Previewing tonight’s game

Predators Cup Final
#8 Ravenwood vs. #2 Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb - 7 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp (MTSN coverage begins at 6:50 PM BROADCAST LINK)
Paths to this game
Ravenwood
-Defeated Summit-Page 6-4 on February 8 in the first round
-Lost 5-1 to Montgomery Bell on February 14 in a Winners’ Bracket Semifinal
-Defeated Pope Prep-MLK-GCA 7-4 on February 21 in a Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinal
-Defeated Franklin 6-3 last Monday in the Losers’ Bracket Semifinal
-Defeated Montgomery Bell 4-3 last Wednesday in the Losers’ Bracket Final

Montgomery Bell
-Defeated Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill 8-3 on February 12 in the first round
-Defeated Father Ryan 1-0 in overtime on February 14 in a Winners’ Bracket Semifinal
-Defeated Montgomery Bell 5-1 on February 21 in the Winners’ Bracket Final

Season series: Ensworth won the only meeting 7-4 on November 15
So, here’s the reason the schedule for this week changed: Liam Powell and Cooper Hill had to withdraw from the All-Star Game on Wednesday due to obligations with their travel teams, meaning that they wouldn’t have been available for an If Necessary Game that immediately preceded said All-Star Game, which would have been an absolutely unfair and anticlimactic way for this tournament to end (especially with the way that Powell has been quarterbacking the Raptors through this period), so, that’s why the If Game is now on Tuesday.

Now, for the preview: This feels like a must-win game for Ensworth. Ravenwood have a huge amount of momentum coming in, and one has to wonder if the fact that the Ice Tigers haven’t played in almost two weeks has been a bad thing, since Ravenwood have played twice since then. Through this surge, that began when the Raptors overcame a 4-2 deficit against Pope, the Raptors’ offense has centered around Powell. In the last three games, he has ten points from six goals (a hat trick coming against the Knights) and four assists. If not for him, Ravenwood wouldn’t be in this position. Ensworth had a couple of coaches watching the MBA game on Wednesday, and they have surely relayed the message that Powell will need to be covered (but then, that leaves Brady Friedman and Cooper Hill open, which is still not great).

But Ravenwood’s defense deserves credit, too. They’ve been pretty stingy, forcing team’s big-name players to the outside, forcing passes, causing opposing defensemen to pinch, they’ve done it all. They’ve still made the mistake of allowing players to hang out in front of the net all alone, leading to goals (for example, Maclaine Butters’s goal against them last Monday, and MBA’s latter two goals last Wednesday). And Colin Gower has allowed 14 goals in four games, which isn’t great, but he’s done enough to allow the offense to do its work.

Ensworth, meanwhile, have outscored their opposition 14-4 over three games, with 13 of those goals coming against Mt. Juliet and MBA (and they didn’t even score that last goal against the Big Red; Graeme Rutter put the puck into his own net). Their scoring is pretty spread out: JT Borland and Ben Sonkin lead the way with four points each, Jax Dooner, Lucas Tarquine, and Trex Hooper each have three points, Spencer Kern has two, and six other players have one point each. But Ensworth’s star has been goaltender Bingston Soundara, allowing just four goals on 69 shots so far, with the shutout against Father Ryan. I forgot to post this in the MBA game recap, but he made what will easily be the save of the playoffs so far against the Big Red: With the game tied a 0-0 in the second, and MBA on the power play, Soundara was at the top of his crease, when Lee Guy got the puck in the left circle; anticipating a shot, Soundara dove to his right, stopped the shot with his stick, and covered up the puck. If one could point to the start of MBA’s downfall, it probably began there.

This will absolutely come down to goaltending: Gower and Soundara will need to be perfect in the crease, and the guys in front of them will need to take advantage of their scoring opportunities. I think that Ensworth will need to tilt the ice in their direction early, and keep it that way, because if Ravenwood win tonight, I don’t think the Ice Tigers can bounce back tomorrow.

Staying out of the box will also be key, especially for Ensworth, who took a lot of penalties in the second against MBA, which could’ve cost them the game, but didn’t.

With a win, this would be the first GNASH trophy of any kind won by Ensworth School, Nolensville High School, and Lipscomb Academy. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb would become the first three-school co-op to win the Predators Cup.

There will be an ice cut following the second period; hopefully, unlike last Wednesday’s Hine Cup Final, the water pump works this time, and we get a fresh sheet of ice.

Against my better judgement (that’s what it feels like at the moment), I’m picking Ensworth to walk out as Preds Cup winners tonight.

Consequences of this game’s result
Ensworth win tournament with win
Ravenwood win would force If Necessary Game tomorrow @ 8:55 PM @ Centennial A

Predators Cup bracket

Final All-Star Game rosters

News

Last Friday in Bellevue, the Tennessee Outlaws defeated Hendersonville 4-0 in the JV league championship game.

Podcasts

All MTSN game podcasts will be uploaded exclusively to YouTube this season. To subscribe to our YouTube channel, 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.

Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during the playoffs, we will be uploading a classic GNASH playoff broadcast to our Internet Archive page. Click HERE to get a nostalgia fix!

The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, March 5.