SANFILLIPO PLAYS BUFFALO ON THE ICE: JV WARCARTS

The JV hockey team Westerville Warcats traveled to a tournament in Buffalo, NY, and won the Buffalo Outdoor Cup during the weekend of February 18, defeating the Buffalo team.

Warcats Hockey is a combined club ice hockey team with athletes participating from all over the area.

Sophomore JV defensive player Cooper San Fillipo said that the game was not close and that the Warcats were dominating.

The victory was made sweeter by the fact the Warcats had played the Buffalo team before, but had lost. “They were calling us trash- talked all this smack and stuff- and then we went and played them in the championship and we beat them,” San Fillipo explained. “That was pretty sweet.”

The JV Warcats had an incredible season, finishing 32-21-3, 3rd place in the Ohio Scholastic Hockey League, and state tournament semi-finalists. According to San Fillipo, the Warcats played in other big tournaments, like their 1st place victory in the Rock-N-Roll Cup in Cleveland, OH.

The only sophomore from Big Walnut in the program, San Fillipo certainly did his part. He had 4 goals and 9 assists as a defensive player during his first season with the team.

“This year I think we had more depth, more people to play everything. We were able to execute the job that needs to be done,” San Filipino said. 

In fact, the sport is growing so quickly that there are enough athletes to fill three teams. SanFilllpio said this is the first year they had enough athletes to create a prep team, which he said is like our freshman teams here at BWHS.

There are 16 players from Big Walnut across the teams, including seniors Parker Williams, Mason Barbeau, Jack Logue, Joseph Kish, Nicholas Hoover, and Matthew Lewis.

“Everybody is pretty close in the locker room. It’s a different bond that just happens over time. I got welcomed into it, which was cool,” San Fillipo added.

This close group of athletes had fun off the ice too. “8 or 10 students and I went to a college Hockey game and that was

pretty fun,” said San Fillipo.

The Warcats practice and play on the ice across Central Ohio. San Fillipo said they play in Easton, Polaris, Worthington, Dublin, and downtown Columbus.

San Fillipo plans to continue playing ice hockey until he graduates.

The future of the sport looks promising thanks to its increasing popularity. There will certainly be a team for San Fillipo to win with next season.