It went to a tournament shootout; when it was finally over, the University School boys’ hockey team lost to the Sartell-St. Stephens Sabres of Sartell, Minnesota in the opening round of play in the Gold Division of the Herb Brooks Holiday Classic at the National Sports Center in Blaine, MN on Thursday, December 26th. The score was 3-3, but the Sabres won, 4-3.
The Wildcats took a 3-0 lead, but the Sabres fought back and tied it. The game went into overtime, but neither team could score in the added eight minutes. Therefore, by both Minnesota and Wisconsin high school rules, the game score was officially recorded as a 3-3 tie. For the tournament, however, a three-player shootout was necessary to determine which team would advance. The Sabres won by scoring twice in the shootout competition, whereas the Wildcats could only tally one goal in the shootout.
“It was a very tough tie today and compounded by a shootout loss,” said Jason Woods, USM’s head coach. “Once again, we were in complete control only to unravel due to our discipline. When you are up 3-0, you need to close out. Instead, we found our way to the box and gave life to Sartell. I credit them; they never quit. At the end of the day, we need to figure this out. The task at hand is simple. How can we play smarter and more focused? Once we do this, we will get back on track.”
No doubt about it, it was a close game. The shot totals were close with USM having a slight advantage. The Sabres’ netminder, Quentin Sigurson, stopped 31 of USM’s 34 shots. Patrick Kelly, USM’s goaltender, stopped 24 of Sartell-St. Stephens’ shots. Sigurdson made 7 saves in the overtime period and then stopped 2 of USM’s 3 shootout attempts. Kelly made 3 OT saves and stopped 1 of the 3 shootout shots by the Sabres.
The Wildcats came ready to play. They outshot the Sabres 15-2 in the first period and went ahead when Reid Woods scored an unassisted goal on 1 of those shots just 1:33 into the game. Sigurdson stymied the Wisconsinites for the remainder of the period.
But USM went ahead further ahead with two goals in the first two minutes of the second period. Blake Carey made it 2-0 just 19 seconds into the period; Kyler Ringgold had an assist on the play.
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At 1:52 of the frame Noah Eghbali scored for USM with assists going to Peter Ells and Alvin Pokel.
It looked like the Wildcats were on their way to a big win. A big penalty interceded. USM was assessed with a major penalty at 3:49, and the Sabres used the advantage. Ryan Zukovsky scored a power play goal off an assist by Michael Webster at 7:50 to close the scoring gap to 3-1.
The Wildcats had to kill 2 other minor penalties in the period, and the momentum fell from their grasp.
The momentum surely shifted to the Sabres when Zukovsky scored an even-strength goal at 11:57 of the second period. Webster and Josh Kern were awarded assists on the score.
The Sabres kept coming and eventually sliced their way into a tie midway through the third period. Kern tied the score at 3-3 on passes from Tommy Franke and Tory Lund at 8:43.
The game stayed tied as the tension mounted throughout the final half of the third period and increased in the overtime. It grew even more intense in the shootout.
In the shootout, Carey was the only Wildcat able to solve Sigurdson and score for USM. The Sabres won the game when Hayden Walters and Webster found ways to put the puck past Kelly.
After the game, Carey said, “It was a tough finish for us. We played well through the first, but we lost focus, which allowed them to get back in the game. This will be a big learning step for us as a team, and we will have to bounce back as a group.”
Thanks to the tie, USM is now 5-1-1. The loss moved the Wildcats into the tournament’s consolation bracket. They will play Breck School of Golden Valley, MN at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, December 27th at the National Sports Center in Blaine, MN.
