EAST ALTON – The talent on Edwardsville's hockey team isn't limited to the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association Class 2A side.
They're pretty good on the Class 1A side as well.
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The Tigers showed that with a three-goal explosion in the second period that clinched the MVCHA Class 1A championship as they swept East Alton-Wood River in two games, taking Game 2 of the best-of-three set 5-2 Thursday night at East Alton Ice Arena.
Trevor Henson scored two of the goals in the win, which gave EHS possession of both league crowns after the Class 2A team defeated Triad later in the evening.
Despite the loss, Oiler coach John Helmkamp was proud of his team for the season they had. “We had a great season,” Helmkamp said. “When we started back in September, we had a whole new coaching staff starting and we challenged the kids to change what they had been doing previously and adapt to a new system.
“It's hard to do sometimes, but they took to it, pushed through and never complained about it. I'm proud of everything they've accomplished.”
Helmkamp gave the Tigers plenty of credit as well. “They played great,” Helmkamp said. “A couple of bounces here or there, it may have been a different story, but that's how it goes.
“We played a lot better tonight than we did in Game 1; we left everything we had on the ice. We came out flying and it just didn't go our way.”
The Oilers, indeed, did come out flying from the start, grabbing an early lead at 4:55 when Bryce Bazzell scored from a feed from Cole Ford past Tiger goalkeeper Matthew Griffin to give EAWR a 1-0 lead. The Tigers countered when John Paul Krekovich beat Oiler netminder Blake Stone on a scramble in net, Stanley Lucas and James Akeman assisting, at 6:32 to tie proceedings at 1-1.
Nearly 1:40 later, Cole Ford took possession, skated down right wing and fired a shot at the right-side point that beat Griffin high to the left side to give the Oilers the lead back at 2-1, but Edwardsville tied it up near the end when, with the Oilers' Chris Hamby off for unsportsmanlike conduct, Henson connected on the power play at 11:05, Lucas Tucker and Logan Bielicke assisting, to end the period tied at 2-2.
Henson gave Edwardsville its' first lead at 1:06 of the second when Tucker hit Henson with a feed and beat Stone cleanly for a 3-2 lead. Christian Blandina extended the lead at the seven-minute mark when Reilly Patton and Bielicke helped Blandina for the goal. The final goal game at 10:45 when Tucker, with assists from Trip Stewart and Henson, scored to essentially ice the game.
No goals were scored in the final 13 minutes, though both teams had chances on the power play but couldn't find the back of the net.
The Tigers outshot the Oilers 25-22, with both goalies making 20 saves each. Edwardsville scored on their only power-play try, while EAWR went 0-for-4.
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