The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Long, laudable road was paved with perseverance
Lake Catholic grad Zab learns lessons on way to 92-second stint in goal for D-I UNO
It could very well be Jacob Zab‘s college hockey career — statistically — will consist of 92 seconds and one save.
If so, he’ll be elated. Because in several facets, that 92 seconds was unlikely.
The 2016 Lake Catholic graduate didn’t finish his senior year as the Cougars’ starting goaltender.
He had to double down on his craft to even get an opportunity in junior hockey.
Networking led him to being a third goaltender at Nebraska-Omaha, and he patiently waited his turn.
“There’s been times the past four years where I’ve been fully prepared to go into the game,” Zab said.
Jan. 14, his patience and dedication paid dividends with 92 seconds of Division I college hockey as a senior that he’ll treasure.
In the process, a strong perseverance lesson is taught.
Zab started in Mentor Youth Hockey, rotating through positions. He yearned to regularly stay on the ice more than a forward or defenseman. He got between the pipes as a goaltender and never left.
While at Lake Catholic, Zab spent much of his career as a backup to Charlie Denner and Kevin Henderson before his senior campaign in 2015-16.
That was not the best year for the Cougars, as they went 9-23-1, and it wasn’t ideal for Zab, either. He found himself in a timeshare with freshmen Patrick Kristo and Rob Kish, going 6-10-1 with 394 saves and a 5.16 goals-against average. Zab didn’t finish the season as Lake’s No. 1 netminder.
“I think the biggest thing I took away from Lake Catholic hockey was how to be a good teammate,” Zab said.
“I remember we scored to make it 5-1. Pretty much what I do when we score is celebrate with the guys on the bench. I heard my coach say my name. I looked over, and he said, ‘You’re going in.’ I couldn’t believe it.” — Nebraska-Omaha goalie and Lake Catholic graduate Jacob Zab
“I think without going through what I went through my senior year — at the end of it, I didn’t really play. A couple freshmen were playing over me. I think the way things went there, it just kind of showed me that hockey is more than just an individual sport. It’s about the team.”
That 2016 Kent District decision admittedly hurt. But Zab was “super thankful” for the life lesson it yielded, and he wasn’t ready for his goaltending journey to end that way.
College hockey’s path usually passes through Tier 3 juniors.
At his first tryout camp, he was told he needed better conditioning.
“I knew if I wanted to play junior hockey, I’d have to lose some weight in order to make the team,” Zab said. “So that summer, I lost probably just under 50 pounds. I went down from 225 to like 175 in the summer, and it was just grinding every day, just doing whatever it took.”
Zab and his father Joe traveled to four junior tryout camps, before getting the call on his final try from the NA3HL’s Pittsburgh Vengeance in August 2016.
“Most of it was a gamble, going from camp to camp,” Zab said. “Luckily, I was able to land a spot in Pittsburgh. It’s kind of where it all began.
“It was one of those things, too, where, if they didn’t take me, it might have been the end of the road.”
It was merely the beginning.
Zab played three seasons for the Vengeance, working into regular duty late in Year 1.
While in Pittsburgh, Zab connected with noted goaltending coach Shane Clifford. He spent a summer at Clifford’s home, improving upon his craft.
“He taught me everything I know today,” Zab said of Clifford. “I owe a lot to him. He has done so much for me.”
Including helping find his next opportunity.
In two seasons in the NA3HL with the Vengeance, Zab went 7-4 with 399 saves and a 3.13 GAA. The program shifted to the USPHL for Zab’s third season, during which he went 5-3 with 299 saves and a 2.31 GAA.
His hope was to locate a D-III college opportunity — anywhere they took hockey seriously.
Clifford had other ideas — No. 3 goaltender at D-I Nebraska-Omaha.
“It just kind of came up,” Zab said. “UNO was looking for a third-man spot. At first, I couldn’t believe him. When he said UNO, I’m like, ‘Nebraska-Omaha? That UNO team?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah.’
“I just remember thinking that would be crazy. I don’t think anyone has gone Tier 3 straight to D-I like that.”
Zab has been a beacon of
patience at UNO — a No. 3 goaltender typically is referenced as an “emergency” goaltender.
In practices, Zab rotated between nets, and between power play and extra time after practice, a lot of times he’d see more ice than the goaltenders ahead of him on the depth chart.
“I’m always out there, helping them get better,” Zab said.
There were close calls, such as when former teammate Isaiah Saville was selected for world juniors, and Zab was prepared in his No. 2 tenure to go in if needed.
It didn’t happen … until Jan. 14.
UNO had the back end of a home-and-home vs. Minnesota-Duluth, and the Mavericks blew the game open late in the third period.
That led to the words from Coach Mike Gabinet that Zab had long desired to hear.
“It was a 2-1 game all the way until the end pretty much,” Zab said. “I remember we scored to make it 5-1. Pretty much what I do when we score is celebrate with the guys on the bench.
“I heard my coach say my name. I looked over, and he said, ‘You’re going in.’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Zab situated his gear, took fist bumps from the bench, affirmation from UNO captain Nolan Sullivan and entered the game with 92 seconds remaining. He logged one save.
“It was almost one of those things where it went too perfectly,” Zab said.
“They won the draw back, and they just shot it down the ice. And it was one of those things where I’m like, ‘Please don’t go in.’ But yeah, I stopped it, and it counts.”
The congratulatory texts for his first college game action as a senior — from family and friends to former teammates on the Vengeance and UNO — didn’t take long to amass.
“I think the thing that means more to me than actually getting into the game was how happy my teammates were for me,” Zab said.
Zab was profiled in the Omaha World-Herald, and video tweeted of the postgame scene marking his 92 seconds between the pipes went viral.
Zab is on track to graduate with a degree in business management and hopes to get into coaching one day. He has an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, but says he’ll treat the last couple months this season “as if it’s the end” until making a final call after the season.
If this is it, it’ll go down statistically as 92 seconds and one save in college hockey.
But it’s a heck of a lot more than that.
“Honestly, be patient and stick with it,” Zab said. “Don’t feel sorry for yourself.
“If you truly love something and want to achieve something, I genuinely think you can if you put everything you have toward it.”