Father Ryan has quietly found itself back into the early mix of the top teams in GNASH. The Irish, after a tough 3-1 loss to Ensworth-Oakland Nov. 13, bounced back with a 7-2 victory against Franklin-Hume Fogg Monday at the Centennial Sportsplex. It’s the most goals the Irish have scored in a game since October 30 vs. Pope John Paul II-CPA, where they scored six.
The win seems to have given Father Ryan coach Thomas Bernstein about his team and their identity moving forward.
“With respect to our identity, I want us to play sound, positional hockey. We have a young team that is finding ways to contribute. We’ve got some seniors that do a great job of modeling the way, and some young players that are responding to that,” said Bernstein.
“What I’ve appreciated is that we’ve gotten better every single game, even if our record hasn’t necessarily reflected that. It’s important to get that first win to string together a bunch of wins.”
For Franklin-Hume Fogg, it’s been a learning process for its young team, who have only collected three points in six games.
“We’re struggling with trying to grow some young talent,” said Franklin-Hume Fogg coach Kevin Howell.
“At the same time, we’re struggling with discipline. So those two things combined against a pretty good team, it kind of yields this result.”
Brendan Huff and Quentin Rummo both scored a pair of goals for the Irish. Sean Cato and Matthew Kestler also scored, while Peter Faulkner contributed on a power play goal.
For Franklin-Hume Fogg, Elliot Christoph and Gabe Enlow scored their two goals, with Enlow’s coming on the power play.
Both teams will be back in action next Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday week. The Irish will play Centennial-Page, while Franklin-Hume Fogg will face Ravenwood. Both games will take place at the Ford Ice Center.
