Seattle - Two of King County’s Catholic high schools met under the lights in the Green Lake neighborhood when Coach Steve Snorsky and the Bishop Blanchet Braves acted as host to Rich Stearns’ Seattle Prep Panthers. The Panthers came in with a 3-4 record, collecting wins over Bothell, Nathan Hale and SAAS, but losing four more to Division I opponents. Blanchet also found a win over SAAS along with beating Overlake and Kennedy Catholic, only losing their three games to top-ranked teams to go 3-3.

After the opening face-off, minutes had gone by until freshman Noah Ortiz-Jones kicked off the night, scoring his first goal of the game for the Panthers. Following suit, Mark Layton and Carter Cullen each punched in a goal before Ortiz-Jones could swing back around to close the quarter with his second. Strong defense from the towering poles and excellent goaltending from Bennett Lingg held the Braves scoreless, going into the second quarter trailing, 4-0.

Jojo Bentley would break down the defense and score Prep’s fifth goal of the game in the early minutes of the second frame. Putting in work to get his team on the board, Jack Manca netted the first goal of the night for Blanchet, they’re only tally of the entire half. After giving up their first point of the night, Eric Van Hare didn’t waste much time to find the back of the net to bring the score to 6-1 at the end of two.

Eight goals were exchanged back and forth in the third quarter, along with a good handful of penalties for each side. Blanchet’s Phil Ward would connect for their second goal before Forrest Snorsky made his presence known with two straight shots to the cage. For Prep, Van Hare showed up first for his second goal before Layton and Bentley could also find goal number two. Ortiz-Jones would step up to finish his hat trick and Sergei Jacobs would get on the board with his first of the game to bring them up to an 11-4 lead going into the final quarter of play.

The Braves defense, backed by goaltender Jaybry Doyle-Hupf, stayed strong for the final twelve minutes, only allowing a solo shot from Jacobs to sneak by. Jeff Petschel would try to start the rally for Blanchet, but Snorsky’s hat trick goal would be the only one left in tank. Net-minder Bennett Lingg would earn the win for the Panthers, making thirteen saves on seventeen total shots.

The game was accented with excellent face-off battles and aggressive play from both sides, on-ball and off. Although Prep walked away on top, 12-6, the exceptional effort put forth by both sides made the game feel a lot closer than the scoreboard showed. Bishop Blanchet (3-4) will wait until next Tuesday to go on the road against Nathan Hale at 5:45 pm, while Seattle Prep (4-4) will get right back to work by hosting Overlake at 5 pm on Friday at Montlake Playfield. By Mark Donahue