Hill-Murray Pioneer Hockey: Game 2008-12-06

First Period
HM, Jeff Westerhaus (Paul Prescott, Jack Walsh), 9:40.

Second Period
HM, Jeff Westerhaus (David Bruchu, Chris Casto), 5:04.

Third Period
Edina, Cole Kretzman (Andy Jorgensen, Patrick Regan), 8:22.
HM, Nick Widing (Tyler Zepeda, Isaac Kohls), 14:08 (pp).

Shots by period
Hill-Murray	11	9	9	-	29
Edina	10	7	17	-	34

Goalies Minutes GA Saves Result
HM - Tim Shaughnessy 51 1 33 W
Edina - Johnny Ankeny 50 3 26 L

Power Plays Goals Attempts Time
Hill-Murray 1 3 4:21
Edina 0 5 8:54

It's not the Xcel Center in March, but Braemar Arena in December is as fine a venue as any for high school hockey - especially when it hosts two of the state's premier teams that don't appear to have missed a beat since last season's state championship game. While both still have a long way to go this year, tonight they proved they could play with the best for three periods, and with Tim Shaughnessy stopping 33 of 34 shots, Hill-Murray again came out ahead with a 3-1 win.

Edina came within an inch of a lead in the first 30 seconds when a long shot hit squarely off the post and rebounded right back into the goalie's pads. Instead, Hill-Murray went ahead at 9:40 as Jeff Westerhaus fired a shot stick side from 15 feet after a nice setup by Paul Prescott from behind the goal line. Both teams had great chances during an Edina power play in the period's final minute; Edina goalie Johnny Ankeny made a great save on Isaac Kohls' point blank shot on a shorthanded 3-on-1.

The Pioneers upped their lead at 5:04 of the second on David Bruchu's long shot. Ankeny couldn't have seen the shot from the left point as it went past several skaters before settling in the net.

Another Hill-Murray penalty immediately following the goal resulted in another frenzy of action, with Kohls blasting another hard shot while shorthanded, and Edina countering with Marshall Everson's wicked shot that hit the goalie's mask. Seconds later, an odd man rush left a Hornet with a wide open net, but he shot wide.

Edina increasingly controlled the play early in the third period and finally cracked Shaughnessy's armor at 8:22 when Cole Kretzman tucked in rebound of Patrick Regan's point shot. Hill-Murray then began to match Edina's intensity, eventually drawing a penalty with just over four minutes remaining. That resulted in the best goal of the night by Nick Widing, who one-timed Tyler Zepeda's pass between the circles. Widing ended up on his back, but the puck went into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead.