EAST ALTON – Seven different players scored as Edwardsville scored five times in the first period on its way to a 7-0 win over O’Fallon in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association game Thursday night at the East Alton Ice Arena.
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The Tigers improved to 3-8-3 with the win, while the Panthers, playing it its first season in Mid-States after many years in the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association, fell to 0-12-0.
The offensive outburst and good start has been something the Tigers have needed, and they got both in the first period.
“We wanted to get off to a good start,” said Edwardsville coach Jason Walker, “and we did. Kept it going throughout the game, got into a little bit of penalty trouble, but for the most part, we felt pretty good about it, It was a clean game.”
Getting off to that good start is a key to Edwardsville’s success, and it’s something that hasn’t happened very often this season.
“Obviously, that’s always something that you focus on, getting out of the gate fast,” Walker said, “and the guys did. To get the scoring chances, and just the offense that we created in the first period, that was good.”
The five goals scored is one of the best single period offensive outbursts for the Tigers this season.
“Yeah, definitely,” Walker said. “I don’t know where that ranks, but in the last few weeks, for sure. The big thing for us is just taking care of our own end, and that’s two games in a row where we’ve put up a zero as far as the other team’s goal total, so we feel good about that.”
It only took 11 seconds for Edwardsville to score, as Cam Gillen centered a pass to Jack Sumner, who deflected the puck past Panther goalie Drew Martin to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. It became 2-0 at 4:32, when Connor Hinterser scored on an assist from Eric Leggett, beating Martin from close in.
Justin Harper made it 3-0 at 6:14 with a goal, again from close in, with Matt Kocarnik and Kyle Meehan assisting. Just 56 seconds later, at 7:10, Cam Gillen struck with a goal assisted by Collin Salter, and the Tigers ended the outburst at 13:47, when Salter scored from Gillen and Ethan Bogner, making it 5-0 after one.
The Tigers outshot O’Fallon 23-3 in the period, and Martin was replaced at the start of the second period by Aaron Kirkpatrick.
Edwardsville struck early in the second period, as Drew LaRose scored off a nifty centering pass from Harper after 31 seconds to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead. Play began getting increasingly rough as the period went on, but each time Edwardsville was penalized, the Tigers were able to kill off the man-advantage for the Panthers.
Later in the period, with Ethan Ourada off for unsportsmanlike conduct, Sumner took a pass from Kocarnik and scored at 9:57 to make it 7-0. Logan Corzine also assisted.
Tiger goalie Mason Young wasn’t tested much, but when he was, he was equal to the challenge, making a few good stops along the way.
There was no further scoring in the game, but Jonas Akeman came on in relief of Young in the third period, and performed well, making four saves as the Tigers outshot O’Fallon for the game 50-12 in getting the 7-0 win.
Coming off the previous game last Saturday night, where Edwardsville and Oakville skated to a very rare 0-0 tie, the Tigers are very grateful for the three points in their last two contests.
“Yeah, it was frustrating,” Walker said about the Oakville draw on last Saturday night. “We felt like we wanted to get that extra point, and had a lot of opportunities to score, just credit their goalie. He played very well.”
The Tigers wind up 2018 Friday night with a game against Municipal Division rival DeSmet Jesuit in an 8:15 p.m. face-off at Queeny Park in West St. Louis County, then have their third annual New Year’s Night game at home, this year against Francis Howell of St. Charles County in a special face-off time of 7:15 p.m. And as the calendar is set to turn over to 2019, Walker hopes that his team keeps getting better.
“Just continuing to get better,” Walker said. “That’s the focus here. I know it’s a cliché, but one game at a time, and just continue to be better each time we go out there.”
