Gilmour recorded a signature 3-1 Great Lakes Hockey League win over visiting archrival University on Jan. 19 in a battle of the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in The News-Herald Top of the Crop.
It marks the first-ever win for the Crop second-ranked Lancers (16-6-3, 4-2-1) over the Crop No. 1 Preppers (14-6-2, 3-2-1). US had won the previous 15 meetings in the series dating to the 2000-01 season by a combined score of 62-21.
Suffice to say, it was a fun night for the hosts in Gates Mills.
“It was exciting. It was very exciting,” Gilmour coach John Malloy said. “I think I’ve been around long enough that I keep it in perspective. I enjoyed it. I don’t want to say it’s just another game, but we’re playing well. We’re really playing good hockey. We have been doing it all year long, and since the break, we’re just getting better and better each and every game.
“We went up to (St. Andrews, Ontario over MLK weekend) and won that tournament there against some really good competition. Defensively — the whole defensive concept that the boys have bought into is outstanding. We’ve given up four goals in the last six games, and it’s not slouch teams, either.”
Charlie Valenti scored a power-play goal for Gilmour, and Evan Enrich and Dominic Casamatta contributed tallies later in the second period. Duncan Nichols-Delay had 21 saves for the Lancers.
Andre Berglund scored the goal for the Preppers in the second period.
“We got some timely goal scoring,” Malloy said. “If we get some timely goal scoring, we’re going to be tough to beat.”