three finishes at 5A and was the runner-up to the varsity B team in 2006.
Despite featuring 13 freshmen on the roster, coaches Dave Ruhly and Mike Weddington have seen the Eagles lose by just one and two goals to Carmel Gold and Mishawaka Marian, respectively, in games that were tied late in each contest. Both those teams are expected to compete in 5A.
Girls Hockey
The Culver Girls Academy varsity team enters the stretch run with a realistic shot at doubling its win total from last season. Before facing off against Ridley College on Feb. 9 and 10, the Eagles were 14-13-2. Senior Kelly Alyea (28 points in 27 games), sophomore Corrine Henning (25 points) and senior Riley Smith (22 points) are leading the way offensively.
Junior Stephanie DeSutter leads the team with an impressive plus-33 mark and has contributed 18 points from the blueline. Classmate Lauren Fields boasts an outstanding 1.85 goals-against average and .919 save percentage between the pipes for coaches David Girard and Mike Norton.
The junior varsity team continues to have a chance for just the second winning season in its eight-year history under new coaches Jeff Badalich and Samantha Ritt. The Eagles entered their games at Lake Forest Academy on Feb. 9 and 10 with a 9-8-2 mark and had lost just once in their previous five games. A sweep at LFA would ensure the junior varsity of at least a .500 record this season, and CGA already had blanked the Caxies 5-0 earlier this year. |
