The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
US’ ’08-09 run firmly in local lore
To mark 10th anniversary, coach, four players take part in oral history of season
On Feb. 25, 2008, the University hockey team sat in its locker room, on the business end of the biggest upset in Kent District history, a 3-2 overtime loss to Mentor.
On March 15, 2009, the Preppers sat at Nationwide Arena in Columbus the following season, having accomplished every piece of business on the docket.
The 2008-09 edition of US is the most successful hockey team in NewsHerald coverage area history. The Preppers went 31-6-3 and earned the triple crown, winning the Red North, Baron Cup I and state championships all in the same season. Only eight other teams from Greater Cleveland have won the triple crown.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of that landmark campaign, several key team figures were asked to share memories of that season. Through Coach Bill Beard, forward Pat Shedlock, defensemen Britt Shroyer and Andy Gerow and goaltender Jamie Regan, here is the story of the 2008-09 University hockey team: BRITT SHROYER >> “To be frank, we all knew we were better than (Mentor in 2008). So it was embarrassing losing to that team. And that was definitely in the back of our minds going into the beginning of that season.” ANDY GEROW >> “From that moment, we all got on the bus after that, walked into school the next day and faced the backlash after that game. But it was from that day moving forward until the conclusion of the next season that it was a business-like mentality. We didn’t take anything for granted.” JAMIE REGAN >> “That game is always in the back of your mind the following year, as far as a redemption process. We went into the following year saying that would never happen again, and we kind of played like that every game.” BILL BEARD >> “I remember at one of the first captains’ skates just telling the team that my goal at the end of the year, at the banquet I was going to start my speech with, ‘This was my most determined team ever.’ ” REGAN >> “The strength of that team was we worked really well together. There was no one left out. Everyone was included. Everyone worked hard together. It was just one team and one goal.”
US started its season with its usual trip to the formidable Shady Side (Pa.) Thanksgiving tournament, going 2-2 with wins over Buffalo Nichols and the hosts before losing to Buffalo St. Francis and Hoosac (N.Y.). GEROW >> “We’d eat dinner with our families Thanksgiving night, then you were off with the team to Shady Side. So from those early captains’ skates in October all the way through March, it almost becomes your second family.” BEARD >> “We played Hoosac School out of New York, and we lost, 2-0. I distinctly remember walking into the room and just saying, ‘Guys, when we get back home, just compete like that.’ ”
T he Preppers commenced Red North play with three wins, including a 5-3 victory over St. Edward on Dec. 5 and a 4-1 victory over previously unbeaten Lake Catholic on Dec. 13. Shedlock had two goals against the Eagles, and standout sophomore Ian Robertson lit the lamp twice against the Cougars. US went 10-1-1 in December, but the one loss – a 3-1 setback to Strongsville at the Padua Holiday tournament Dec. 20 – left an imprint. To start the new calendar year, the Preppers went 2-1-1 at the Buffalo St. Francis tournament. SHROYER >> “The turning point, and this was kind of the low point in the year after we got our stuff together, was the game where we lost to Strongsville. ... That was a real heartbreaker. We just looked around the locker room after that game and said to each other, ‘This is not going to happen again. We’re playing to our potential from here on out, moving forward.’ ” BEARD>> “I remember walking in after that Strongsville game, and I think they were expecting to get my not-so-gentle side at that point. As I recall, I really didn’t get upset with them but basically said, ‘Guys, it’s up to you.’ That was probably the first time and only time, with all due respect to Strongsville, that Mentor game came back into the discussion.” PAT SHEDLOCK >> “There wasn’t really classes on the team. We were all players. You just knew somebody was going to get the job done, whether it was a senior, junior, sophomore or freshman.” BEARD >> “We were all supposed to go to this Italian restaurant (during the Buffalo St. Francis tournament) for dinner, get on the bus and go, and the parents had arranged it. (Goaltender coach Brian Teeple) and I didn’t usually go on that, but we said, ‘ It’s good. The whole team will go.’ We go out to the bus, and the bus was broken. ... We were watching a game that was being played, and I turned to Teeps. ... I remember watching the caliber of play, and I turned to him and I said, ‘Do we look like this when we play? Because this looks pretty good.’ He said, ‘Yeah, actually, we do.’ ”
US notched a 2-1 win over St. Ignatius on Jan. 9, getting goals from freshman Matt Wipper and senior defenseman Alex Barrett. From there, the Preppers had an 8-2-1 stretch to close the regular season. That included edging St. Edward, 4-3, on Jan. 24. The Eagles came in on a 17game unbeaten run. Andy Neff scored with 30 seconds left to win it after St. Edward stalwart Ross Kivett had tied the game 16 seconds prior. Regan had 32 saves. SHEDLOCK>> “I really think, what a big strength was for us, was we were very well conditioned. I think there were some stats at the end of the year that we scored a lot of our goals in the third period. It was nice to be able to play the third period almost with the same strength and speed as we did in the first period.” BEARD>> “The guys were not afraid to use each other. They trusted each other. That enables you at that point to have guys step up.” SHEDLOCK >> “We just kept getting these wins, and we just didn’t stop.” University senior defenseman Britt Shroyer hugs Coach Bill Beard after the 2009 state final at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. US defeated Toledo St. John’s, 3-0.
After wrapping up an 8-1-1 Red North title run, US went to Baron Cup I at Brooklyn. In a semifinal with St. Ignatius, the Preppers won, 2-1, in overtime on Robertson’s goal 1:49 in. Feb. 15, US dispatched fellow area power Lake Catholic, 3-2, in the Baron Cup I final. Down, 2-1, going into the third, Shroyer scored to tie it, and Wipper gave the Preppers the lead for good with a power-play goal with 8:13 left. Then came the Kent District, during which US hammered Shaker Heights, 6-0, in a semifinal to set up a district title tilt with a familiar foe in Lake. Cougars goaltender Alex Guest was outstanding, but Shroyer netted a third-period goal to force OT. Shedlock scored 1:58 in with a screened wrister from the blue line. BEARD >> “It was quiet (the day of the Kent District semifinal against Shaker Heights) on the bus. It was quietest bus ride with a team I’ve ever had going into a game. ... That bus ride? It may not have mattered who we played that night. That (Mentor upset) outcome was not going to occur again.” SHEDLOCK >> “I wanted to play at state, and we had always had close games with Lake all year. So I just knew it was going to be a big game. I remember having a lot of adrenaline, and obviously at the end of that game, scoring that goal, it was pretty awesome.” REGAN >> “I just remember going into overtime and not being overly worried. We were full of confidence as a team and said, ‘We’re going to win this, and it doesn’t matter how long it’s going to take.’ ”
A state semifinal March 14 against St. Edward tested that theory. US fell behind, 2-0, before goals by Shedlock and Brian Stovsky. A clash for the ages went to double OT, when Gerow – with two goals all year – slotted a screened look from the blue line on the left side to give the Preppers a 4-3 victory. SHEDLOCK >> “That was probably my favorite game of the season. We were down, 2-0. We were in the locker room, and I think what I almost remember most from the locker room was nobody acted like we were down, 2-0. Nobody was panicked.” REGAN>> “What I remember
vividly was in OT, somebody came down, and a shot hit off the post in OT. My heart just sank. I saw it come out the other side, and I was like, ‘Thank god that didn’t go in.’ ” GEROW >> “You have Kevin Ryder, who was a phenomenal player both offensively and defensively. It starts with him in the corner winning a battle and coming up the half-wall. He threaded through to me across the ice. Andy Neff, who was one of our senior guys, contributed in front with a beautiful screen.” REGAN >> “I had the best angle on Andy’s shot because I was right behind it. I could see that the goalie had been screened and he couldn’t see the puck. So I had started skating down the ice. If it didn’t get deflected, I could see it go all the way in.” GEROW>> “That feeling, that moment, will never, I feel like, go away.” BEARD >> “And to tell you how selfless that team was, we always went back and at the end of the year, we talked about the winning goal. Because if you watch it on tape, it might have hit Neff or hit his stick. He said, ‘Coach, I think it might have actually tipped off my stick.’ This is way after the fact, and I turned to him and said, ‘ Andy, you never said anything.’ He said, ‘Oh, I didn’t care.’ That said a lot.” SHROYER >> “Once we accomplished everything going into the final, and we beat Eds the way that we did in overtime, we knew we were going to win that (state final). I don’t think anyone had any doubt in their mind.”
They got an assist postgame. Elliot Taxman, an all-time great forward for US who won a state title in 2003, was an invaluable assistant on that 2008-09 team and made sure they were ready for the state final against Toledo St. John’s the next morning. BEARD >> “The last thing we said to the guys was, ‘Hey, make sure you get hydrated.’ ... I remember turning to Taxy and saying, ‘Hey, make sure they do that. Will you?’ I didn’t mean literally, but I guess he did.” REGAN >> “All 20 of us were sitting in Kevin Ryder’s room watching a movie, and Elliot came back with all the powdered Gato- rade. He said, ‘Drink up. Drink up. Drink up.’ That’s a memory you won’t forget, either.” GEROW >> “Elliot just was relentless with the Gatorade and drinking it. We’d drink bottles and bottles of it, and we’d go to the bathroom. We’re like, ‘Elliot, I think we’re good. I think we’re ready. I think we’re hydrated.’ He said, ‘You know what? One more.’ ”
In the final March 15, US was locked in a scoreless stalemate deep into the second period. Charlie Clark scored before intermission, and Robertson struck on a slapshot five seconds into the third. The Preppers won, 3-0, to earn their second state title in hockey in school history. US’ legacy season had been cemented by completing the triple crown. BEARD >> “What epitomized that team was, I went in the locker room, and we said, ‘We’re all walking out together.’ They said, ‘ Fine.’ So I’m out there, and we weren’t one to stay long after a game, win or lose. Let’s get out. And I’m waiting. It’s taking some time, and I’m waiting. I went to the locker room, and guys were crying. I said, ‘ You guys know we won, right?’ They looked up and said, ‘Yeah, but we don’t get to do this ever again.’ “REGAN >> “It kind of gives you goosebumps, you know? To be a part of the handful of teams that have done that really does feel special. The parents still even talk about it. I’ll go home, and some of the US parents will say, ‘Do you remember that game?’ And I say, ‘Oh yeah, I remember it.’ It just brings us closer, even as you continue to move on in life.” SHEDLOCK >> “It is definitely cool to look back on, because I think it really made a statement to how good and determined our team was. Really, all the effort that everybody put in day in and day out. Nobody ever skipped a practice. Everybody always went hard every practice.” REGAN >> “I hope the message is clear: If you set your mind to something and you play hard, at any given point, you can do something special. Did we know we were going to go 3-for3? No. But if we played one game at a time and put our heads down when times got tough, we’ll battle through it.” BEARD >> “I’ll hold this one forever: When they start talking about the best teams that have been around, we’re invited to that conversation, and the classroom isn’t that full.”
Full interviews
For the full audio interviews with Beard, Shedlock, Shroyer, Gerow and Regan, visit https://soundcloud .c om/cl i l l 9/20 08 - 09-university-triple-crownseason. High school scoreboard