Next: Lakota East junior varsity inline hockey

East sweeps Lakota West to capture Division 2 crown.

By Steven Matthews

Staff Writer

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Lakota East High School's junior varsity inline hockey team had a season to remember.

The Thunderhawks finished with an impressive 19-1 record and captured the Division 2 championship by sweeping Lakota West in a best-of-three series.

"Going into it, I knew we'd have a good season," East coach Al Ganim said. "I never dreamt it would be this good."

East had 12 players on the roster.

"We improved the whole season," Ganim said. "The kids were great kids. Each game was exciting. The beginning of the season to the end, we just marched on."

The Thunderhawks won four games in the playoffs en route to the crown, beating Loveland 2 (7-3), Fenwick (11-4) and West (8-3 and 6-4).

East's offensive players were Corey Kadash (35 goals, 23 assists), Collin Pearce (16, 8), Rob Ganim (14, 2), Wes Hannig (7, 6), J.J. Myron (8, 2) and Denver Lilly (5, 2).

The defensive standouts were Kyle Ross (34, 16), Logan Schneider (25, 13), Clayton Keller (3, 4) and Jesse Brown (12, 5).

Anthony Molfetta (237 saves, 85.9 save percentage) was the team's goalie, while Matt Thornley played one game in the net.

Four players — Kadash, Schneider, Ross and Molfetta — were chosen to play up in the varsity all-star game Sunday, March 15, at Sports Plus in Evendale.

"It means a lot to them," Ganim said. "They have a lot of school pride. It's a big honor for them to be there."

Ganim was assisted by Jim Hall and Mark Luft.

"Our goal is to get them ready for varsity," Ganim said. "Teach them the same things the varsity kids are learning. Sometimes they'd even stay over and practice with the varsity.