The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor stuns Gilmour, returns to district final
Cardinals win on goal in second overtime; Davis makes 39 saves
They were on quarantine more than on the ice deep into the new calendar year.
They didn’t a log a home game until Jan. 22.
They graduated multiple staples from one of the best runs of success in program lore.
They still haven’t made it to 20 games total amid this pandemic-ravaged winter.
And yet, Feb. 27 in a Brooklyn East District semifinal against top-seeded and state title contender Gilmour, a group of resilient Cardinals refused to yield.
Mentor stood toe-to-toe with adversity, and thanks to some late heroics, these Cardinals — somehow, some way — are taking another step forward, returning to a district final.
A goal at 2:09 of double overtime — it could have been Andrew McBride or Tyler Velioniskis; neither senior forward knows for sure, but it hardly matters — sent Mentor to its second straight district final and third since 2008 with a 2-1 win over the Lancers. The Cardinals next face Walsh Jesuit on March 5.
By any reasonable measure, it was a stunning upset, arguably not too far out of the realm of that magical night Feb. 25, 2008, when the Cardinals stunned University for the biggest win in program history.
But senior goaltender Garrett Davis, in a 39-save afternoon, stood on his head as the old hockey saying goes — and Mentor (12-7) didn’t back down a centimeter.
“Honestly, I am at a loss for words,” Cardinals coach Paul McKito said, as the Mentor staple of The Fratellis’ “Chelsea Dagger” blared from the victorious locker room at Brooklyn. “We told the kids, after each break, we have to bend. We’re going to bend. But we can’t break.
“We’re not as dynamic as we have been in the past, but our group works. And they grind. And they grind. And it just goes to show that they trusted it. We had the utmost confidence in them.”
McKito admitted he knew there would have to be a shot disparity — it wound up 40-17 in favor of Gilmour (18-10-2).
But Davis kept his club in striking distance, and it returned the favor when it mattered most.
Tied at 1-1 in double OT, amid 4-on-4 hockey, McBride caught a corner into his offensive zone. An initial look was turned away, but he or Velioniskis pounced to trigger a dogpile and energy that likely carried all the way back to Lake County.
Ever the captain, McBride distributed credit postgame, for the goal and for the grit the Cardinals displayed.
“We split into quadrants for a 4v4, and the puck went in the air off a rebound, high in the air,” McBride said. “I chipped it over a Gilmour stick, I saw my lane and I went all the way down. I think there might have been a change. No guys were really close to me.
“The goalie tried to do the poke check on me. I went five-hole and under his butt. Yeah, I honestly don’t know who scored. It could have been Tyler. That kid was going hard to the net. So I’ll give it to him, because that’s where it is.”
Davis logged a 15-save opening period, including nice stops on Gilmour’s Joe Roddy at 6:06 and Frankie Valenti at 8:00.
Midway through the second, McBride had his say. The standout senior center skated into his zone, found some space for a wrister from the perimeter and shelved it at 7:52 for a 1-0 advantage.
Davis came up big again at 13:26, when the Lancers’ Harry Rogers skated in on a breakaway after coming out of the box for a tripping penalty. But the Mentor senior was up to the task.
In the third, Gilmour’s quality in puck possession finally delivered dividends, as Zach Mangel slotted a banger at the left bar on the backhand at 3:08 to make it a 1-1 game.
Davis turned away Mangel on a short-handed chance at 4:50 and Kessel Richards at 14:02 to keep it that way.
Jack O’Donnell, who in another wild in-game narrative missed part of the second period after a skate malfunction, had a good look at 2:17 of the first OT on a wrister denied. Valenti dinged the bar 63 seconds into the second OT.
Then the Cardinals found the back of the net, and the route to the dogpile, to end the marathon.
“The effort was awesome,” Gilmour coach John Malloy said. “I loved the way we skated. I loved the pressure. I loved the way the guys worked. We did all the things we needed to do. We’ve had trouble all year scoring goals. We were hoping to turn some of those so many chances into some goals, but it didn’t work. Credit their goalie — he did a good job.”
As did Mentor as a whole — somehow, through it all, booking a return engagement in a district final, eyeing its first frozen four berth.
“It’s a gritty public school that’s ready to work every day in practice,” McBride said. “It’s not just our leaders. It’s our coaches that get us ready for every game. Every guy is ready to compete. We compete in practices. We do everything to compete — everything to get better — and that’s why we’re here right now. We’re going to go as far as we can.”
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