This past weekend the Bulldogs traveled to nearby North Olmsted, the site of the SouthWest Conference Tournament. In the first contest the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs matched up with the hosting Eagles. Both teams came out of the locker room with fire, but an early powerplay goal by the Eagles sent North Olmsted onto a lead they would never lose. The Eagles goaltender was able to hold onto a shutout until Junior forward Nick Riolo found the back of the net with just under two minutes to play in the game. Despite the opening game loss, the Bulldogs were not yet out of the double elimination tournament.

Entering the loser’s bracket the Bulldogs lined up against conference rival Avon Lake. A high scoring game with the Shoreman could not be decided in just three periods and the buzzer sounded with each team registering five goals. The eight minute sudden death overtime passed quickly and the game seemed like it was destined for a shootout. That is until Junior forward Eddie Gerus was able to best the Avon Lake goalie with just 34 seconds remaining in the overtime period to seal the victory for the Bulldogs keeping their championship hopes alive.

The third game of the tournament matched the Bulldogs with the Amherst Comets. Building upon the overtime momentum from the previous game the Bulldogs topped the Comets 3-1 with goals from Norman, Bement, and Kolar. Dougherty, Petitti, Jones, Gerus and Brady added assists to lift Olmsted Falls over Amherst. Senior goalie Pat Butterfield had 16 saves in the winning effort.

In the loser’s bracket final game the Bulldogs had to line up with the Eagles once more, each eying a chance to take on the Brecksville Bees for the SWC title. While Senior goalie Butterfield turned in a tremendous effort it just wasn’t enough to topple the Eagles out of their home nest. North Olmsted carried a 2-0 lead through most of the game until the shut-out killer Nick Riolo once again bested the Eagle’s netminder with a distant slap shot inside of the final two minutes.

Despite the disappointment of losing to crosstown rival North Olmsted twice, the Bulldogs can be proud that they held one of the area’s strongest offensive teams to only 5 goals over two games.

The Bulldogs return to regular season play on Saturday, January 24 at 7:30 PM taking on the Avon Lake Shoremen at the Brooklyn Recreation Center. Tickets can be purchased at the door.