The Varsity Titan Hockey Team started their 2007-2008 campaign in perfect fashion over the Thanksgiving weekend.  SJJ went 4-0-0 over the weekend winning the George Dipaolo Tournament in Oxford, OH with a 2-1 victory over Cleveland St. Ignatius in the finals.

The Titans got off to a very strong start and looked very impressive beating North Central (Indianapolis) 5-0.  Depth was the key as five different players scored for the Titans and Steven Schmitt was perfect in the net to get his first shutout of the season.  SJJ kept their momentum from the day before as they got out to a very quick 4-0 lead on a strong Gilmour Academy team.  Two late goals by SJJ made it a 6-1 final.  Cam Hauenstein and Kyle Knox led the way with two goals apiece while Christian Davis was strong in nets making 19 saves.  The varsity icers did not bring their A game to the evening contest on Saturday and were fortunate to come away with a 4-3 victory over Cincinnati Moeller.  Some unnecessary penalties allowed Moeller to have a 3-1 lead late in the second period and give SJJ their first real test.  A goal with around 10 seconds left in the second by George Wilkinson pulled SJJ to within one.  Two late goals in the third with the winner coming from Mark Stansfield with about 40 seconds left allowed the Titans to edge out a victory and put them in the finals against St. Ignatius.  Luc Gibb made several key stops down the stretch to allow the Titans an opportunity to come back.

Sunday’s finals proved to be a very evenly played game.  Both teams played well and had numerous scoring opportunities.  A first period goal gave Ignatius a 1-0 lead.  A goal by Nick Walla in the second tied the score at 1 apiece.  A late goal in the third by Dan Johnson gave SJJ their first lead of the game and some timely saves by Steve Schmitt preserved the victory.

All in all, a very good start to the season as several players had key contributions to the successful weekend.  Congratulations to everyone on a fine weekend.