Centennial takes the 2009 GNASH Cup

Centennial wins the GNASH Cup, defeating JPII 3-2.

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Middle TN Sports Network Coverage

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Tennessean Coverage

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090218/SPORTS07/90218100/-1/PREPSFACTORY

Centennial wins local hockey title

A first-year coach guided Centennial to its first GNASH Cup championship since 2001.

Coach Mark Layne guided the fourth-seeded Cougars to a 3-2 win over No. 2 Pope John Paul II in the hockey championship of the Middle Tennessee area teams on Wednesday night.

“Oh man, this is sweet,” said Layne who was an assistant under Eddie Antee the previous two seasons. “Eddie went back to the military and he’s going to be in the Special Forces, so they handed the reins over to me.”

Cougars right wing Blake Williams scored two goals, including the game-winner with 9:46 left, in front of an overflow crowd at Centennial Sportsplex.

“I couldn’t have got it without Jesse Kessler,” Williams said of the winning goal. “That was a great pass in front of the net. I was just in the right place at the right time.”

Centennial (14-5-1) took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Peter Horecka and Williams, but JPII defenseman Jacob Bourget tied the game with two goals in the second period.

“We stayed back in it until the end,” said Bourget, who equaled his total of two goals in the regular season. “It just wasn’t enough, I guess. You’ve got to put more in the net.”

Williamson County teams have won six of the 10 titles and Centennial won the league’s first two in 2000 and 2001.

JPII (16-5), the two-time defending state champion, almost tied the game with 8.9 seconds left, but the official overturned a Knights goal because a player pushed the puck in with his hand.

“We don’t match up very well with them, obviously,” said JPII Coach Bjorn Svedin, whose team has lost to the Cougars twice. “I think they had more intensity than we did. I think they outhustled us.”

Regular-season champion Father Ryan, Centennial, JPII and Hendersonville each advance to the Predators Cup state tournament that begins on Saturday. Two teams from Knoxville and Memphis will also be in the double-elimination tournament.

Cougars goalie Jes Stanford made 10 saves, including several sprawling stops. One of his biggest saves came with 10:55 left when he stopped JPII’s leading scorer, Ryan Sterrett, on a shorthanded breakaway.

“Our sports programs aren’t always the best, but tonight we pulled it off,” Stanford said. “At the end of the season we really started believing in each other and that’s what got this win tonight.”

Centennial was the only team to beat Father Ryan during the regular season and the Cougars beat the Fighting Irish again in the tournament.