The Lakewood Rangers hockey team completed their most successful regular season in recent history by both winning the Blue Central divisional championship and earning a birth in the Division III Baron Cup tournament.

Under the tutelage of second year coach Josh Dress, the Rangers will head into tournament play with a record of 16-4-4. Lakewood finished 9-0-1 in the Blue Central to win the league by a 2.5 game margin over the Brooklyn Hurricanes. In ten league games the Rangers outscored their rivals 88-13. Senior goalie Bill Snyder delivered five shut-outs in league play.

“Billy has been solid for us all season,” Dress said. “He knows he is responsible for the goal. Last year he had to share time but this year he stepped up and took ownership of the position.”

Snyder is one of seven seniors on this year’s team making the Rangers one of the most experienced teams in the Blue Division. Another senior, forward Sam Norris, led the Rangers with 48 points through the first 15 games of the season. Norris also led the Rangers in goals scored, lighting the lamp 26 times.

This year’s seniors have proved invaluable to the Rangers both on and off the ice. “This group has really worked hard,” Dress said. “These are the kids who were there for a lot of the losses over the years. They have worked hard to turn the program around. Seeing how much their senior season means to them has pushed the younger kids to help to make this season a successful one.”

While the first line of Norris, Wayne Burke and Will Weible has accounted for the majority of Lakewood’s scoring it is the depth of the second and third lines that allowed the Rangers to dominate opponents in Blue Division play. Another senior, Kyle Parker has been the leader of the second line. “Nobody hustles more than Kyle. He has been asked to skate with younger inexperienced players all-season. Kyle has accepted the challenge.”

Senior Mark Shaw finished fourth on the team in goals scored (behind Norris, Burke and Weible) but according to Dress might be the most improved player on the team. “Mark has worked incredible hard this season. He is skating harder and consistently contributing to the offense.”

Lakewood was scheduled to begin their quest for their first Baron Cup Championship Monday against Garfield Heights. On January 20 the Rangers defeated the Bulldogs 4-0 in the Parma High School MLK day tournament. OHSAA tournament play begins the week of February 11. The Rangers are in the Brooklyn district tournament. For updated OHSAA tournament schedules visit ohsaa.org