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Strongsville, OH- Padua defeated Holy Name 5-0 behind an all-around team effort in the first Parma Holy War on ice since 2021/22.
The first period was dominated by defense on both sides. Padua goalkeeper Austin Green was able to make 2 saves in the first period. His defense, led by Luke Jordan and Yuri Bellina, also pitched in by trailing back to force bad passes from the Green Wave. The Bruins sent shot after shot on Sefchik, but she stood tall in the fire. However, Padua finally broke down the freshman shot stopper as Jackson Hicks slotted the puck home with the assist coming from Adam Coyne. Holy Name settled down after this to keep the game at 1-0 heading into the second. Before the second period began, Padua had their teddy bear toss in partnership with University Hospitals Rainbow and Children’s Hospital. This great event lit a fire under the Bruins as they came out firing in the second.
Padua didn’t waste much time before scoring in period 2 as Jordan scored a thunderbolt from just inside the Bruins’ attacking third. Coyne and Jacob Rihvalsky pitched in with the assists. Two and a half minutes later, Padua was celebrating their third goal. This time, Andrew Young was the goal scorer with Mark Aponte and Colin Matier providing the service. To put the cherry on top of the period, Rihvalsky found the back of the net with Bellina and Hicks providing the assist. On top of this, the Bruin defense stood tall. Holy Name had a few chances to get on the board, but Green denied them. He would record his final 6 saves of the night, taking his tally to 8. Heading into the final frame, the Bruins led 4-0.
The final period saw a repeat of the first in almost every way. Holy Name was forced to defend a plethora of shots from Padua as the Bruins had plenty of chances to score. Sefchik recorded her final 26 saves on the night to give her 64 total. Even though her team would go on to lose, she showed toughness the whole game and potentially entered herself into the conversation for an all-Ohio team at the end of the season or at least an all-freshman team. With the clock slowly running out, Padua had one last chance for fireworks. Nick Badza launched a missile at Sefchik from long range that she couldn’t stop. While the scorecard gives credit to Tegan Brown for the goal, my view saw no contact except from the shot. The service came from Brown (or Badza if you credit Brown with the goal) and Max Matejcik. This saw the final score become 5-0 at the death.
Holy Name falls to 3-6 on the year with an MLK Day Tournament up next before another game against Padua on January 19. Padua improves to 10-9 on the season with a tough Gilmour Academy outfit up next for them to take on. Even though this is a rivalry, there are two things both teams can agree on. The first is that the teddy bear toss was a success. Second, it is great to see the Parma Holy War back on the ice.
Holy Name Key Player
#78 Emily Sefchik: 64 Saves (92.8%)
Padua Key Players
#7 Luke Jordan: 1 Goal
#13 Mark Aponte: 1 Assist
#15 Jackson Hicks: 1 Goal + 1 Assist
Player of the Game: Jackson Hicks
