The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor ousts Shaker, advances in Brooklyn
McBride now No. 1 in points in school history; Cardinals to face Gilmour or Canfield next
Make it two in a row for the Mentor Cardinals hockey team.
For the second consecutive season, the Cardinals beat the Shaker Heights Raiders in a district quarterfinal. They could not have done it without Andrew McBride.
Led by a three-point effort from McBride, No. 5 Mentor defeated No. 4 seed Shaker Heights, 5-1, in the Brooklyn East quarterfinal at John M. Coyne Recreation Center on Feb. 23.
Mentor improves to 11-7 on the season and will play the winner of No. 6 Canfield and
No. 1 Gilmour in the Brooklyn East semifinal.
“Once you get into the quarterfinals and semifinals, you’re going to face teams that are talented and well coached,” Mentor head coach Paul McKito said after the game.
“Shaker does a great job with their guys. They’re systematic, just like us. “A lot of times in games like this, it’s all about battle of will and who wants the game more. We were opportunistic in the third and capitalized on our chances.”
McBride aided Mentor with a goal and assist 1:38 into the final period that put the game out-of-reach for Shaker Heights. With three seconds remaining in the game, McBride tallied another assist, which increased his career point total to 211 — a school record. McBride surpassed former Cardinal and linemate, Kyle Backston.
“It’s awesome,” McBride said. “To have my name being said along with some of the best guys to go through this program in Kyle Backston and Evan McBride. It’s very humbling to have that next to my name. There was definitely a lot of work required but my teammates prepared me, and my line mates helped me.”
Evan McBride is the older brother of Andrew and previously
held the record before Backston broke it last season.
McKito said Andrew McBride is the heart-and-soul of the team and a big reason why the Cardinals will play on Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.
“Andy hasn’t taken a shift off in four years since he got here. Not a practice rep. He goes and goes and goes,” McKito said. “He has non-stop energy. That’s why he’s our leader because the rest of the group feeds off that. Once he gets going, he’s a very vocal player and he’s driven. He gets guys to come along with him and that’s why he’s our captain.”
Most of the first period remained scoreless until Mitchell Elliott broke the silence off an assist from Eric Toth on a 4-on-4 situation with 1:26 to play before the first intermission.
For the first 30 minutes, Shaker Heights put the Cardinals on pins and needles by peppering goaltender
Garrett Davis with 19 shots. Meanwhile, Mentor only threw 11 shots on goal.
After two periods, Mentor knew it was going to take a team effort to keep its season alive and hold Shaker Heights off and keep its season alive.
“When you play a team like Shaker, there’s a lot to say,” McBride said. “They’re well coached. They have a lot of leaders on the team. We knew it was not going to be easy.”
Forwards had to work, D-men had to do their job. Garrett Davis had to stand on his head and that’s what he did.”
Twelve seconds into the third period, Jack O’Donnell gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead with the help of McBride. Then, McBride scored 1:26 later to put his team ahead by three.
“It was really just a way to get going,” McBride said. “We had to do the little things right because that
was what was going to matter in the end.”
Shaker Heights did not go away easy.
The Raiders responded to McBride’s goal 2:07 later to cut their deficit to two. Over the final 11:14, the Cardinals relied on Davis to protect the lead. Davis finished with 22 saves.
Finally, with 49 seconds to play, Anthony Jeffery scored the empty netter to give his team plenty of breathing room. Joe Bull scored a power play goal with three seconds left off a picture-perfect pass from McBride.
McBride is aware that the next game could feature a rematch of last year’s district final against Gilmour.
“We have many leaders on this team, and everyone does their part on and off the ice,” he said. “We’re itching to play Gilmour. We can’t wait. That’s a good team — or Canfield, whomever. We’re just lucky to be here.”