Akron, OH – On Tuesday, August 26th the Padua Bruins traveled down to Akron to face the St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish. The Bruins came into this match with a 1-1 record, following a loss at Avon Lake on Saturday, August 23rd. SVSM would come into Tuesday’s game with a 1-1-1 record, with their most recent game being a tie against Boardman.

The Bruins came out of the gate red hot, scoring six goals in the first half alone. It was a group effort for Padua with multiple Bruins scoring. In the first half Junior Eli Christine led the way scoring two goals. Senior’s Garrett Nowicki, Caleb Zolkowski, and Kevin Ontaneda followed right behind all chipping in one goal respectively. Sophomore Max Bulat also contributed to the Bruins high scoring half, adding on to Padua’s lead, making it 6-0 going into the half.

It was more of the same for the Bruins in the second half. SVSM was unable to get back into the game and Padua capitalized. The Senior’s led the second half for the Bruins with Garrett Nowicki and Kevin Ontaneda scoring their second goal of the game. Jacapo Del Paggio also contributed, scoring his first goal of his Senior campaign. Junior Goalkeeper Gregory Dudick and Senior Goalkeeper Joseph Belfore held their own, keeping the Fighting Irish scoreless the entire game. This allowed Padua to coast to the finish line, winning 9-0, taking their record to 2-1 on the season.

Padua’s Kevin Ontaneda was voted “Most Valuable Bruin” by Coaches following the game. I asked Ontaneda what it means to be chosen as the game’s ‘MVB’ and he said, “It feel’s amazing to be named the MVB. Coach said after the game that MVB could’ve gone to majority of the player’s out there because we all played as a team, and contributed into all nine of our goal’s. But at the end of the day being named the MVB feel’s great.” I also talked to Garrett Nowicki after Tuesday’s game. I asked him how it feel’s to get a big win on the road and he told me, “It feel’s great. Winning on the road can be tough but everyone stepped up and found a way to put nine goal’s past them.”

The Padua Bruins will host their home opener this Saturday, August 30th at 1:00 PM vs Olmsted Falls.