Jesuit Hockey Plows Through Highland Park in The Tollway Tussle

On Wednesday, October 18th, the Jesuit Rangers undertook the Highland Park Scots at the Comerica Center in Frisco.

Context

The famed Jesuit Vs. Highland Park rivalry has been titled the “Tollway Tussle.” The Scots are located in Highland Park (south of Jesuit), while the Rangers are located in Preston Hollow, right off the tollway. Regardless of the sport, the Jesuit-HP rivalry has always been of great importance. However, hockey in particular is one of the most competitive sports when it comes to the rivalry. Today, I will be evaluating this dominant performance by the varsity gold Jesuit hockey team.

First Period

At the start of the game, Hall of Fame goalie Marty Turco dropped the puck. Marty played 9 seasons with the Dallas Stars, making him a legend in the Dallas hockey community. Marty set the tone for an early strong start for the Ranger’s, encouraging player’s to perform their best. Jesuit presented an aggressive play style, laying a few hard hits and instilling fear in the Scots. Senior and assistant captain Jackson Deininger put the Ranger’s on the scoreboard with a powerful shot from the blue line. Goalie Misha Saratovtsev made some spectacular saves, restricting the Scots from scoring any goals within the first period. As the period came to an end, the Ranger’s maintained a 1-0 lead, setting up for a strong start to the second period. Sophomore William Hubbell offered a  positive overview of the first period saying:

“Jesuit came out strong and was really physical in the first period, which I think set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Second Period

After both teams had a couple minutes at their benches, the buzzer rang to indicate the start of the second period. With a 1-0 lead, Jesuit came out confident. Within a few minutes, sophomore Wade Bryan scored a terrific goal, putting Jesuit 2-0 in the lead. Comforted by Misha Saratovtsev’s terrific saves and good goaltending, Jesuit continued to demonstrate their dominance through superior puck possession and shots. With less than 5 minutes remaining on the clock and Highland Park still goalless, junior Thomas Fino put his first goal of the night in the net. With a 3-0 lead, the Ranger’s started to run off with the win. However, at this point in the game the Highland Park Scots had nothing to lose. The remainder of the period was highly competitive, with both teams shooting lots of pucks at the net and laying heavy hits. Shortly after Thomas Fino’s goal, the Highland Park Scots scored their first of the night. Jesuit junior and spectator Zachary Dsouza shared his thoughts saying:

“It’s always a cool thing when one of your friends does well and I could tell Thomas was excited too.”

Third Period

Going into the third and final period with a 3-1 lead, Jesuit continued to showcase their confidence and dominance on the ice. Thomas Fino scored his second of the night, setting the Ranger’s 4-1 in the lead. After an amazing performance, goalie Misha Saratovtsev switched with goalie Sasha Dikun. Following this goalie switch, HP made some strong plays and scored their last goal of the night with 5 minutes remaining. However, the Ranger’s weren’t satisfied with a 4-2 lead, as junior Everett Saha scored a banger goal, upping the lead to 5-2. As the final buzzer rang, Jesuit players surrounded the goalie in celebration. Once again maintaining ownership over Highland Park Hockey, the Ranger’s showcased an unbelievable and entertaining performance. While there were only a few who managed to score, some player’s such as Jack Bowdich, Jack Reynolds, William Hubbell, Liam Placke and more had an important influence on the outcome of this game. I asked head coach Nick Hinkley how he felt following this strong win:

“Anytime Jesuit plays HP it’s going to be an emotionally charged contest. We were happy to get the win but we are on a mission and just trying to get better every game as we prepare for our run in the league, state, and national tournaments later this season.”

Conclusion

Through this game, the Jesuit Ranger’s maintain the ownership of the “Tollway Tussle.” Be sure to check out a Jesuit Hockey game this season! The schedule can be found on the Jesuit Dallas Athletics website.

Stay tuned to the Jesuit Roundup for future game recaps and news!