State Semifinals
Semifinals #1: Upper Arlington 7 (28-6-2), Mentor 2 (24-9-2)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After falling 2-0 less than two minutes into the game, Upper Arlington scored seven unanswered, making its first ice hockey state championship in school history on Saturday, March 8 at Nationwide Arena.
Mentor’s Jake Mackey found the back of the net just 10 seconds into the game and then assisted his brother, Joe Mackey, who put the Cardinals up 2-0 at the 01:41 mark. Jake Mackey’s opening goal marks a new OHSAA all-time fastest goal to start a semifinals game with the previous record of Rocky River’s Hugh Goldie scoring in 11 seconds at the semifinals game against Centerville on March 17, 1979.
Upper Arlington landed on the scoreboard after Grant Southworth scored on a pass from Jackson Lloyd at 8:37. Tate Rook scored back-to-back goals at 09:15 and 10:58, tying the game 2-2. Connor Hagkull assisted with the first of Rook’s goals while Ben Spence and Maddon Herndon (goalkeeper) were each on the second. With a minute and 58 seconds left in the first period, Spence had a score (assisted by William Schauss and Herndon) to give the Golden Bears a 3-2 lead. Matthew Russo passed to Jason Davis, who found Max Bloomfield for a score at 24:51 in the second period. Upper Arlington closed out the game with two short-handed goals, the first coming from Davis (unassisted) and Deleone, his second, from Lloyd.
Both goaltenders played a full 45 minutes with Mentor’s Ryan Wilkinson recording 44 saves (0.862 save percentage) and Upper Arlington’s Herndon saving 15 of his 17 shots on goal faced (0.882). Upper Arlington outshot Mentor 51-17.
Upper Arlington will compete against the winner of the second semifinals game between Cleveland St. Ignatius and Toledo St. Francis de Sales in the 2025 OHSAA Ice Hockey State Championship at Nationwide Arena on Sunday, March 9.
Semifinals #2: Cleveland St. Ignatius 3 (27-9-0), Toledo St. Francis de Sales 2 (30-6-0)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cleveland St. Ignatius will make its third-straight OHSAA Ice Hockey State Championship after a 3-2 overtime thriller against Toledo St. Francis de Sales on Saturday, March 8.
With 50 seconds left in the first period, Toledo St. Francis de Sale’s Cole Porvaznik gave the Knights a 1-0 lead with Andrew Tucker being credited with the assist.
Two minutes and 59 seconds into the second, Cleveland St. Ignatius evened the score after Nick Miller found Otto Bafus for the tying shot.
St. Ignatius’ Zak Bleick took a 2-1 lead six minutes and 54 seconds into the third period. Just two minutes and 10 seconds later, Tucker scored (assists to Robert Shepler and Jamison Rose) for St. Francis de Sales, tying the game back up 2-2.
Just 27 seconds into overtime, Nolan Ignacio called game for St. Ignatius after receiving a faceoff win from Kyle Rucinski (assist) and scoring.
St. Ignatius goaltender, Dominic Filizetti saved 28 of his 30 shots on goal faced (0.937 save percentage) while Carson Dirkmaat was 21-for-24 in saves for Toledo St. Francis de Sales. Toledo outshot Cleveland 32-24.
Cleveland St. Ignatius will play Upper Arlington on Sunday, March 9 at 1:00 p.m. at Nationwide Arena for the 2025 OHSAA Ice Hockey State Championship.
Championship: Upper Arlington 5 (29-9-0), Cleveland St. Ignatius 2 (29-10-0)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Upper Arlington claimed its first OHSAA Ice Hockey State Tournament after a 5-2 victory over Cleveland St. Ignatius on Sunday, March 8 at Nationwide Arena.
After a scoreless back-and-forth first period, Upper Arlington notched its first goal a little over a minute in the second period. Ben Spence had the goal with Tate Rook on the assist.
Upper Arlington’s Connor Hagkull scored the Golden Bears’ second goal of the game just over a minute into the third period with Spence and Rook being credited with the assists. Roughly a minute and 30 seconds later, UA scored its third goal on a Max Bloomfield pass to Jason Davis. Spence scored his second goal of the day (unassisted) six minutes and 11 seconds into the third period. At 7:47 into the third, Davis scored an unassisted goal, his second of the day, pushing the Golden Bears to a 5-0 lead.
Cleveland St. Ignatius ended UA’s 5-0 run with a Nick Miller score at 13:59 in the third, with Nolan Ignacio having the assist. The Wildcats scored one last time for a final of 5-2 after Sam Elwell scored with Otto Bafus and Ignacio each having an assist.
Upper Arlington goaltender, Mason Herndon, saved 34 of his 36 shots faced (0.944 save percentage). Dominic Filizetti recorded 20 saves off of 25 shots (0.80%) for St. Ignatius. Both goalies played a full 45 minutes.