Top 10 GNASH games broadcast by MTSN in all of 2024

Unlike last week’s list, which was a “10 Best”, this is a ranked list.

10. Ravenwood vs. Hendersonville-Beech-Lawson - 11 December - If Hendersonville won this game, Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb would’ve won the 2024-25 GNASH Cup regular season championship, and claimed the Predators Cup 1 seed. For a while, it looked like that was exactly what would happen, as the Commandos led the Raptors 6-5 after two, and had come from behind twice already by that point. Cooper Hill had already completed a hat trick, and scored twice more in the third period, a period where Ravenwood outscored Hendersonville 3-0. Reese Mackenzie was given the start in the Raptors’ crease, her sixth start of the season, and by far her toughest test. Despite some shaky moments, she passed, making a couple of show-stopping saves, including one late in the game when the Commandos had the extra attacker on. Two nights later, Ravenwood beat Father Ryan 4-0 to set up the big showdown with Ensworth when GNASH returns from the holidays on January 13.

9. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb vs. Montgomery Bell - 18 November - Ensworth were on the verge of clinching the first berth for the 2025 Predators Cup. They’d missed out on their first chance three days earlier, when they and the Tennessee Outlaws finished in a 1-1 tie. The Ice Tigers struck quickly, with Henry Cravens scoring the opening goal just 54 seconds in, only for Ethan Sides to tie the game up just 65 seconds later. Trex Hooper gave Ensworth the lead back early in the second, only for MBA to tie the game against just under two minutes later, when Trace Graham came out of the penalty box, and took a pass at the front of the Ensworth net, surprising goalie Reuben Allen, causing him to fall backwards and leave the right-hand side of the net open, allowing Graham to slide it in. Ensworth took the lead for a third time not too long after, when ex-Big Red Lucas Tarquine backhanded the puck into the roof of the net from the right circle. Right at the end of the second, the Ice Tigers suddenly had a ‘‘‘‘‘4-on-0’’’’’ when they caught MBA in a change, only for Hunter Wieck to come up with the save on Hudson Honeybone. It looked like Ensworth would hold on for the win, but with 42 seconds left, Matthew Moore knocked a Duke D’Alba centering pass into the roof of the Ensworth net, and the points were split. The Ice Tigers again missed out on clinching a Preds Cup berth, but finally nailed it down two nights later, when they beat JPII-MLK 3-0. But could being unable to see this game out potentially cost them the GNASH Cup? We’ll find out soon.

8. Summit-Page vs. Franklin - 24 January - For much of the 2023-24 GNASH regular season, Franklin seemed like an unstoppable freight train. The Admirals led for much of the way, not losing a game until they were beaten by Ensworth on December 6. That wasn’t a big deal, but on January 22, their first game back from the holiday break, they were absolutely humiliated by Pope Prep-MLK-GCA, losing 5-0. Suddenly, what looked like a sure thing (the GNASH Cup regular season championship) was in danger of slipping away. And it was this game against Summit where Franklin officially fumbled it. Tied 1-1 in the final minute, Hunter Haley, went one-on-one with a Franklin defender (I’m not sure who), who successfully pushed him off the puck. Along came Gavin Akers, who finished his check on Haley, and was given a (controversial) interference penalty with 33 seconds left. The Spartans won the subsequent faceoff, and just four seconds later, Cam White took a shot from the top of the left circle that grazed off of Chad Janson’s left leg pad and in. Zach Ellis added an empty-netter with 4.5 seconds to go. If the game had ended tied, Franklin and Montgomery Bell would’ve both finished the regular season with 21 points, and the Admirals would’ve won the GNASH Cup due to having more wins (9 to 8). Instead, they became the unwanted answer to a trivia question: “In 2023-24, this team became the first in GNASH history to not win the GNASH Cup regular season championship, despite winning more games than the team that did.” Franklin never fully recovered from the three-game losing streak, eventually being knocked out of the Predators Cup in the Losers’ Bracket Semifinal by Ravenwood.

7. Station Camp-Liberty Creek vs. Tennessee Outlaws - 7 February - You don’t get a lot of first round gems in the Hine Cup, because of the talent disparity. You definitely don’t expect the 3 vs. 6 game to be so great, too, but that’s what we got here. The Outlaws went up 3-1 just past the halfway point of the second, only for the Bison to score twice in 15 seconds to tie the game up just a few minutes later. It looked like the game was going to overtime, only for Jacob Schenk, in his last big moment as an Outlaw, to fire the puck straight into the roof of the net from the right point, and give the Outlaws the win. The Bison never recovered from the heartbreaking defeat, being eliminated by Centennial just five days later. Meanwhile, the Outlaws never grabbed ahold of the momentum from that game; five days later, they lost a tough game to 7 seed Hendersonville, then were shown the door by Brentwood two nights later.

6. Rutherford Rampage vs. Station Camp-Liberty Creek - 18 November - I don’t think I’ve ever done a GNASH game where a team entered the final period down three, and came back to win. Until this game, that is. Tucker Wilhelm scored the opening goal just 33 seconds in, and the Rampage were up 3-0 after one. Jadon Robertson got the Bison on the board just 24 seconds into the second, only for William Haynes to put the Rampage back up by three, and they headed into the third up 4-1. Bison goalie Miller Campbell locked down his net, and early in the third, Robertson scored again to get Station Camp back within two. Then, just past the halfway point of the third, Dom DeMaria and Toby Mehaffy scored in a 40-second span to tie the game. Then, in the final minute, the Rampage couldn’t keep the puck in the Bison zone. Joey Siciliano grabbed it at center, led a 2-on-1 with Mehaffy, and Mehaffy scored the game-winning goal with 19 seconds left. The win kicked off the Bison’s (ongoing) four-game winning streak, that has them just two points off the eighth place Outlaws at the time of writing. Meanwhile, this was the second in a four-game losing streak for the Rampage, the final loss of which (to JPII) saw them end up with a Hine Cup spot.

5. Montgomery Bell vs. Father Ryan - 5 February - All MBA needed coming into this game was a tie, and they would win the GNASH Cup regular season championship outright over Franklin by a single point. It looked for a moment like that wouldn’t happen. After Zach Fonnesbeck swatted away a relentless Big Red offense in the first, the Irish took a 1-0 lead just 54 seconds into the second on a goal from Colin Sullivan. Just over three minutes later, Jack Halloran appeared to give Ryan a 2-0 lead, when he scored from a netmouth scramble, only for the goal to be disallowed because of a dislodged net. MBA finally got on the board towards the end of the second, thanks to Lee Guy, then took the lead on a power play with just under 20 seconds left in the middle frame, on a goal from Michael Dattilo. It appeared that the Big Red were going to win the GNASH Cup in style, only for Colton Edwards to score with just over three minutes to go in the game. From there, Fonnesbeck and Hunter Wieck played shutdown hockey, and the game ended tied. MBA were unable to turn the GNASH Cup into Preds Cup glory, eventually being knocked out by Ravenwood in the Losers’ Bracket Final. These two teams played to another 2-2 tie on September 30, but that game was nowhere near as good as this one; in addition to low stakes, they only had 16 shots on goal apiece in the sequel.

4. Ravenwood vs. Summit-Page - 4 December - Coming into the 2024-25 season, the big question was, “Could anyone match up well with Ravenwood?” A ten-man Raptors team losing to the Outlaws 2-0 on October 17 (despite still outshooting Tennessee 32-14) aside, the answer appeared to be “No.” But in this game, Summit said “YES!” The Spartans matched the Raptors in every facet, especially speed, having a player hanging around a Ravenwood skater every time they had the puck. The game was 0-0 until 3:40 left in the second, when Grady Fernan got Ravenwood in the board first. Just 53 seconds later, Madden Chandler scored to tie the game, and then Ravenwood took the lead back thanks to Cooper Hill just under two minutes later. With just over two minutes left in the game, Hunter Haley scored on the power play to tie the game 2-2. Then, Summit goalie Brady Tessier made not one, but two big breakaway saves on Mason Reed, then Colin Gower made one of his own on Zach Ellis. I don’t see any other game that’s still to come in the regular season (there are only 18) that will top this one. I truly hope that they meet again in the Preds Cup.

3. Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin vs. Brentwood - 26 February - In March 2019, Hendersonville-Station Camp-Beech and Brentwood met in the Predators Cup Final. The Commandos needed to win to force the If Necessary, which they did, only for the Bruins to win that game 7-2 two nights later, and leave with the trophy. So, who could’ve predicted that nearly five years to the day, they would put on an epic showdown…in the Henry Hine Cup? Meeting for a place in the Final to take on the Rampage, the two teams scored a combined nine goals over the first two periods. The Commandos led for much of the game, but the Bruins took the lead in the third, and seemed destined to hold on, only for a Dom Harpole shot to deflect off of a Brentwood stick, and go in with 32 seconds left, sending the game into overtime. In the extra period, Ty Essenmacher completed a hat trick to send Brentwood to the Hine Cup Final. Shockingly, that would be their last goal of the season, as two nights later, Rampage goalie Alec Dawes turned away all 37 of the Bruins’ shots in a 4-0 Rampage win. Not that the Commandos would’ve fared any better; the week before, Rutherford beat them 6-0 in the Winners’ Bracket Final. Oh, by the way, this was a 7 vs. 5 Losers’ Bracket Final matchup.

2. Ravenwood vs. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb - 4 March and 5 March - Yes, the greatest two-game Preds Cup Final of all-time is only #2. The Raptors were the first 8 seed to ever make the Preds Cup Final. They only won four games in the regular season, but that was because more ice time was being given to the younger players to allow them to develop. Once the big show began, the big guns were used more often. The Raptors began the tournament by knocking off 1 seed Summit. After losing 5-1 to MBA a week later, Colin Gower took the starter’s job in goal from Brady Miller, and the journey began. They knocked out Pope Prep-MLK-GCA, Franklin, and then got revenge on MBA to reach the final. Meanwhile, Ensworth went through Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill, Father Ryan, and MBA to get this far. Ravenwood won Game 1 of the final 5-4 on the back of a Cooper Hill hat trick. One night later, Bon Sonkin put the Ice Tigers on his back, and scored his own hat trick in a 6-4 win to give Ensworth the Preds Cup. Sonkin was (rightfully) named the Mitchell Mielnik Predators Cup Final MVP, scoring four goals across the two games, having one in Game 1 the night before.

1. Father Ryan vs. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb - 14 February - This wasn’t the first time I called a playoff game that ended 1-0 in overtime; in February 2016, Independence-Summit and Station Camp-Beech met in the opening game of pool play for the inaugural Mielnik Cup (yes, the Mielnik Cup was a third-tier postseason tournament which was only held twice before the number of teams in the league dropped to 15, at which point the tournament became the Mielnik MVP award for the Preds Cup Final), where Nick Molnar scored the only goal in OT for Indy. The two teams would meet again in the final, having finished first and second in pool play, with Indy again winning in OT (although, the final this time was 4-3). Here, Zach Fonnesbeck and Bingston Soundara put on a goaltending clinic. Just when it looked like the game was heading for a shootout, Austin Hester shockingly fell moving along the Ensworth blue line, losing the puck, and watching as Hudson Honeybone led a 2-on-0, and shot the puck into the bottom corner on the right-hand side of the Irish net with exactly eight seconds left in the extra period. Unfortunately, unlike 2016, we wouldn’t get a second meeting between these two, as the Irish were promptly knocked out by a pissed off Franklin a week later, and Ensworth…well, you know how this story ends.

Podcasts

As we did last year, game podcasts are being exclusively uploaded to our YouTube channel for this season. To subscribe so you don’t miss out, scroll down to the footer of this newsletter, and click on the play button to be taken to our channel.

Miscellaneous links

Follow @MTSNGNASHScores on Twitter (we refuse to call it X) to get the scores for every GNASH game.

Sign up HERE to get GNASH games scores sent to your phone or email.

Another special edition of this newsletter will come out on Sunday, January 5. It will link to a report about the three big races (GNASH Cup, Preds Cup qualification, and Hine Cup 1 seed), and how they could shake out. Until then…