Hilliard club team wraps up season at USA Hockey national championships
After winning its opening game in the USA Hockey high school national tournament, the Hilliard club team dropped its next two contests to finish the season 40-15-2.
The Wildcats, who advanced to nationals by winning their second state title in three seasons, opened pool play Wednesday in West Chester, Pennsylvania, by beating the Osseo Maple Grove (Minnesota) Saints 5-1. Hilliard then lost to the Lutz (Florida) Steinbrenner Warriors 6-4 on Thursday and Idaho Falls (Idaho) Eagles 5-3 on Friday.
The top two teams in Hilliard's four-team Olympic Division advanced to the quarterfinals.
It was the final appearance for senior defenseman James Tarantine, who attends Davidson. He helped the Wildcats win their first two state championships.
“I’m going to remember how much we achieved in (my) four years,” he said. “Two state titles (and) one (state) runner-up (finish), that’s something special that not a lot of teams get to do. Being able to play with a different group of guys each year and still be able to do great things every year is something special.”
Hilliard beat Miami 6-3 in the Buckeye Cup state tournament championship game Feb. 25, clinching the trip to nationals after going 2-1 in the event two years ago.
Against Osseo Maple Grove, Drew Forchione and Brady Gedman each scored two goals and Taggart Braley added one. Forchione and Braley attend Davidson and Gedman attends Dublin Coffman.
“After that first win, we had a lot of confidence, and I think that hurt us going into the second and third games because it felt like we had a right to be there and right to win rather than feeling like we’re really on our heels and fighting to stay alive,” Tarantine said. “When you get to a tournament like nationals, every team is good, and you can’t take anything for granted.”
Dominic DelBoccio, Seth Gabel, Ethan Pate and Layne Hammond scored in the loss to the Warriors. DelBoccio attends Bradley, Gabel and Pate attend Darby and Hammond attends Westfall.
Against Idaho Falls, Braley, Pate and Andrew Masteller scored. Masteller attends Davidson.
“It was really cool to be able to see so many different teams, especially some of the best teams in the country,” Tarantine said.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Hilliard club hockey wraps up season at USA Hockey nationals
