skip navigation

University School Tops Regis/McDonell

By Thomas Geilfuss, 12/02/14, 6:00PM CST

Share

Wildcats Open Paul Meyer Memorial Tournament with Win

The University School boys’ hockey team defeated Eau Claire Regis/McDonell 7-4 on Friday in a non-conference game during the opening round of the annual Paul Meyer Memorial Tournament hosted by USM.

Wildcats and Saints battled back and forth during the game.  USM took a 4-2 lead early in the third period, but surrendered two power play goals midway through the period.  Brandon McGill’s goal with 6:06 left      gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish and USM added two empty net goals in the last minute to seal the victory.   Tommy Ferrara led USM with two goals, while McGill, Chris Keliher, Ben Hrabak, Logan Geisness and Nick Epperson each scored one goal for the Wildcats.

Keliher, one of the team’s captains said, “Overall we weren't satisfied with ourselves in the game. We got the win at least and it’s behind us. We had many chances to score but couldn't bury the puck, and a lot of guys were getting too rattled. We're going to have to fix that tomorrow. But I feel confident we will switch gears for the championship game.”

The Wildcats scored the first goal in the high scoring affair.  Riley Hill gained control of the puck in the left corner in the Saints’ end and rifled a pass to Keliher at the point.  Kehlier’s shot on goal was true at 5:27 of the first period.

The Saints tied it a little over two minutes later.  Austin Erickson intercepted a USM clearing attempt at the center of the USM blue line, stepped in and fired a shot past USM’s goaltender Mac Schmidt at 7:59.

USM went back ahead at 6:39 of the second period.  Skating through center ice, Hayden Brown sent a pass to the side to Hrabak.  Hrabak out-raced a defenseman, deked Armand Hess, the Saints’ goalie, and jammed the puck across the goal line at 6:39.

The home crowd barely had time to sit back down and the game was tied.  Adam Erickson picked off a pass in center ice, skated into the USM end and passed the puck to Brady Bauer on the right mid-boards.  Bauer fired a quick shot that beat Schmidt at 6:55.

USM regained the lead on a power play.  In the Saints’ zone, Keliher passed the puck to Epperson on the right boards.  Epperson centered it to Geisness in the slot.  Geisness shot a hard wrist shot for the goal at 10:33 of the second period.

The Wildcats went ahead by two goals early in the third period.  Epperson got the puck in center ice and skated into the Saints’ zone.  He veered into the right corner, turned, and zipped a pass to Ferrara at the near point.  Ferrara walked the puck into the center of the blue line, and then gunned a shot through a screen for a goal at 4:49.

The Saints’ tied it on two power play goals that resulted from the Wildcats being assed two penalties.  The Saints made the score 4-3 at 9:33.  Zach Gilles sent a cross-ice pass to Daylon Desouza who stepped in and fired.  Dominic Bourget was unmarked in front and popped in the rebound.

Quickly the Saints tied the game while still on the power play.  Desouza scored an unassisted goal when he blasted in a shot from the sideboards as he crossed the USM blue line.

The Wildcats scored again and finally held the lead.  The goal came at 9:54 when Keliher sent a pass to McGill as McGill skated out of the USM end into center ice.  The forward skated across the blue line and blazed a shot over Hess’s glove hand to make the score 5-4.

It stayed close in the final minutes.  The Saints pulled their goalie with two minutes left.  The Wildcats scored two empty net goals, one by Epperson at 16:05 and one by Ferrara at 16:42.

USM is 2-0 and 0-0 in the Classic Eight Conference.  The Wildcats play Middleton in the championship game of the tournament in a non-conference game on Saturday, November 29th at USM at 5:30 pm.

WiPH Game Summaries