December 16,2005

     The Lake Catholic Cougars defeated the Trinity Trojans 3-1 in the 2005 finals of the North Coast League Tournament. After the Trojans took a 1-0 lead on Rich Tropf's power play goal midway through the first period, Lake Catholic added two goals to end the period and never looked back en route to the victory.

     Following that first period, the Trojans stepped up their game, and out shot the Cougars 25-14 in the final two frames, but Cougar net minder Ken Kuchinski held the Trojans scoreless throughout the two periods as Lake Catholic won their second consecutive NCL championship.

     The runner-up finish is the highest ever finish for the Trojans in the NCL event

     There's no rest for Trinity though, and the Trojans come right back tonight in opening round action of the Thornton Park tournament with a 6pm contest against the Cleveland Heights Tigers. The teams last met in the 2005 sectional tournament at Kent State where Trinity broke open a 1-1 game in the Third period with three unanswered goals to come away with a 4-1 victory. The opponents for the rest of the weekend depend on the results of the first game on Friday. If the Trojans defeat Cleveland Heights, they will face Shaker Heights at 8pm on Saturday night. If they are not successful, they will face Mentor at 3:30pm on Saturday.