| Bluejays, Dragons sweep Bulldogs |
By: Pat Beck
|
Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 9:22 am
|
 Email  Print
|
St. Peter/Le Sueur-Henderson/Montgomery-Lonsdale wing Beau Bachman works the puck out front to center Jack Swanberg with Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato’s John Raisanen defending.
|
|
WASECA — The Waseca Bluejays and the Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato Dragons completed a 2-0 season sweep of St. Peter/Le Sueur-Henderson/Montgomery-Lonsdale/Le Center boys hockey team last week.
The Dragons shut out the Bulldogs 6-0 on Thursday at Le Sueur Community Center. The Bluejays beat the Bulldogs 5-1 on Friday at Waseca Community Arena.
The Dragons out shot the Bulldogs 57-16. Chris Amsden made 51 saves in the nets for the Bulldogs. Karsen Forsman (3 saves) and Bryce Johnson (13 saves) combined for the shut out in goal.
LDC (12-8) scored two goals each period.
“We just never got anything going offensively and made too many defensive mistakes (not covering guys out front and not clearing rebounds),” Bulldogs coach Jeff Christ said.
The Bluejays and Bulldogs were tied 1-1 after the first period. Austin Braun scored the tying goal for the Bulldogs, his second of the season, assisted by Cole Shaughnessy and Tommy Amsden. The defenseman fell down, and Braun scored on a breakaway.
“The first period was a good one for both teams,” Christ said. “They jumped on us first, but we answered back with a goal from our 4th line to tie it up and played pretty well. After that we just could not muster any scoring chances.”
The Bluejays (7-9-1, 3-2 SCC) came out flying in the second period as Blake Malecha scored his first of two straight goals to make it 3-1 going into the third period. Malecha also had two assists, while Brad Macintosh had a goal and three assists.
“We controlled the puck in their zone on several occasions but just couldn’t get any good quality shots on net,” Christ said. “Then they would make one rush down the ice and score and before we knew it we were down 3-1 after the 2nd period. That pattern continued in the 3rd, and it was a very frustrating night for us.”
SPLSHMLLC goalie Chris Amsden made 23 saves as the Bluejays out shot the Bulldogs 28-17. Sean Farley made 16 stops in the nets for Waseca.
The Bulldogs have a busy, tough schedule this week with four games in five days heading into the Section 1A playoffs at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23.
SPSLSHMLLC hosted Marshall (11-12) on Tuesday, journeys to Redwood Valley (17-3-1) at 7:15 p.m. Thursday and New Ulm (11-8, 4-0 SCC) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Bulldogs finish off the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday hosting Faribault (17-6, 7-1 Big 9) at Don Roberts Ice Rink at Gustavus Adolphus College.
“We have four games this week, so we are going to use those to hopefully build some momentum going into next week,” Christ said.
Faribault is tied for first in the Big 9 with Rochester Century and has the best record in Section 1A, followed by New Prague 14-6-2, Rochester Lourdes 12-7-3, Albert Lea 11-9-1, Red Wing 11-11, Mankato East/Loyola 9-12, Northfield 8-12-2, Austin 8-14, Mankato West 9-11-1, La Crescent 7-16, Waseca 7-9-1 and SPLSHMLLC 4-15. The top four teams will have byes in the first round.
“I would say Faribault and Rochester Lourdes will be the favorites in our Section, but there are several other teams like Albert Lea, Red Wing, Northfield and New Prague who could be tough as well,” Christ said. “I think with 12 teams we have a very competitive section. There should be some good games from top to bottom. I think Class A is definitely where we belong and makes it a lot more competitive for programs like ours.”
Likely to be seeded last of 12 teams, the Bulldogs will be on the road in the first round of the playoffs facing the No. 5 seed. Seedings will determined Sunday at Owatonna High School.
It has been about 10 years or so since the Bulldogs last won a section playoff game.
SPLSHMLLC 1 0 0—1
Waseca 1 2 2—5
First period — 1. W, Clint Larson (Blake Malecha, Brad McIntosh), 2:39. 2. SPLSHMLLC, Austin Braun (Cole Shaughnessy, Tommy Amsden), 11:36.
Second period — 3. W, Malecha (McIntosh, Jim Atkinson), 12:44. 4. W, Malecha (Atkinson, McIntosh), 14:37.
Third period — 5. W, Matt Metzdorff (Nathan Palm, Carter Hansen, 5:33. 6. W, McIntosh (Larson, Malecha, 7:10
Saves — SPLSHML Chris Amsden, 8-6-9—25. W, Sean Farley 6-3-7—16.
Penalties — SPLSHML, 6 for 12 minutes. W, 3 for 6 minutes
Power plays — SPLSHML, 0 for 4. W, 0 for 5. |
|
|
|
| Login and voice your opinion!
|
|
