Hill-Murray Pioneer Hockey: Game 2007-12-22

First Period
HM, Ryan Furne (Dan Cecka, Bo Dolan), 0:35.
HM, Tyler Zepeda (Dan Cecka, Ryan Furne), 13:37.

Second Period
HM, Nick Widing (Isaac Kohls), 9:40.
HM, Tyler Zepeda (Ryan Furne), 15:14.

Third Period
HM, Dan Sova (Dan Cecka), 1:43 (pp).
WBL, Casey Gjerde (Zach Hoffman), 8:37.
WBL, Chris Fiala (Ryan Wolter, Sean Galloway), 14:07 (pp).

Shots by period
Hill-Murray	12	9	8	-	29
White Bear Lake	6	13	11	-	30

Goalies Minutes GA Saves Result
HM - Joe Phillippi 51 2 28 W
WBL - Owen Collette 51 5 24 L

Power Plays Goals Attempts Time
Hill-Murray 1 4 4:33
White Bear Lake 1 2 1:41

On a night in which Hill-Murray honored its past champions, they showed that the future looks pretty good too. This year's Pioneers scored the game's first five goals and coasted to a 5-2 win, extending their recent dominance over archrival White Bear Lake.

Hill-Murray may have put the puck in the net three times during the opening shift and finally got credit for one goal. Dan Cecka stuffed in a shot on a breakaway 20 seconds into the game, but the net was ruled to be off its mark before the puck went in. Cecka then gathered a bouncing puck in the slot and roofed a backhand just under the crossbar, but it rebounded back into play where Ryan Furne sent it convincingly into the net for an undisputed goal.

White Bear Lake quickly generated a good chance to tie the game as Matt Sura went in alone on Joe Phillippi, but he couldn't quite control a rolling puck and pushed a weak shot into the goalie.

Hill-Murray controlled most of the remainder of the first period and achieved a two goal lead at 13:37. After a 3-on-1 went awry, Cecka gathered the puck to the left of the goal and made a backhand pass to Tyler Zepeda, who scored on a slapshot from the lower left circle.

The Bears improved their play in the second period and generated several good shots, including a backhand from the slot from Chris Fiala that was snared by Phillippi. However, their failure to hold the zone on two occasions gave the Pioneers' transition game a chance to shine. Isaac Kohls stickhandled up the right side and centered to Nick Widing for a one-time goal and a 3-0 lead. Later, Furne flipped a long clearing pass to Zepeda who went in alone and scored his second goal of the game.

Two Bears penalties late in the second period carried over to the third, and Dan Sova one-timed Cecka's pass into the net to put the Pioneers up 5-0.

Casey Gjerde spoiled Phillippi's shutout bid when his point shot deflected into the upper corner of the net. Fiala scored the Bears' second goal, flipping in a rebound of Sean Galloway's long shot on a power play. Any hopes of a further comeback were dashed with two more penalties, and Hill-Murray completed its sixth straight win in the series.