H.S. Hockey: Midview returns after years without program, loses opener to Westlake

NORTH OLMSTED — Welcome back, Midview. It had been eight years since the Middies laced up their skates after the hockey program disbanded due to a lack of numbers after the 2018-19 season. Midview opened its new version Saturday against Westlake, winner of the Blue Division of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League last year, and the disparity in varsity experience showed as the Demons posted an 11-1 White Division win at the North Olmsted Recreation Center in the season opener for both teams. "We had fun, everyone worked hard tonight and we saw a lot that we need to work on as a team," Middies coach Russ Armbruster said. "We are a younger team and there are a lot of things that we are going to have to work on during the year." The season started with Midview's Trenton Puchmeyer winning the opening faceoff. It only took Westlake 44 seconds to get on the scoreboard, when senior Seth Schons assisted on Easton Ratycz's goal. Schons was just getting started, as he finished with four goals and a pair of assists against a Midview team that does not have a senior on the roster. Following the first goal, the Middies showed off their penalty-killing units as Jasper Cindric, Colton Holstein and Puchmeyer got called for two-minute penalties within a three-minute span. Westlake put the pressure on with a two-man advantage at times, but Midview's penalty killers and freshman goalie Lucas Volney stood tall in their first baby-step wins of the season. "I was impressed that we were able to kill off a couple 5-on-3s and some 5-on-4s tonight and I can't say enough about Lucas, he was awesome," Armbruster said of Volney, who had 33 saves. "He is going to be huge for us all year, he is good at tracking the puck and communicating with his team." The period got away from the Middies over the final 10 minutes, as Westlake got goals from Noah Fix, Schons, Anthony Vlach, Ratycz and Luke Hyland, who lit the lamp with one second left for a 6-0 lead to send the game to a running clock in the second period. The Demons picked up Hyland and Schons scores in the first 78 seconds of the second period to go up 8-0, but over the next eight minutes, the Middies had a pair of power-play chances resulting in a couple of shots from Colton Holstein that were stopped by Carter Junkins (five saves). Schons added two late scores to push the lead to 10-0, which would've ended the game after two periods. But with 1:49 left in the second, Cindric took a pass from Leah Schriver and went top shelf for the Middies' first goal and to extend the game into the third period. "I'm glad to see them back," Westlake coach Brendan Teets said. "Numbers are always our biggest enemy in the lower divisions and to have a team come back is important. They will have their growing pains restarting the program and I don't think the score reflects exactly how they played tonight." Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Westlake 11, Midview 1 FIRST PERIOD: (W) Easton Ratycz (Seth Schons), 16:16, (W) Noah Fix (Anthony Vlach), 10:05, SH, (W) Schons (unassisted), 8:30, (W) Vlach (Justin Simon), 3:31, (W) Ratycz (Schons), 1:17, (W) Luke Hyland (Fix), 0:01. PENALTIES: (M) Jasper Cindric (2:00 roughing), 15:08, (M) Colton Holstein (2:00 Tripping), 14:23, (M) Trenton Puchmeyer (2:00 elbowing), 12:34, (W) Drake Evilsizer (2:00 Too many men), 12:10. SECOND PERIOD: (W) Hyland (unassisted), 16:29, Schons (AJ Ferretti, Fix), 15:42, (W) Schons (Ali Manaf), 8:20, Schons (unassisted), 2:42, (M) Cindric (Leah Schriver), 1:49. PENALTIES: (W) Matthew AUgustone (2:00 tripping), 13:38. THIRD PERIOD: (W) Ferretti (Schon), 12:35. PENALTIES: None. Midview&emsp;0&emsp;1&emsp;0&emsp;—&emsp;1 Westlake&emsp;6&emsp;4&emsp;1&emsp;—&emsp;11 Shots on goal: Midview 6 (3-2-1), Westlake 44 (28-11-5). Goalies: Midview: Lucas Volney (44 shots, 33 saves), Westlake: Carter Junkins (6 shots, 5 saves). Power-play opportunities: Midview 0-3, Westlake 0-3.