| 2009 State Championship Games |
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| Providence jumps on Chapel Hill 19-13 Win denies Tigers a third championship in a row |
| Providence | 8 | 2 | 6 | 3 | --19 |
| Chapel Hill | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | --13 |
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Posted May 16, 2008, 11:50 p.m. The Providence Panthers jumped on the Chapel Hill Tigers early in the NCHSLA 4A championship game on May 16, running to an 8-2 lead after one quarter. But the Tigers roared back to tie the game 10-10 before the Panthers scored five unanswered to pull away for good.
Hull added another unassisted multiple-fake goal at 1:59 of the third, but he saved his most spectacular goal for the final period and his final goal of the game. As the Chapel Hill goalie was walking the ball upfield he passed to a teammate across the midfield line. Hull leapt into the air and snagged the ball one-handed. Seeing that the Tiger goalie was at least 30 yards from his goal, and the goal was empty, Hull shot the ball 50-plus yards and put it about 6 inches below the top bar for his seventh goal, making it 16-11 with 9:54 left in the game. Scores came in bunches for the Panthers on this night, aided mightily by Greg Basch winning 23 of 30 faceoffs. Hull opened with two of his seven goals to give Providence a 2-0 lead early. John Haus scored the first of his five on a Duffy assist to make it 2-1, but Scroggins scored the first of his six goals to make it 3-1. After the Tigers' Kevin Hornik made it 3-2, Scroggins went on a tear with three straight goals to make it 7-2 with 1:19 left in the first period. Steven Ridolfo made it 8-2 on a goal assisted by Dylan Brokaw with 31 seconds left in the half. As the second half began, John Haus was called for a three-minute stick penalty, but the Tigers managed to kill every bit of that while keeping the Panthers off the board. That seemed to pick them up because they scored three unanswered, Hornik from Will Haus, Will Haus unassisted and John Haus unassisted, making it 8-5 with 7:26 left in the half. Scroggins scored on a Hull assist and then Ridolfo added an unassisted goal to make it 10-5, and it looked like Providence had taken command again. But the Tigers added three more before half (Steven Wistner on a Steven Winsor assist, Wistner again on a high-bounce rebound, and John Haus assisted by his brother, Will) to cut the lead to 10-8. The Tigers came out of the locker room at halftime starting where they left off. They scored two quick ones to tie the game at 10-10 with 10:06 remining in the third period. First, John Haus scored on a rocket that hit the top right corner and then Will Haus tallied on a Duffy assist. It looked like momentum had turned toward the boys from Blue Heaven for good. That's when Hull went on his three-unassisted-goals spree to give the lead back to Providence, and soon it was 16-10 with only 12 minutes to go. Will Haus made it 16-11 unassisted after stealing the ball and running 80 yards for the score. But Hull topped that with his 50-yard shot into the open net to make it 17-11. Ridolfo made it 18-11 with 8:10 left in the game, but the Tigers scored two of their own (Will Haus unassisted and then John Haus unassisted) to make ti 18-13 with 3:33 left. Mason Marino made it 19-13 at 2:42 after taking a high, blooper pass from Deaver, who was standing behind the goal. Deaver arched the ball high over the goalie's stick to get it to Marino, who quick-sticked it into the goal for the final score of the game. Providence goalie Pete Wesselman had 15 saves and was named the game's defensive MVP. Chapel Hill goalie Kip Harkey had 7 saves on the night. Scoring for Providence was as follows: Tucker Hull 7g, 4a; Konner Scroggins 5g; Steven Ridolfo 4g; Mason Marino 1g; Drew Marsden 1g; Braxton Deaver 1g,3a. Scoring for Chapel Hill was as follows: John Haus 5g; Will Haus 3g, 3a; Kevin Hornik 2g; Steven Wistner 2g; Thomas Phan 1g; Kyle Duffy 2a; Steven Winsor 1a. |
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| Catholic edges Gibbons 12-11 Catholic wins a wild one for second straight championship |
| Charlotte Catholic | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | --12 |
| Cardinal Gibbons | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | --11 |
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Posted May 17, 2009, 1:30 a.m. Charlotte Catholic won its third state championship at Duke's Koskinen Stadium on May 15, 2009, defeating Cardinal Gibbons for the second straight year. It was much closer than last year's affair, however, as the Crusaders from Raleigh hung with the Cougars from Charlotte until literally the last minute.
Packy Mueller made it 2-1 as he scored for Gibbons on an assist from Austin Hardy at 9:05. At 7:49 Matt Sawyer scored on a Michael Italiano assist to put Catholic up 3-1, and Campbell repeated his first goal, winning the faceoff and scoring on his own to make it 4-1 at 7:39. Hardy added a man-up goal aat 6:13 to make it 4-2. They had another EMO chance near the end of the period but couldn't convert. Banick scored unassisted at 8:38 of the second period to make it 5-2, followed two minutes later by Will Baker's goal on a Banick assist to push the lead to 6-2. Joe Panzl scored on a Camden Feldman assist to make it 6-3. And then Feldman scored on a Matt Enzweiler assist (not sure about this scoring; let me know if it's the other way around) to pull the Crusaders to within two, 6-4. The Cougars answered with two of their own, however, to make it 8-4 as Banick scored on a Campbell assist, and then Banick tallied unassisted. A Crusader goal by Brian Spellman on a Feldman assist made it 8-5 Catholic at the half. Each squad added one goal apiece in the third period, Enzweiler unassisted for Gibbons and Marty Johnson from Matt Sawyer for Catholic, making it 9-6 Catholic as the teams entered the final period. Though exciting for three periods, nothing prepared the spectators for what was about to happen in the next 12 minutes. Gibbons scored first in the final period, making it 9-7 on an unassisted goal by Hardy. Gibbons responded with a Johnson goal on a Sawyer assist to push the Cougar lead back to 3, 10-7. Hardy again scored unassisted to make it 10-8 with 9:08 left. And then the rain started. Out of a partially sunny sky, large raindrops began to fall, finally falling off to a drizzle. As the drops fell, the play got more frantic. For the third time in the game, Cougar Coach Bo Turner called a timeout to save a possession for his team. This one seemed to fire up the Gibbons players and their supporters in the stands. As the fans taunted the Cougar bench with calls of "Time out" and making the timout signal with their hands, the Gibbons players seemed to gain energy from the din. Enzweiler managed a steal at 5:06 and assisted Mueller to make it 10-9 just three seconds later. Then Panzl scored on a Will Bremen assist after a faceoff infraction by Catholic, tying the game at 10-10 with 4:10 remaining, and sending the Gibbons fans into a frenzy. Gibbons managed a steal at 4:01 and got a shot on goal, but Cougar goalie Lane Beach saved the shot and gave Catholic the possession. Twenty seconds later Italiano gave the lead back to the Cougars as he scored on a low shot coming from behind the net to make it 11-10 with 3:15 left. Gibbons' Chris Bass won the ensuing faceoff but a save by Beach gave the possession to Catholic at 2:10. Gibbons defenseman David Szilezy stole the ball from a Cougar middie at 1:57 and got it to Mueller, who had a great shot opportunity that hit the pipe at 1:46. Gibbons maintained possession and called a timeout at 1:26 to talk it over. When play resumed it didn't take long for Gibbons to tie the score 11-11 on a Feldman goal assisted by Enzweiler. Campbell won the faceoff for Catholic and it seemed that Banick had put the Cougars up with 50 seconds remaining, but the goal was waved off as Banick went into the crease. Twenty-three seconds later the Cougars recouped that lost goal as Banick scored on a Baker assist to make it 12-11 with only 27 seconds left. Gibbons won the faceoff on an infraction by Catholic but couldn't manage to get a shot before time ran out. Banick was named the offensive MVP for the game, and Gibbons goalie Kiernan was named the defensive MVP. Scoring for Catholic was as follows: Stephen Banick 5g, 1a; Josh Campbell 2g,1a; Matt Sawyer 1g,2a; Marty Johnson 2g; Michael Italiano 1g,1a; Will Baker 1g,1a. Scoring for Gibbons was as follows: Austin Hardy 3g,1a; Camden Feldman 2g,2a; Matt Enzweiler 2g,2a; Joe Panzl 2g; Packy Mueller 1g,1a; Brian Spellman 1g, Will Brennan 1a. |
