Preppers’ hockey pounds Lancers to sweep season series

The Lancers’ 5-foot-8 senior netminder could not corral the puck, lost track of it and junior right wing Luke Palmer was right there to collect the rebound and bury the shot at the 13:40 mark, putting University School ahead 1-0.

“We emphasize going to the net hard and getting to the right spot,” said University School Coach Andy Gerow. “Luke got rewarded and it was a nice job of Sam getting to the net and Luke was the beneficiary so credit to him for being the beneficiary and being opportunistic.”

The Preppers continued dishing it out against their SOM Center rivals and beat the Lancers 4-1, earning a regular season series sweep against their Great Lakes Hockey League rival at the Pavilion Skating Club in Cleveland Heights.

“Gilmour has a great program year in and year out,” said the fifth-year coach. “Doing that is very tough so credit it to our guys for getting the job done on Sunday night.”

It marks the first time since Gerow became the head coach that the Preppers (21-8-1, 5-3-0) have swept Gilmour in the regular season.

For Gerow, who graduated from University School in 2010 played on the 2008-09 state championship team, he is still experiencing firsts even while serving as a head coach for his alma matter.

When he skated for the Preppers, they only faced Gilmour in the postseason because University School still belonged to the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League Red North Division and the Lancers were members of the GLHL.

He can now add a regular season sweep to his list of accomplishments in University School’s hockey program.

“It is awesome,” he said. “That is why high school sports are so cool because of rivalries like this. On Jan. 20, against Gilmour at its place, it was a great atmosphere and it is always a little bit extra and more emotions for both teams and on Sunday night it was the same way.”

The win moved University School into a tie for first place in the GLHL with Padua, but the Bruins hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the Preppers this season to clinch the top seed for the five-team Cleveland Cup tournament while the Lancers (13-13-2, 2-3-0) dropped to fourth place.

“We come into the season every year looking to beat Gilmour and Shaker Heights and sweep them throughout the season but it is still not over,” said Palmer. “We still have a possibility of seeing them in the Cleveland Cup and the district tournament so that is where it will count.”

When the neighborhood rivals encountered each other for their first meeting on Jan. 20, University School dominated and posted a 4-0 shutout victory.

On Sunday, the Preppers outshot Gilmour 12-11 on shots in the first period but the Lancers’ 12th shot finally broke their scoreless streak.

Senior defensemen Cole Bridges skated the puck in from the left shooter’s circle scored on a wrist shot to tie the score at 1-1 with only 15 seconds left in the period off assists from junior forward Mike Yang and senior defensemen Brennen O’Neill.

The game remained deadlocked at 1-1 in the second period until Gilmour was charged with multiple penalties.

Senior forward Rocco Hice earned a two-minute penalty for tripping with 6:49 remaining in the period.

Gilmour killed off the penalty but just two seconds after Hice’s penalty expired, the Preppers took a 2-1 lead when senior defenseman Luke Brandon scored on a wrist shot from the slot with assists from sophomore defenseman Ryder Beegun and junior right wing Luca Gaofalo.

Senior right wing Matthew Bauman then was sent to the penalty box after being issued a penalty for tripping at the 4:19 mark and senior forward Justin Wen joined him in the box after being whistled for illegal contact to the head with 4:00 left in the period.

That gave the Preppers a five-on-three advantage.

It was the third time this season University School had two extra skaters on the ice, but had come away empty on their previous two chances.

The third time was the charm for the Preppers when Palmer scored on a shot from the left side of the crease with 3:47 remaining in the period off an assist from senior left wing Samonte Martin, extending the lead to 3-1.

“It was very essential,” Palmer said. “We had been previously stopped on five-on-threes and had to make a statement and score on a five-on-three and we did.”

Univerisity School outshot the Lancers by a 7-2 margin in the second period.

Gilmour Coach John Malloy acknowledged it was tough for his team to ignite any kind of offense with how much time was spent needing to kill off penalties.

“We did not have a power play all night and University School’s power play is good,” said the 18th-year coach. “That was huge momentum because we were playing really well and then all of a sudden we were killing penalties one after another.”

Gilmour could not revive its offense in the third period as the Preppers took control when Palmer beat Underwood on a one-on-one during a breakaway attempt with 8:25 left in regulation off an assist from junior center Anthony Messina, to go up 4-1 and Palmer notched his first career varsity hat trick.

“It means the most,” the Preppers’ junior right wing said. “It feels great that it came against Gilmour.”

University School’s timing was perfect while the Lancers could never find their footing, which has been a disturbing pattern for the reigning 2021-22 state champions this season.

“We are not playing well in any phase but we are playing hard,” Malloy said. “I cannot fault our guys’ effort and they are working hard out there and are keeping themselves in every game with hard effort, but until we can score a goal at the right time and until we can make a defensive play or make a save at the right time, we are going to struggle against the better teams.”

The Preppers will conclude their regular season when they host Medina and celebrate senior night at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Lancers will host GLHL foe Shaker Heights at 2:50 p.m. on Saturday then host Walsh Jesuit at 2:40 p.m.