Hill-Murray Pioneer Hockey: Game 2011-02-19

First Period
HM, Ryan Holler (Travis Wood), 8:23.

Second Period
STA, Andrew Commers (Peter Krieger, Alex Johnson), 2:57.
STA, Michael Ferreira (Grant Eichstadt), 6:46.
HM, Jake Guentzel (Bob Bruski, Ben Bahe), 12:31.

Third Period
HM, Ben Bahe (J.D. Cotroneo, Jake Guentzel), 11:32.
HM, Ryan Holler (Ben Bahe, Blake Heinrich), 16:53 (en).

Shots by period
Hill-Murray	13	9	6	-	28
St. Thomas Academy	7	6	7	-	20

Goalies Minutes GA Saves Result
HM - Tim Shaughnessy 51 2 18 W
STA - Dave Zednik 51 3 24 L

Power Plays Goals Attempts Time
Hill-Murray 0 3 6:00
St. Thomas Academy 0 1 2:00

A December postponement turned this Hill-Murray-St. Thomas contest into a CSC championship game, and it didn't disappoint. Hill-Murray had already assured itself of at least a share of the title thanks in part to a 4-3 victory against STA on January 27, and completed a perfect conference season with a scrappy win the the season finale.

The Pioneers managed to dent almost every post and crossbar on the two nets, but instead scored three goals off deflections. Ben Bahe, who earlier had been stopped on two breakaways, was credited with the go-ahead goal with 5:28 left in the third period, as J.D. Cotroneo's long shot found its way past several skaters and then the goalie.

St. Thomas held a 2-1 lead midway through the game after Andrew Commers and Michael Ferreira swatted in loose pucks from near the goal crease. But Hill-Murray's defense kept the Cadets' top line in check for most of the game, although Tim Shaughnessy had to make several important saves on shots from A.J. Reid in the third period.

Senior captain Ryan Holler scored twice for Hill-Murray, tipping Travis Wood's hard shot for the game's first goal and later sealing the win with an empty-net tally in the final ten seconds. Jake Guentzel netted the Pioneers' other goal with a tip of Bobby Bruski's shot from the high slot on a 3-on-2.