“It was a good battle today, we needed a game like this,” Canfield coach Steve Covelli said. “The last three games haven’t been as challenging as this one, so I’m very happy.”

The Oilers held a 2-1 edge early in the contest until a boarding call sent one of their players to the penalty box.

Power plays work differently in the high school game. If a player gets a five-minute major, they remain in the penalty box for the full five minutes, whereas at other levels of hockey, a power play goal will end the power play. Canfield used that to its advantage as it scored three times on a single power play to go up 4-2.

“On a five-minute major, you can score as many times as you can in five minutes,” Covelli said. “On a two-minute penalty, if you score, the power play ends. On a five-minute major, you keep going, keep going, it’s a tough penalty to take. It’s a huge momentum changer.”

Staff photo / Brian Yauger -- Cardinals forward Matt Scolieri is checked into the boards during the second period. Scolieri scored the empty-netter to cap off Canfield’s 7-3 victory over Wooster.

Senior Eli Dredge scored his two goals in that power play window, scoring the first and third goals to lift Canfield’s lead to 4-2. Defenseman Tyler Christie split those two goals with a one-timer from between the faceoff circles.

Canfield’s leading scorer Brian Woak scored both of the team’s second-period goals. Woak, who has 46 goals on the season, and had four assists against the Oilers, was happy to cap off his final home game with a win.

“I’m feeling pumped, it was a great game,” Woak said about his senior night performance. “Before the game we just had fun. It’s all you can do, just go out there and have fun, and we did what we needed to do.”

Covelli, who is in his third season with the program, has spent a lot of time with his senior class and can’t give enough credit to how much they’ve helped develop the program.

“It was an emotional day today,” he said. “You see players that come in here, you look at Brian Woak. When I started coaching, Brian had a 15-goal season, now he’s sitting at 46. It’s humbling, it makes you proud of what these kids are doing.”

The Cardinals (15-3-3, 8-1-1) are a part of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League (Blue Division) and are in the midst of a league playoff. Canfield took down its first opponent Brooklyn, 10-0, and travels to Westlake on Tuesday.

“Out of the 16 teams we were ranked second, so we’re just playing our way through the bracket right now, one game at a time,” Covelli said. “This is a great confidence builder. This is a good team we played. We needed a game like this to get us ready for our next game.”