Less than two minutes later the Wildcats tallied another goal. Senior defenseman Zach Hafeman stopped an Owatonna clearing play at the blue line and slid the puck along the line to his classmate Andrew Stewart. Stewart looped a low shot toward the net. It eluded Owatonna’s junior goalie Sean Hale and slithered like a homebound snake across the goal line at 2:16.
Owatonna closed the scoring gap to 2-1 on a first period power play. Junior Zach Olson sent the puck to junior defenseman Tyler Yentsch at the point. Yentsch fired a shot at USM senior goaltender Alex Langer. The rebound popped to junior Trevor Thompson and Thompson knocked it into the net at 10:14.
USM scored its third goal late in the first period. Leahy corralled the puck in Owatonna’s left corner, wheeled toward the net and lined a low shot past Hale at 15:16.
The Wildcats increased their lead to 4-1 on a power play early in the second period. Once again Leahy began the play. He gained control of the puck in the high slot and fired a pass to Storch below the goal line. Storch stepped out front, and like he was putting a piece of bread in the toaster, he pushed the puck past Hale at 1:18.
Leahy and Storch combined for another USM goal just two minutes later. Leahy had the puck in the high slot, skated into the left circle, and slid the puck back to Storch near the right goalpost. Storch stuffed it in at 3:19.
Owatonna added a goal to their total on a power play. Sophomore Mason Bloomquist sent the puck out to of the Owatonna zone to Olson. Olson skated across the USM blue line and down the left boards. He moved into the left circle and fired a low, off-angle shot that mystified Langer and entered the net at 9:22.
USM made the score 6-2 at 2:57 of the third period. Forechecking, Roadhouse punched the puck loose from a Huskie’s stick. It skittered to Storch skating across the slot. Storch turned quickly and unleashed a shot past Hale’s glove.
Storch scored his fourth goal of the afternoon at 7:53. Leahy intercepted an Owatonna pass at the Huskies’ blue line and passed the puck to junior defenseman Nathan Burke at the point. Burked sent the puck along the boards to Storch who skated it into the slot and scorched a shot into the net.
USM scored its final goal on a power play. Hafeman gained control of the puck at the point and sent it to Storch on the left mid-boards. Storch passed it to Roadhouse on the back door and Roadhouse crossed it to Leahy who snapped it in at 10:25.
In the game Hale made 25 saves and Langer made 15 saves.
USM is now 2-3. The Wildcats return to Wisconsin with renewed confidence which they’ll need when the face long-time rival Fond du Lac at 7:00 on Tuesday at USM.
