COLUMBUS, Ohio (Bleacher Report/ WJW, March 9, 2014)- Apparently you can tie even when there’s a state title on the line.
That’s exactly what happened during the Ohio hockey state championship between the Cleveland St. Ignatius Wildcats and Sylvania Northview Wildcats. The game was tied at 1-1 after regulation, but it never ended, with the two teams going through seven overtimes in 4 and a half hours.
That’s right. They had seven overtimes.
The OHSAA stopped the game and determined that the teams were co-state champions.
Then the Ohio High School Athletic Association released the following statement, Saturday night:
“By mutual agreement of the head coaches, school administrators and OHSAA administrators, today’s ice hockey state championship game at Nationwide Arena was ended after seven overtime periods. The game shall be recorded as a 1-1 tie and Sylvania Northview and Cleveland St. Ignatius shall be declared co-state champions.
After the seventh overtime, the head coaches, school athletic administrators and OHSAA administrators had a lengthy discussion. Many players on both teams were seriously fatigued and neither coach or school administrator objected to ending the game before the eighth overtime began.
By national rule, there is no shootout procedure in high school hockey.
While the decision is being questioned by fans, the OHSAA commends the coaches and school athletic administrators in reaching this decision together without conflict.
This is an opportunity to show that wins and losses, even in a state championship game, are not more important than player safety. Had a player been seriously injured in the eighth overtime due to fatigue, the decision to allow the game to continue would have been seriously questioned more than the decision to end it.”
