EAST ALTON – Edwardsville's hockey team didn't get off to as quick a start as perhaps they might have liked against East Alton-Wood River Tuesday night, but the Tigers finished pretty quickly.
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Tyler Schaeffer had a hat trick and Stanley Lucas added a pair of goals as the Tigers blanked the Oilers 12-0 in a Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association game shortened by the league's 12-goal rule midway through the third period at East Alton Ice Arena.
“You have to give them credit,” Tiger coach Jason Walker said. “Their goalie (Tyler Hamby) made some saves and we had about 15 shots on goal in the first period. The frustrating thing was that they weren't quality chances; we were kind of throwing pucks at the net, but after that, the guys settled in and played well.”
Schaeffer's three-goal, three-assist night showed what kind of player he is, Walker felt. “He's just an all-around good hockey player,” Walker said. “He sees the ice very well; we're preaching to the guys, 'make good plays, make hockey plays'.
“The first period, we didn't create many chances and it was (Schaeffer) that got us going, making smart decisions with the puck and then creating those high-quality chances.”
Trevor Henson got the Tigers going at the 2:45 mark of the opening period when he took a shot that went over Hamby's left shoulder and into the net to put Edwardsville up 1-0; Schaeffer followed that up 45 seconds later to make it 2-0, assists going to James Akeman and Mitchell Oberlag. The Oilers clamped down somewhat after that, keeping the Tigers off the scoresheet the rest of the period.
Edwardsville scored again at 2:47 of the second period when Connor Lewis beat Hamby, assists going to Lucas Tucker and Henson, but it took a bit before the next Tiger goal; that came from Schaeffer with 6:49 left in the period. Lucas (from Colin Kelsey) and Henson (from Lucas and Schaeffer) connected on a four-minute power play to extend the lead to 6-0, followed by a Christian Blandina goal from Kelsey and Rory Margherio at 11:56 of the period and Schaeffer getting his third goal with 6.4 seconds left in the second from Connor Stewart and Lucas to make it 8-0.
Jake Aurelio made it 9-0 just 45 seconds into the third period, Schaeffer and Sam Branmstedt assisting, and Lucas (on a power play) made it 10-0 at 5:46 of the third on a Schaeffer assist. Blandina (from Stewart) and Colin Fischer (from John Teske) scored the final two goals to bring the game to an end.
The Tigers host Freeburg/Waterloo at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at East Alton, while the Oilers take on Highland at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, also at East Alton.
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