Tonight’s broadcast schedule

Summit-Page vs. USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture - 5:10 PM pregame, 5:15 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK
Rutherford Rampage vs. Brentwood - 6:45 PM pregame, 6:50 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK
Montgomery Bell vs. Ravenwood - 8:20 PM pregame, 8:25 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Scenarios for tonight’s games

Who’s wrapping up the first half of the regular season tonight?

Brentwood, Centennial, Montgomery Bell, and Station Camp-Liberty Creek are all playing their final game of the first half of the regular season tonight.

Previewing tonight’s games

Games that are being broadcast by MTSN are in BOLD.

Summit-Page (3-1-0) vs. USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture (2-1-1) - 5:15 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
So, this is a pretty important game, because it could potentially decide the fates of three different teams. A Summit win would automatically clinch promotion to Tier 1 for Ensworth, and keep Centennial in Tier 2, and if the Outlaws can’t beat Station Camp, they, too, will be staying in Tier 2, as long as Summit win. The Spartans bounced back from their October 18 loss to Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin in a big way last week, beating Independence-Ravenwood 2 7-0, and ensuring that the Eagles would be staying put when the second half comes around. Meanwhile, USN got stomped 6-0 by Ensworth, but it would’ve been a lot worst if it hadn’t been for Ben Schwarz in net. Now, they have to play another one of Tier 2’s top offenses. Like the Ice Tigers, the Spartans also have multiple lines of players capable of scoring; Zach Ellis, Hunter Haley, and Hudson Halters have all scored four or more goals each (four for Ellis and Halters, and five for Haley). And, with the exception of their 4-3 loss to the Commandos, Summit have scored seven or more goals in each of their three victories. USN, meanwhile, have had either 10 or 11 skaters (not including goalies) because of injuries and football. For their first three games, this didn’t affect them, as they got a tie out of their season opener against Station Camp, and got hard-fought, close-knit wins against Independence and Centennial. But last week, they got clobbered 6-0 by Ensworth, even though they only had a couple of scratches this time instead of three of four. That’s not to say that they didn’t have their chances; their top line of Ryan Barrett, Barrett Teasdale, and Jayden Charnparnichkarn produced multiple scoring chances, and had shots in tight (most of the 12 USN managed to get off), but Bingston Soundara turned them all away. The other USN players got run up-and-down the ice by Ensworth. I expect the same from this game.

I’m picking Summit.

Tennessee Outlaws (1-2-1) vs. Station Camp-Liberty Creek (1-4-1) - 6 PM @ Centennial B
Station Camp become the first team to close out their first half schedule, and, since they’re staying put in Tier 2, this is pretty much an exhibition game. Only the games for the second half of the regular season are used to determine playoff seeds, and there’s no regular season championship for the six teams staying down like there is the GNASH Cup for the six teams staying in Tier 1. That being said, they would obviously like to win this game to give themselves confidence when the second half starts. Their opponent absolutely needs to win this game if they want to stay in the race for midseason promotion to Tier 1. The Outlaws have been in freefall since winning their opening game against Indy on September 25, coughing up a 3-0 lead against Hendersonville, ending up with a 4-4 tie, then coughing up a 2-0 lead against Centennial, ultimately losing 4-2, then being stomped 10-2 by Ensworth last Wednesday. I thought that the Outlaws would be fighting Summit for the other promotion to Tier 1 (Ensworth pretty much guaranteed to get one of the two), but, they simply aren’t good enough. As I mentioned, they have to win this game if Summit beat USN, or else, they’re not moving up. And Station Camp have gotten better as the season has gone on, finally getting their first win as a co-op against Indy on October 18. The Outlaws must be careful, or they could get caught off-guard.

I’ll pick Station Camp to pull off the upset.

Rutherford Rampage (1-4-0) vs. Brentwood (1-4-1) - 6:50 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
So, Rutherford finally got their top goaltender Jackson Wilson back after having to be without him in their three previous games, and he produced a masterclass in net against freakin’ Ravenwood, while his teammates hung five goals on the Raptors. The win kept alive Rutherford’s hopes of staying in Tier 1 for the rest of the season, and now sets up a shocker: One of Brentwood, Ravenwood, and Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill will be relegated to Tier 2. And the Bruins could be that team. With a loss tonight, they will go down. And to be honest, they really haven’t given any indication that they’re going to stay up. I thought they were on the right track after their 7-0 obliteration of Father Ryan, only to be shut down by Anthony Pellegrino five days later in a 4-0 loss to Pope Prep-MLK-GCA, then needed Payne Fielder to build a brick wall against Mt. Juliet in a 1-1 tie that’s only barely kept their chances from completing flatlining. Now, they have to face a Rampage team that’s suddenly gotten renewed hope. And if Clayton Ellsworth, Jack Schultz, Aidan Pustizzi, Callahan Fielder, and Trey Wilkins can’t score, they have to stop Justin Dickinson, Eddie Maze, Tucker Wilhelm, Kelvin McClendon, and Dylan Welch from scoring on them. Because if the Bruins can’t score, they will pay the price.

I’m picking the Rampage; I just don’t see Brentwood’s scoring issues magically fixing themselves.

Centennial (2-2-2) vs. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb (5-0-0) - 7:40 PM @ Centennial A
This game may not matter by the time it starts if Summit beat USN, because both of these teams’ fates will be sealed: Centennial will be staying in Tier 2, while Ensworth will be moving up. That said, even if Summit don’t win, both of those things would still be at stake here. The Cougars had a very disappointing finish in a week where they absolutely should’ve won both their games: They beat Station Camp last Monday, and then, had a 7-3 lead over Indy with just over six minutes left, only to see the Eagles come back and get a 7-7 tie out of it. It’s baffling to see Centennial play like they have; they don’t have the offensive depth that Ensworth do, but they’ve got some pretty decent skaters. Meanwhile, the Ice Tigers are coming off a week where they scored 16 goals: six against USN, and 10 on the Outlaws. They are a well-oiled machine, and headed for the top division. Not much else to say about this one.

I’m going with Ensworth.

Montgomery Bell (5-0-1) vs. Ravenwood (1-3-0) - 8:25 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
The Big Red close out their first half schedule tonight, and are looking to put themselves in prime position to chase the GNASH Cup when the second half of the regular season rolls around (keep in mind, Franklin have the same record). The Big Red are coming off a 1-1 with the Admirals last Monday, where Franklin outshot them just over 2-1, but Hunter Wieck managed to keep another puck from getting past him. Wieck’s brilliance in net has been rewarded by the offense: 24 goals scored, tied for second - to Franklin’s 28 - with Pope. Most of those, of course, have come from their top line of Lee Guy, Trace Graham, and Matthew Moore. Ravenwood, meanwhile, seem to be having as much trouble scoring as their big rivals: 11 goals through four games, six of those coming against…the Bruins. The Raptors finally returned to the ice last Wednesday after last having played on October 2 (a 7-3 loss to Franklin), and were browbeaten by the Rampage in a 5-1 loss. Barrett Nichols scored with just under five minutes left in the first to tie the game at 1-1, only for Rutherford to score four more goals on their way to victory. Now, now only do they have to face Wieck tonight, they have to play Pope on Wednesday, which means trying to beat Anthony Pellegrino. If Ravenwood lose both of their games this week, then Mt. Juliet could relegate them to Tier 2 just by beating Father Ryan next Monday. Could you imagine that happening?

Thanks to how nuts this season has been, I can. That’s why I’m picking MBA.

Standings

Wednesday’s schedule

MTSN’s broadcast schedule for Wednesday will be announced in tomorrow’s newsletter.

USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture vs. Tennessee Outlaws - 7:10 PM @ Centennial A
Rutherford Rampage vs. Franklin - 7:30 PM @ Antioch-North
Ravenwood vs. Pope Prep-MLK-GCA - 8:15 PM @ Antioch-South
Summit-Page vs. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb - 8:30 PM @ Centennial B
Independence-Ravenwood 2 vs. Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin - 8:40 PM @ Centennial A

Podcasts

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The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, October 31.