SYLVANIA — Two storied prep hockey programs, Bowling Green and Toledo St. Francis, met for the Northwest District hockey championship Friday, but the Knights have owned that game over the past two decades.
That did not change at Tam-O-Shanter’s Durocher’s Arena as St. Francis shut out the Bobcats, 4-0, and the Knights advance to the state frozen four for the 15th time in school history.
“You know, it never gets old, but I’ll tell you what, now there are smiles on their faces but come Monday then it’s back to work,” St. Francis coach Chris Varga said.
“You know, it’s one of those things that sometimes the puck bounces our way, and it’s a good feeling.”
St. Francis (24-12-2), ranked fourth in the state, advances to play the Cleveland St. Ignatius-Lakewood St. Edward winner in a state semifinal at 1 p.m. next Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
BG, ranked seventh, sees it’s season end at 27-9-2. For St. Francis, it was the fifth straight year reaching the district final, but BG had not been here since 2017, when they lost to the Knights in two overtimes. St. Francis also beat BG in a district final in 2016.
St. Francis has won three state titles and had four state runners-up finishes, while BG has been to state 19 times, won six championships and finished as runners-up six times.
But the last time BG qualified for state was in 2004 and the state titles were won in 1980, 1984, 1991, and three successive years from 1997-99. Coach Connor Rogowski says his seniors this year should be credited for putting BG back on the map.
“What they’ve done this season and what they’ve done the last three years, these seniors especially to get our program back to where it is today, I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Rogowski said.
“We can only go up from here. Where these seniors have taken this program and made us relevant again and instilled the culture that we wanted to have for so long.
“We’ve been trying to build, for three, four, five years since we’ve had a team (program shut down one year), and they have rose to that occasion. They’ve done everything they possibly can.
“They’ve left us in a phenomenal place and they should walk off this ice with their heads held high for what they’ve done. They were never supposed to be here.”
St. Francis coach Chris Varga not only credited the Bobcats for a job well done, he credited Rogowski.
“Connor did an unbelievable job,” Varga said. “I told him at the end of the game he should be proud of what he ended up with, how they played here and the struggles they had and all of a sudden they put it all together.
“I couldn’t be more proud of him and I’m glad he’s (Northwest Hockey Conference Red Division) Co-Coach of the Year.”
However, in Friday’s game, St. Francis scored two first period goals less than two minutes apart, and there was less than a six minute spread between the two second period goals.
“We knew that they were going to come ready to go — they were going to come out strong and we expected it,” Rogowski said. “They had a little bit more energy than us.
“They had moments where they got a goal and another one right after that — two spurts like that. We were never able to recover from it. Props to them,” Rogowski continued.
“They played a great game, they are a great team, and they are very well-coached. They did some different things tonight. We just didn’t have it.”
It came on the heels of BG defeating St. Francis, 2-0, at the end of the regular season, costing the Knights the NHC Red title and virtually handing it to Findlay (21 points) while BG and St. Francis were tied for second with 20 points each.
BG was the first team to go on the power play with 7:16 remaining in the first period, but 44 seconds into the power play St. Francis defenseman Cameron Brogley broke away with the puck and sent a pass to forward Andrew Tucker, who scored shorthanded to put the Knights on the board first.
“You know, we knew we had to get the first one so we could prove to ourselves, ‘Hey, we can score on them’ because they play a heck of a defensive game,” Varga said.
“In the zone they collapse really well, they get the puck up, they spread the ice, so that really helped, and ‘shorties’ — those are my favorite goals.”
Just 104 seconds of playing time passed before St. Francis defenseman Henry Wiercinski sent a shot from the point that got past BG goaltender Matthew Brinkman, who was screened by two other Knights and may have never seen the shot coming. Wiercinski’s shot hit the opposite post and deflected into the net.
Tucker and forward Jamison Rose were credited with assists on Wiercinski’s shot, but for Wiercinski, it was his first goal of the season.
“Anytime that a defenseman gets a goal, it is a bonus and I’m so proud of him never giving up,” Varga said. “It’s his senior year and he finally gets his goal.”
Varga said he made sure his team understood that a 2-0 lead after one period was not enough.
“Going up 2-0 after the first we knew we had to get the next one because we saw this game go back and forth,” Varga said.
“This team (BG) won’t quit and they beat us last time. I mean, all three periods, all three phases of the game (they beat us), and we knew we had to get better and that is all we worked on.”
Sure enough, on a breakaway, Tucker moved to his right and fired a 15-foot shot that found the net, putting St. Francis up, 3-0, just one minute and 20 seconds into the second period. It completed a big scoring night for Tucker.
“He (stepped up his game). He’s been in a slump lately,” Varga said. “He finally got out of it and he’s been working hard. He’s just a leader as much on the ice as he is off.”
St. Francis forward Derek Morgan created the Knights’ fourth goal, skating behind the net and sending a pass out front to defenseman Colin Paris, who fired a 15-foot straight-on shot that found the net with 7:59 remaining in the second period.
St. Francis had their four-goal lead before game was halfway through, but the BG defense kept the Knights scoreless the second half. St. Francis enjoyed a 34-20 shot advantage, but that included 15-6 for the Knights in the second period.
