Hockey: New Albany’s balanced attack leads solid start
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
New Albany’s Jack Lower (left) and Upper Arlington’s Zachary Teague compete Dec. 10 at Easton Chiller. Photo: John Hulkenberg
The New Albany hockey team didn’t waste any time getting back together last summer to work on the upcoming season.
The Eagles were just starting to put it together when they lost to St. Charles 1-0 in the second round of the regional tournament to finish 17-17-1. They won six of their final 10 games (6-3-1), including a string of four consecutive games.
New Albany parlayed the strong finish and the summer work into a hot start to this season, winning its first seven games, including a 5-3 win over defending state champion Olentangy Liberty in Capital Hockey League play on Nov. 19.
We had a rocky start (last season and) it took a little bit, but everyone gelled,” junior forward Matan Lefebvre said. “We lost (to St. Charles) in the playoffs. But right away, everyone wanted to get together again. We only lost three or four guys, so it’s the same team that wants to grind and compete. In the summer, everyone wanted to go and everyone was motivated to go.”
Lefebvre has 10 goals, seven assists and is plus-10 to lead the Eagles, who are 8-3 overall and 2-3 in the CHC-Red Division.
New Albany’s depth has been reliable this season. There are no superstars on the team, said coach Matthew Buss, just solid overall play from front line to goaltending and the drop off between lines is minimal.
“Maybe that’s part of the story in and of itself,” said Buss, who is in his sixth season. “We had 10 sophomores that all came back and now they are juniors. They’re more mature as third-year players. We have five or six guys up top that have been producing for us, but none of them are head and shoulders above the rest.”
New Albany’s Brian Bogert works against Upper Arlington on Dec. 10 at Easton Chiller. Photo: John Hulkenberg
New Albany is a program that’s grown over the last couple of years, having just 14 players on the roster in 2021 a year after qualifying for the state tournament, which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, there are 20 players on the roster and most of them have varsity experience.
Lefebvre and classmates Quinn Blaney (8 goals, 7 assists, 17 hits, plus-11), Aidan Dickson (6 goals, 7 assists, plus-4) and Jack Lower (4 goals, 9 assists, plus-11) as well as sophomore Will Yoho (4 goals, 9 assists, plus-6) lead the offensive attack. Lower’s 22 goals last season led the Eagles.
“I just think we have a good team that’s been gelling,” Buss said. “In the past, we’ve had guys Colin Carr and Colin Appell that were superstars. Nobody wants to turn down a superstar – we’d love to have a superstar. But I’d rather have the depth and uniformity throughout the lineup. It makes it a little bit easier and puts less pressure on the kids when you can get contributions from multiple players.”
New Albany, which was ranked 13th in last week’s myhockeyrankings.com state poll, showed the depth of the CHC-Red with the win over Liberty. The Patriots went undefeated and untied to win the league title last year. This season, all six teams in the division already have a loss.
“It just gives us confidence that we can compete with anybody,” Lefebvre said. “That just gives us more motivation to come to the rink and perform well every single time we’re there.”
Lefebvre has been on varsity since his freshman year and has grown into a leadership role. But it wasn’t easy.
Will Yoho of New Albany skates against Upper Arlington on Dec. 10 at Easton Chiller. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“I just lead by example with how I act,” he said. “I grew into it and I got a lot of help from (2022 graduate) Colin Appell. I learned a lot in a quick amount of time (about) how to become a leader. I still have to grow – it’s a continuing learning process.
“For me, if (I was) playing well, then my attitude would be really (positive). If (I was) playing terribly, everything would collapse and my mental state would go downhill, which would not help the team out. I’ve had to work on that – recognizing and understanding that it’s bigger than me.”
Junior goalie Ryan Myers anchors a defense that’s only given more than three goals in a game once this season.
“I think he’s an absolutely tremendous goalie,” Buss said. “Every single game, Ryan gives us a chance to win (or) he gives us a chance to be there at the end.”
Myers has 254 saves, 2.64 goals against average and a .898 save percentage for the Eagles this season. He’s the only goalie on the roster, so staying healthy is imperative.
“We had some injuries on defense, so we brought Will (Allman) back to cover some holes,” he said. “But they’ve been solid and they’ve done the job. They’ve picked up guys and cleared guys out, letting me do my job and making my job easy.
“We don’t have a backup (goalie). It’s kind of nice – there’s no goaltending battle. There’s no question of who’s going to start – it’s just get in there and get the job done. There’s no pressure to do bad.”
Allman, a senior, and freshman Layton Doyle (1 goal, 3 assist, plus-7) have been welcome additions to the blue line. Allman joined the team this season after playing with the AAA Ohio Blue Jackets the last two seasons.
“I just think everyone does a great job in their role and we don’t really have many gaps on our team,” he said. “Going into my senior year, I decided to switch my focus from hockey to school, going into college. High school, especially, is a lot of fun … especially playing for your school. I wanted that experience going through my senior year.”