EAST ALTONEdwardsville's hockey team took a few moments to get untracked, possibly not unusual considering the Tigers were coming off a Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association Class 2A first-round playoff bye and hadn't played for awhile.

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Once they got going, though, the Tigers made short work of Triad in the opening game of their best-of-three Class 2A semifinal series Thursday night at East Alton Ice Arena, EHS getting a hat trick from Tyler Schaeffer and two goals from Stanley Lucas as the Tigers took a 1-0 series lead with a 12-0, two-period win over Triad, the game ending under the league's 12-goal mercy rule with 3:24 left in the second period.

“We played well; we had a long break, but it was a good rest for us at the same time,” said Tiger coach Jason Walker. “We needed a game, but once we got going, we got into it really quickly. It's good to get the win; it's something to build on.”

The Tigers can advance to the league's Class 2A final with a win in Game 2, set for 8:45 p.m. Monday at East Alton, and Walker is expecting a tough game, especially considering the Knights will be trying to avoid elimination; a win, however, would mark off one major item on the Tigers' checklist for this season.

“A win will be tough to get; you'll have a team trying to not be eliminated and seniors on the other team fighting to keep their high school careers going,” Walker said. “It's something we've focused on all season, and getting to the final will be a big checkmark off our list. Our goal will be to try to win the series and keep playing as hard as we can.

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“Our team has a lot of experience in situations like this; we'll be ready.”

It took a bit for the Tigers to get going, Tyler Hinterser opening the scoring with 7:23 left when he scored with helpers from Schaeffer and Colin Kelsey. Lucas then put the Tigers ahead 2-0 11 seconds later before Schaeffer scored his first goal and Lucas followed up with another goal with 3:16 left in the first to put Edwardsville up 4-0 after one period.

Schaeffer got his second goal with 6:43 left in the second period to put EHS up 5-0, and from that point, the Tigers began to roll, with goals coming from Jake Aurelio, Reilly Patton, Logan Bielicke, Kelsey, Colin Fischer, Trevor Henson and Schaeffer to bring the game to an end.

Edwardsville had 22 shots on goal in the game, with Triad managing to get 10 shots off. Both teams, however, didn't connect on their power-play opportunities.

Game 2 is set for 8:45 p.m. Monday at East Alton, with a third game (If necessary) Tuesday night at East Alton. In the other Class 2A semifinal opener Thursday night, O'Fallon got by Columbia 2-1 to take a 1-0 series lead. The Class 2A final is set to begin Feb. 22.

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