The dominant hockey team in northwest Ohio reasserted its supremacy, when St. Francis de Sales rolled to a convincing win Friday against rival St. John's Jesuit in a district title game.

The Knights earned a fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament with a 6-2 dismantling of the Titans before a sellout crowd at Tam-O-Shanter. St. Francis outshot St. John's 55-16, including 19-4 in the pivotal first period.

St. Francis scored three goals in the first and added three more in the second to cruise to the title. The Knights tallied two goals in the first 1 minute, 33 seconds of the game before adding a fourth just 1:17 into the second as they built an insurmountable 6-0 lead.

St. Francis coach Chris Varga said his team is on an upswing at the right point in the season.

“Everything went our way,” Varga said. “We're playing as well as we can right now. We want to keep pushing through.”

Senior forward Matthew Snyder had two goals, junior defenseman Mitchell Digby had a goal and three assists, and senior forward Gabe Barrow had a goal and an assist.

“It's another chapter in the book,” Barrow said. “I couldn't be prouder of these guys. They're my brothers. We know we can be the best when we play our best.”

PHOTO GALLERY: St. Francis 6, St. John’s 2

VIDEO: St. Francis-St. John’s

Matthew Barrow scored just 37 seconds in on the Knights’ first shot before a loud, sellout crowd of 1,579 at the cozy rink in Sylvania. Digby scored only 56 seconds later as St. Francis seized an instant 2-0 lead.

“To be a part of this is so special,” Digby said. “There's no better feeling than to help get the team to where we want to be.”

Snyder then stuck a dagger with a quick wrist shot that beat St. John's goaltender Cole Kaestner with 4:17 left in the first.

“That took a lot of wind out of their sail,” Varga said.

Snyder then scored his second of the game just 1:17 into the second for a 4-0 cushion.

“We wanted to come out here and get the first goal,” Snyder said. “We started off strong and kept the momentum. This means a lot. We're excited to go back down to Columbus.”

Snyder, who also scored two goals in a district semifinal last week against Findlay, said the Knights are playing as a team now and finishing chances.

“You don't want to get scored on in the first minute of a period or the last minute of a period,” Gabe Barrow said. “Either way, those are killers.”

Brody Pavlica then made it 5-0 near the game's midpoint, and Gabe Barrow pushed the lead to six with 7:19 remaining in the second.

St. John's got on the board when Nate Koszycki scored with 47 seconds left in the second. Nicholas Meader then pulled St. John's within 6-2 with 9:55 to go.

“They didn't quit,” Varga said. “I have to give them credit. They could have easily rolled over. I respect that.”

St. Francis junior goaltender Jacob Coward finished with 14 saves.

No. 2 ranked St. Francis (25-6-1) advances to face No. 3 Hunting Valley University School in a state semifinal at 10 a.m. Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. University School defeated Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit 6-2 in a district semifinal at Kent State University.

St. John’s (15-15-3) had defeated Northview 1-0 in overtime in a district semifinal Feb. 24.

The Knights utilized its skill, speed, and creativity during long stretches. The ice tilted toward the St. John's end as the Knights unleashed a shooting gallery during much of the game.

The team played much like the ones that captured state titles in 2011 and 2015. The Knights have reached the Frozen Four for the fifth time in the past eight years.

“It doesn't matter how many times we've won it before. Our guys want to win,” Varga said. “It never gets old when you get the chance to go to the final four and have a chance to win something. It's an unbelievable feeling. The seniors were all juniors last year and it was heartbreak.”

The Knights beat the Titans 6-5 on Dec. 22 and 2-1 on Feb. 10.

“The last two times we played them, we had slow starts and gave them fuel,” Varga said. “We wanted to shut that down right away. Our first two lines we threw everything at them. We wanted to jump out and try to smother them.”

The Knights scored a greasy goal only seconds after the opening faceoff, when the puck deflected in off of Matthew Barrow's skate. Digby then scored unassisted on a quick shot from the slot that fooled Kaestner.

Kaestner kept it a two-goal lead with two great saves just minutes later and then stopped Mitchell's solo, shorthanded breakaway. The Titans then pressed back as Coward stopped Koszycki's backhander. It then looked like St. John's had scored as Coward looked behind him on a shot by Koszycki but the play was blown dead.

Only seconds later, Snyder scored on a quick wrister for the 3-0 cushion. The Knights kept up the attack, outshooting the Titans 9-1 to open the second and scored two more goals. Barrow then scored into a wide open net on a one-timer off a feed from Digby.

Koszycki scored on rebound for St. John's before Meader finished a solo shorthanded breakaway for the Titans final goal of the season.

The Knights have not lost to St. John’s since a district semifinal in 2014 and finished second in the state last season. To reach the district final, St. Francis blanked Maumee 12-0 and Findlay 5-0.

Captain Tim Organ, Jr., thinks this team can complete the task at hand.

“This year we have the team that can finish the job,” he said.

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354, or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.

First Published March 3, 2018, 3:13 a.m.