Tonight’s broadcast schedule

Franklin vs. Montgomery Bell - 7:25 PM pregame, 7:30 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Station Camp-Liberty Creek vs. Tennessee Outlaws - 9:10 PM pregame, 9:15 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Previewing tonight’s games

The games that MTSN will be broadcasting are in BOLD.

For the first three weeks of the postseason, the game previews section will be divided by tournaments and rounds.

Predators Cup first round game
#5 Franklin vs. #4 Montgomery Bell - 7:30 PM @ Antioch-North
Tale of the tape
Franklin
First half record: 6-0-1 (1st out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 1 for second half)
Second half record: 3-3-1 (5th out of 8 teams)
GNASH Cup: 9-3-2 (2nd out of 6 teams)

Montgomery Bell
First half record: 6-0-1 (2nd out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 1 for second half)
Second half record: 2-1-4 (4th out of 8 teams)
GNASH Cup: 8-1-5 (1st out of 6 teams)

Season series: Both games ended in ties - 1-1 on October 23, 2-2 on November 29
And now, another strike against this regular season format: The two primary GNASH Cup contenders face each other in round one on night one. At least someone has to win this time since it’s a playoff game. But seriously, this is what happens when you have a format where all the jeopardy (being relegated to the lower tier) occurs in the first half of the regular season. And for the second straight year, the GNASH Cup winners aren’t the 1 seed. Ravenwood were the 2 last year, but the Big Red are the 4. Anyway, let’s get into talking about this game. Both teams ended the regular season differently: Franklin stumbled getting to the finish line, losing three straight before gathering their balance, and closing with a win over Mt. Juliet. MBA won two of their last three, with their regular season finale against Father Ryan on Monday ending in a tie, which was all they needed to win the GNASH Cup. On paper, Franklin have the deeper team, although they’ve lost some key players to injuries: Michael Mannion, Hudson Lohse, and David Unger. That hasn’t rattled their depth too much, but it seems to have changed the way they played, especially in the younger Lohse’s absence, as he typically plays on a line with big brother Quinn. Their loss to Pope was shockingly bad, while the losses to Ensworth and Summit were the product of not being able to finish their chances. Like I said before, I don’t think their issues go away because the intensity cranks up. On the other side is MBA. Time-and-time again, I have said that the Big Red have the best top line in GNASH: Lee Guy, Matthew Moore, and Trace Graham. They have some youngsters coming along nicely, especially Abe Lasher and Duke D’Alba. And they have the best goaltender in the league in Hunter Wieck. But Wieck is also a concern for me, because many times this season, his teammates have relied on him to bail them out. Take Monday, for instance. Once Ryan scored the opening goal, they went all-in on the attack, and had a goal that would’ve given them a 2-0 lead waved off because of a dislodged net. It just feels like they’re going to get to a point where someone pushes hard, but Wieck can’t resist the pressure, and his teammates can’t come to his rescue. MBA need to do what Pope did two weeks ago, and that’s take the game from the get-go.

I’ll pick Franklin to win this one.

Consequences of this game’s result
Winner plays the Ravenwood/Summit winner next Wednesday @ 8:40 PM @ Centennial A in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Loser plays the Ravenwood/Summit loser next Monday @ 8:25 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp in the first round of the Losers’ Bracket

Henry Hine Cup first round games
#8 Independence-Ravenwood 2 vs. #1 Rutherford Rampage - 7:10 PM @ Centennial A
Tale of the tape
Independence-Ravenwood 2
First half record: 0-6-1 (8th out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 0-7-0 (8th out of 8 teams)

Rutherford Rampage
First half record: 1-6-0 (8th out of 8 teams, relegated to Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 6-1-0 (1st out of 8 teams)
GNASH Cup: Ineligible to win due to midseason relegation

Season series: Rutherford won only meeting 2-0 on November 13
I’m not going to spend too much time on this one, because the result feels inevitable. With the exception of their 4-1 loss to USN on December 6, where they did not play well at all, Rutherford were the best team in Tier 2 in the second half. Meanwhile, with the exception of that November 13 game against the Rampage, where Catcher Greyson kept them in it by making some big saves, no one gave Indy any quarter in the second half of the regular season.

Rutherford will win.

Consequences of this game’s result
Winner plays the Brentwood/USN winner next Monday @ 7:40 PM @ Centennial A in a Winners’ Bracket Semifinal
Loser plays the Brentwood/USN loser next Monday @ 5:30 PM @ Centennial B in the first round of the Losers’ Bracket

#7 Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin vs. #2 Centennial - 8:30 PM @ Centennial B
Tale of the tape
Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin
First half record: 4-1-2 (3rd out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 2-4-1 (7th out of 8 teams)

Centennial
First half record: 2-3-2 (4th out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 5-2-0 (2nd out of 8 teams)

Season series: First meeting ended in a 4-4 tie on October 16, while Centennial won the second meeting 3-2 on January 24
This is the first of the two weird matchups taking place tonight. Both teams had opposite halves: Hendersonville played well in the first half of the regular season, but not so great in the second half. Centennial were middle-of-the-road in the first half, but great in the second (I still think Brentwood are a better team, though). Why is it weird? Look at the results of the season series. One game ended in a tie, and the reigning Hine Cup champs won the other one by just a goal, so, we know that the Commandos are capable of an upset. Both teams had a standout leader on offense: Gideon Drobnick for Hendersonville, and Brendan Mitchell for Centennial. Those two also had two teammates close to them in scoring: Drobnick had Colin Smith and Merrick Mott; Mitchell had Calvin Zacharias and Rhett Gordon. Centennial have slightly more depth than Hendersonville, but not much, and that should make for a close game. Funny enough, these two teams met in the first round last year, where Andrew Stratton helped Centennial steal in the game in overtime on their way to winning the whole tournament.

I’ll pick Centennial to win the 2024 rematch, too.

Consequences of this game’s result
Winner plays the Station Camp/Outlaws winner next Monday @ 7 PM @ Centennial B in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Loser plays the Station Camp/Outlaws loser next Monday @ 8:30 PM @ Centennial B in the first round of the Losers’ Bracket

#5 Brentwood vs. #4 USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture - 8:40 PM @ Centennial A
Tale of the tape
Brentwood
First half record: 2-4-1 (7th out of 8 teams, relegated to Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 3-3-1 (5th out of 8 teams)
GNASH Cup: Ineligible to win due to midseason relegation

USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture
First half record: 2-4-1 (6th out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 4-3-0 (4th out of 8 teams)

Season series: USN won only meeting 5-1 on November 15
And now, Brentwood face the consequences of their loss to the Outlaws on Monday. Even with a tie, they could’ve ended up the 3 seed. Now, they have to face a team that rudely welcomed them to Tier 2 on November 15. As I said in yesterday’s newsletter, USN improved substantially in the second half, especially after Vasili Santas was finally able to join the team after football season had wrapped up. The Eagles are mostly a young team, but still have some really good players, such as Ryan Barrett, Nick Venable, and Barrett Teasdale, once again facing his former team. You also can’t forget about Ben Schwarz in goal. Brentwood, though, have more depth: Aidan Pustizzi, Clayton Ellsworth, Trey Wilkins, and Jack Schultz, just to name a few. But, who will be their goaltender? Chris Orem literally rotated starts between Payne Fielder and Andrew Sallee in the second half, so, maybe we haven’t seen the real Brentwood, because surely, he’s made his choice as to who he wants to carry the team through this tournament in the crease. Could they be this year’s Centennial? Time will tell.

But I think that USN is winning this one.

Consequences of this game’s result
Winner plays the Indy/Rutherford winner next Monday @ 7:40 PM @ Centennial A in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Loser plays the Indy/Rutherford loser next Monday @ 5:30 PM @ Centennial B in the first round of the Losers’ Bracket

#6 Station Camp-Liberty Creek vs. #3 Tennessee Outlaws - 9:15 PM @ Antioch-North
Tale of the tape
Station Camp-Liberty Creek
First half record: 1-4-2 (7th out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 3-4-0 (6th out of 8 teams)

Tennessee Outlaws
First half record: 2-3-2 (5th out of 8 teams, remained in Tier 2 for second half)
Second half record: 4-3-0 (3rd out of 8 teams)

Season series: First meeting ended in a 5-5 tie on October 30, Station Camp won the second meeting 5-3 on January 29
Here’s the other weird Hine Cup first round matchup, because the higher seed struggled mightily with the lower seed in both meetings this season. In fact, if not for a Jacob Schenk goal with 17 seconds left in the first game, the Bison would’ve swept the regular season series. Both teams showed much improvement in the second half; for the Outlaws, much of the offense in the first half was driven by Schenk. Schenk still powered it in the second half (13 goals!), but Josh Kuehn caught up in terms of assists (13 of those!), but the second-highest goal scorer is Dalton Alejandro with four. The scoring at the top for the Bison was a little more spread out in the second half: Joey Siciliano had 10 points, Austin Givens 9, and Mark White 8. Jadon Robertson had five goals alone in the second half. The Bison look to be a little deeper than the Outlaws, and that has shown in their previous two meetings.

And I think they’ll win this one, too.

Consequences of this game’s result
Winners plays the Hendersonville/Centennial winner next Monday @ 7 PM @ Centennial B in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Loser plays the Hendersonville/Centennial loser next Monday @ 8:30 PM @ Centennial B in the first round of the Losers’ Bracket

Brackets

Predators Cup

Live link to this bracket; it automatically updates when a final score is entered.

Henry Hine Cup

Live link to this bracket.

Tomorrow’s game

MTSN will broadcast tomorrow’s game.

Predators Cup first round game
#8 Ravenwood vs. #1 Summit-Page - 5 PM @ Antioch-South

Monday’s final scores

This was the final day of the 2023-24 GNASH regular season; the game that was broadcast by MTSN is in BOLD.

Tennessee Outlaws 5, Brentwood 4
USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture 6, Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin 3
Centennial 8, Independence-Ravenwood 2 2
Montgomery Bell 2, Father Ryan 2 PODCAST LINK
Pope Prep-MLK-GCA 2, Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill 1

Standings

Podcasts

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Miscellaneous links

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The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, February 8.