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Paul Vernon/ThisWeek

Members of the Jerome hockey team celebrate after Matt Burke scored with four seconds remaining in regulation on Feb. 12 to beat Olentangy Liberty 1-0 in the final of the Blue Jackets Cup. Buy This Photo

With an assist from a Dublin Coffman hockey player, Dublin Jerome High School senior Matt Burke was in position to score the game’s only goal Feb. 12 in a 1-0 victory over Olentangy Liberty in the final of the Blue Jackets Cup at the OhioHealth Ice Haus.

Burke had the blade on his right skate snap in half late in the second period and shortly after limping off the ice, he began a frantic search for a replacement.

“I was thinking, ‘Why did this have to happen in a game as important and close as this one,’” Burke said.

Between the second and third periods of the scoreless game, Jerome coach Pat Murphy asked Dublin junior varsity green coach Dave Gnas if one of his players could lend Burke a pair of skates, as the team wasn’t scheduled to play until after the Blue Jackets Cup final.

Burke tried on four pairs before settling on ones owned by Coffman’s Sean Dicks, and he returned to the game with 12 minutes remaining in the third period.

The Celtics and Patriots continued to battle evenly in a scoreless game deep into the third period, before John Henry Fischer deflected a loose puck to Jeff Davison.

Davison rushed down the left side of the ice and fired a shot off the pads of Liberty goalie Eddie Arcy, only to have the puck bounce directly in front of Burke, who chipped it past Arcy and into the net with four seconds remaining as the top-seeded Celtics improved to 27-9-1 overall. Liberty dropped to 26-10-1 overall.

“The skates I borrowed were a little small, but they felt fine once I crammed my feet into them,” Burke said. “I was just happy to get back into the game, and I could hardly believe it when that play happened. I’ve never scored a goal in such a big game or with so few seconds left in a game before, and when I saw the puck go in, I went crazy and tackled Jeff on the ice, and we all celebrated.”

Jerome won its fifth Blue Jackets Cup championship in seven seasons, after also capturing titles in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Liberty outshot Jerome 13-6 in the third period, but Jerome goalie Wes Faulkenberry wrapped up a spectacular tournament run by racking up 30 saves.

“This was an evenly-played game and both Wes and Eddie were terrific in goal,” said Jerome coach Pat Murphy, whose squad also beat Liberty 5-3 on Dec. 11, 3-0 on Jan. 16 and 5-2 on Jan. 29. “We’ve played outstanding defense all season to get to this point, and we made some adjustments to help eliminate some of their quality scoring chances and to take away second-shot opportunities. Wes is a terrifically-skilled player and you could almost see the focus and determination in his face throughout the tournament.”

Faulkenberry also had 14 saves during a 10-2 victory over DeSales in the first round on Feb. 9 and 22 in a 5-2 win over Upper Arlington in a semifinal on Feb. 10.

Davison scored five goals against the Stallions. Alex Cathis had two goals and two assists, Burke had four assists, James Eastep and Sam Franklin each had a goal and one assist, Luke Potter and Fischer each had two assists and Tommy Parizek scored a goal.

Against UA, Franklin had a goal and an assist, Eastep, Fischer, Chase Rose and Parizek each scored one goal and Cathis had two assists.

Arcy also had an outstanding tournament, making 33 saves against Jerome. He had 19 saves in a 5-0 win over Thomas Worthington in the first round on Feb. 9 and had 25 in a 4-2 victory over Olentangy Orange on Feb. 10.

“Eddie was outstanding all tournament long, especially against Orange and Jerome,” Liberty coach Jack Hoogeveen said. “You have to give Faulkenberry credit, because he played well the entire game. We threw everything we could at him and we just fell short. We executed our game plan well and did a better job of breaking out of our zone than the other times we played them. We got pucks to the net, but we just couldn’t bury them.”

•TOURNAMENT TIME — Top-seeded Jerome will open the district tournament against Gahanna on Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Chiller North.

The winner will play eighth-seeded St. Charles, DeSales or Springboro on Feb. 25 at the Ice Haus.

The Celtics, who lost to Liberty 3-2 in a district final last season, defeated Gahanna 10-0 on Jan. 8, DeSales 5-4 on Feb. 3 and Springboro 3-1 on Jan. 14.

Dublin Coffman lost to Upper Arlington 3-2 in triple overtime in the first round of the Blue Jackets Cup on Feb. 9 to drop to 14-15-1 overall.

The sixth-seeded Shamrocks will open the district tournament against Beavercreek or Thomas Worthington on Sunday, Feb. 19, at the Chiller North.

The winner will play third-seeded Upper Arlington, Centerville or Watterson on Feb. 25 at the Ice Haus.

The Shamrocks, who lost to Liberty 3-0 in a district semifinal last season, also lost to UA 2-0 on Dec. 30, beat Watterson 12-1 on Dec. 31 and lost to Thomas 4-2 on Jan. 7.

Dublin Scioto lost to Worthington Kilbourne 4-2 in the first round of the Blue Jackets Consolation Cup on Feb. 10 to drop to 12-17-1 overall.

The Irish will open the district tournament Cincinnati Sycamore on Friday, Feb. 17, at the Chiller North.

The winner will play second-seeded Liberty on Sunday, Feb. 19, at the Chiller North with the winner playing seventh-seeded Troy, Cincinnati St. Xavier or Olentangy on Feb. 25 at the Ice Haus.

The Irish, who lost to Gahanna 4-1 in the first round of the district tournament a year ago, lost to Liberty 5-0 on Feb. 4, beat Sycamore 5-3 on Dec. 9 and lost to Olentangy 5-1 on Feb. 5.