District Hockey: Amherst blanks Westlake; Avon goes the distance but falls to St. Ignatius

BROOKLYN — There were no miracles on the ice Saturday in the district tournament at the Brooklyn Recreation Center. Sixth-seeded Amherst had no problems dispatching Southwestern Conference foe Westlake 8-0, while 13th-seeded Avon was on the short end of the same score against St. Ignatius, the four-time defending state champion. It was the 40th anniversary of the U.S. team's monumental upset of the USSR in the Olympics. The Comets improved to 25-4 and will face the winner of Strongsville/Benedictine on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Avon finished the season 13-18. Amherst coach Steve Morris made sure to send his three seniors out for the starting lineup in their final run in the postseason, as Bela Farlow and John Curtin joined Jacob Kramer in the starting five. The Comets started a little sluggish, but by the time the first 15 minutes were in the book, the Comets led 4-0 and were in control. Freshman Nick Ciura started the scoring at 10:26 on assists by Joey Kramer and Thomas Hall. Three different players scored the next three goals. Jacob Kramer tallied his 53rd goal of the year and 207th of his career at 8:25 on Joey Kramer and Nathan Harmych assists. Harmych went unassisted at 6:06, and Joey Kramer put the puck in the net with 57 ticks on the clock (Jacob Kramer, Bela Farlow assists) for the 4-0 lead. "We were a little slower than normal at the beginning, this team wasn't on fire, but we were better in the second and third," Jacob Kramer said. "It was great starting with John and Bela, they were ecstatic when they were told they were starting today." Amherst may have been slow on the offensive end, but defensively the Comets were nearly perfect, allowing the Demons (7-23) just five shots on goal for the game, including one each in the final two periods. Jacob Kramer put three more in the net over the final 30 minutes to go with one by Ciura, giving him 21 on the season. In an earlier game, Avon was just looking to get through the full 45 minutes against St. Ignatius, and the Eagles were able to do that while the Wildcats improved to 27-3-2. The main reasons the Eagles went the distance were the tenacious play by Avon in the third period and the goaltending of sophomore Ben Boka, who stopped a career-high 50 shots. "I thought we played well, Ignatius was able to capitalize on our mistakes, but to go a full game with the No. 1-ranked team in the state was an accomplishment for us," Avon coach Kyle Botos said. "This group of seniors have something to be proud of, they set high expectations for the future and have been a key in the success to the program's turnaround the past two years. I'm sad to see the season end, but I'm excited to see where we can take it next year." Contact James Brady at 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. St. Ignatius 8, Avon 0 FIRST PERIOD: (SI) Boehn (Langermeier, Millett, PP, 5:11, (SI) Wilson (Boehm), 7:00, (SI) Cook (Millett, Kurtz), 10:13, (SI) Bilardo (Zawadski, Langermeier), 10:57. PENALTIES: (A) Callahan Miller (2:00 hooking), 10:09. SECOND PERIOD: (SI) Cook (Kurtz) 0:45, (SI) Bilardo (Zawadski, Erbs), PP, 7:58, (SI) Erbs (DiMarco, Macio), 10:26, (SI) Radke, (Morfords, Wilson), 11:00. PENALTIES: (A) Jack Goetz (2:00 tripping), 8:36, (A) Miller (2:00 high sticking), 7:37, (SI) Matt Sullivan (2:00 Interference), 1:51. THIRD PERIOD: PENALTIES: (SI) Bilardo (2:00 slashing), 0:57. Avon&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;0 St. Ignatius&emsp;&emsp;4&emsp;&emsp;4&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;8 Shots on goal: Avon 7 (1-3-3), St. Ignatius 58 (24-22-12). Goalies: Avon: Ben Boka (58 shots, 50 saves). St. Ignatius: Dawson Mohr (7 shots, 7 saves). Power-play opportunities: Avon 0-2, St. Ignatius 2-3. Amherst 8, Westlake 0 FIRST PERIOD: (A) Nick Ciura (Joey Kramer, Thomas Hall), 10:26, (A) Jacob Kramer (Joey Kramer, Nathan Harmych), PP, 8:25, (A) Harmych (unassisted), 6:06, (A) Joey Kramer (Jacob Kramer, Bela Farlow), 0:57. PENALTIES: (W) Sam Kieger (2:00 hooking). SECOND PERIOD: (A) Jacob Kramer (unassisted), 13:45, (A) Jacob Kramer (Joey Kramer), 7:05, Ciura (Harmych, Hall), 4:53. PENALTIES: Gage Cohoon (2:00 interference), 11:06. THIRD PERIOD: (A) Jacob Kramer (unassisted), 5:26. PENALTIES: None. Westlake&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;0 Amherst&emsp;&emsp;4&emsp;&emsp;3&emsp;&emsp;1&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;8Shots on goal: Amherst 54 (20-23-11), Westlake 5 (3-1-1). Goalies: Amherst: Brady Grove (5 shots, 5 saves). Westlake: Alex Rendziak (54 shots, 46 saves). Power-play opportunities: Amherst 1-1, Westlake 0-1.