Orange Lions Roar Past Nordonia 10-3 in OHSAA Tournament Opener

KENT, OH- The Orange Lions couldn’t have scripted a better start to their postseason run.

In their opening game of the OHSAA Hockey Tournament on Thursday night, the Lions delivered a commanding 10-3 victory over Nordonia, fueled by a historic performance from senior standout Noah Rice.

Rice wasted no time setting the tone. Just seconds into the opening faceoff, he found the back of the net to give Orange a lightning-fast 1-0 lead. The early strike energized the bench and the crowd, but Nordonia answered quickly. A little over a minute later, Collin Schleman capitalized on a scoring chance to even the game at 1-1.

That would be as close as Nordonia would get.

Orange regained control midway through the first period when Cooper Radillo buried a goal with 4:54 remaining. Just 28 seconds later, Branaghan Blasier extended the lead to 3-1, swinging momentum firmly in the Lions’ favor. With 27 seconds left in the period, Russell Tye added another tally to send Orange into the first intermission ahead 4-1 and brimming with confidence.

The second period belonged entirely to Rice.

Less than three minutes in, he struck again to push the lead to 5-1. Charlie Thomas followed with a goal of his own minutes later, stretching the margin to 6-1. Moments after Thomas’ score, Rice completed his hat trick, triggering the running clock and effectively putting the contest out of reach.

But Rice wasn’t finished.

The dynamic forward added three more goals over the remainder of the game, finishing the night with an eye-popping six goals and two assists — one of the most dominant individual performances in recent tournament memory.

Behind the offensive explosion, goaltender Caleb Rivchun stood steady in net, recording 13 saves to secure the victory.

With the win, Orange advances to face Canfield on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Kent State University. A victory there would send the Lions into a Saturday matchup against Solon at 2 p.m., also at Kent State.

If Thursday night was any indication, the Orange Lions are just getting started — and with Noah Rice leading the charge, they look poised to make a deep tournament run.

OR- Noah Rice (Asst- Cooper Radillo & Branaghan Blasier) :14

NOR- Collin Schleman 1:47

OR- Cooper Radillo (Asst- Max Golubitsky & Russell Tye) 10:06

OR- Branaghan Blasier (Asst- Noah Rice & Cooper Radillo) 11:22

OR- Russell Tye (Asst- Adam Novik) 14:33

OR- Noah Rice (Asst- Russell Tye) 2:22

OR- Charlie Thomas (Asst- Noah Rice & Russell Tye) 6:30

OR- Noah Rice (Asst- Adam Novik) 6:56

NOR- Even Cerny (Asst- George Henderson) 10:21 PP

OR- Noah Rice (Ass- Adam Novik & Russell Tye) 11:38

OR- Noah Rice (Asst- Charlie Thomas) 2:04

NOR- George Henderson 7:16

OR- Noah Rice (Asst- Russell Tye & Charlie Thomas) 8:41

OR- Caleb Rivchun 13

NOR- Preston Kanar 22

NOR- Gavin Paulson 5

OR- Max Golubitsky (2:00/roughing) 5:58/2nd

OR- Andrew Khalaf (2:00/interference) 14:57/2nd