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Old Abes fly past Superior to state title game

By Michael Trzinski, 03/01/13, 10:45PM CST

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UPDATED WITH GAME STORY AND PICS


Brady Bollinger had a goal and three assists, Jacob Bresser scored twice, and goalie Alex Geving did an outstanding job in net as Eau Claire Memorial defeated Superior 5-3 in Friday's late semi-final contest at the Alliant Energy Center.

The Old Abes got on the scoreboard first in the final minute of first period play. Tye McLaughlin scored from the high slot with an assist to Bollinger with 42 seconds left in the period. Shots were 9-5 in favor of ECM.

Superior tied the game just over three minutes into the second on a power play goal. Daniel Burger scored his first of two goals on a shot from the high slot, with assists to Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate and Jesse Polson.

The Abes went ahead 2-1 four minutes later on a power play of their own.

Chuck Bennis directed a pass from the right side to the low left where Dylan Ross connected on a nice back-door goal at 8:56. Bollinger earned an assist on the play.

Midway through the period came the first of two penalty shots. An ECM player was penalized for tripping and the refs awarded Superior a penalty shot. Tyler Nystrom attempted the shot and tried to pick the upper right corner, but his shot flew just wide and clanked harmlessly off the glass.

Less than three minutes later, another penalty try was given to Burger, but his attempt through the five-hole bounced off the left post.

Superior began another power play a minute later, but failed to score as Geving made two saves and another shot bounced off the crossbar near the end of the man-advantage.

The Old Abes fattened the lead to 3-1 with another late period goal. With just 1:35 left, Bresser scored off a nice pass from Charley Graaskamp and beat goalie Paxton Paine on the glove side. Bollinger earned his playmaker on the score. The Spartans held a huge 15-6 shot margin the period, yet lost ground on the scoreboard.

The goals came fast and furious in the final stanza, with each team scoring twice in the first seven minutes.

WiPH Game Summaries

Burger scored on the power play from the top of the right circle to cut the lead to 3-2 on Polson's second assist.

One minute later, Bollinger scored on a semi-breakaway through the five-hole to bump the score to 4-2. Dylan Ross and Kadin Machusak earned helpers on the play.

A couple minutes later, Aaron Miller scored on a rebound, putting a backhander over Geving's shoulder to pull to within one.

Not so fast, said Bresser.

Two minutes later, the junior forward snuck a shot between Paine's left pad and the post to make it 5-3 with just over ten minutes left. Graaskamp earned his second assist on the goal,

Superior had two power play chances but the Old Abes killed them off.

With 1:25 left, Paine came off for the extra attacker but the Spartans were stymied by the Old Abes and were unable to score.

The Spartans held a 10-7 shot edge in the period.

Geving earned the win with his 27 saves. On the other end, Paine stopped 17.

The Spartans finished the year with a 19-8-1 record.