Olentangy Liberty hockey had been on the OHSAA state tournament stage before.

But taking the ice Saturday at Nationwide Arena, the Patriots arrived as another statistic.

Despite four state semifinal appearances, including most recently in 2017, the same reality loomed: no Columbus-area team had ever won a state championship, while only one team — Dublin Jerome in 2019 — had ever won a game in the state tournament.

Facing Cleveland St. Ignatius, a perennial state powerhouse looking for its first championship since 2019, all Liberty could hope was that momentum would hold, bringing in an offense that averaged nearly 11 goals per game and outscored teams 43-4 in the district tournament.

In a battle between the top two teams according to MyHockeyRankings.com, No. 2 Liberty’s (38-1-1) offense proved to be enough, beating No. 1 St. Ignatius (24-7-3), 4-3, to advance to the state final Sunday against No. 4 Hunting Valley University School.

"We have such high expectations," Liberty senior defenseman Carson Reynolds said. "I think we have to work so hard to prove everyone right and to follow those expectations. I think when we lack against good teams like that, it’s like, ‘Oh, they always do this. They choke.’ Because we never make it this far. The expectations put pressure on us, but I think we also use it to play harder and show out in these big games."

Tied at 3 for the majority of the second period, sophomore right wing Andrew Leonard broke free, connecting on the Patriots' third shot-on-goal within 32 seconds against St. Ignatius goalie Nolan Francis to take the lead.

Liberty's defense and goalie Robbie Cook took it from there as the Patriots advanced to their first state final. Cook finished with 23 saves, while Francis recorded 26.

St. Ignatius controlled the start of the game.

As Liberty tried to set up its offense early in the first period, junior Dario Piazza swooped in on a pass meant for the goalie, sneaking the puck in the back of the net for the first score of the game for the Wildcats. Momentum remained with St. Ignatius, adding another score by Johnny Rodgers nearly three minutes later.

While Liberty senior defenseman Jacob Kempa admitted the team didn't get off to the best start against St. Ignatius, he said it was his job to help get the Patriots back to the kind of hockey that brought them to the state tournament.

"We knew we just had to play defense, play our game," Kempa said. "I think we started off playing way too defensive and didn’t play how Liberty plays. ... We were like, ‘We’re going to go back to how we usually do it.’ And we did. And it worked."

Seconds into the first power play of the game, Liberty defenseman Jack Hamilton gave the Patriots their first score off passes from Jake Struck and Kempa.

Hamilton’s score broke the seal for the offense.

Reynolds took an errant pass from St. Ignatius defenseman Zach Zahoranski, dishing it to Struck to tie the game before Charlie Hughes gave Liberty the lead 26 seconds later in the first period with his 32nd goal of the season.

St. Ignatius tied the game during a Liberty power play early in the second period. The score held for the majority of the middle period before Leonard’s goal with 3:28 left.

"I didn’t see us getting four goals on this team," Liberty coach Kevin Alexander said.

Holding a lead heading into the third period, senior defenseman Vinny Rengel said Liberty devoted all of its focus to shutting down St. Ignatius' offense.

"Keep everything simple," Rengel said of the team's approach. "I mean, once we try to do too much, that’s when our game falls a little short compared to other good teams. But once we move the puck fast, get it deep, forecheck hard, get shots, it’s hard to beat us."

Struck, Hughes and Leonard each finished with a goal and an assist for the Patriots.

Liberty has not lost a game since Nov. 27, something Reynolds said has been representative of the resiliency of the Patriots throughout the season.

"We don’t want to lose a big game like that," Reynolds said. "But I think with how we are and how we react to big pressure games, I think we’ll come out and make a statement."

Alexander knows Liberty is in uncharted territory for the Columbus area. But that's not what his team is focused on heading into the state final against University School at noon Sunday.

"I think that’s nice as a secondary thing," Alexander said. "But I think inside our locker room, we kind of want to just do it for ourselves, if that’s a selfish way to say it. We’d also like to do it for central Ohio. That would be an added bonus."

 cgay@dispatch.com 

@_ColinGay

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olentangy Liberty hockey beats St. Ignatius in OHSAA state semifinal