Monday, October 19, 2009
Upper Midwest High School Elite League News & Notes: Week 6
By Elite League Media Services
Southeast Holds Narrow Lead Entering Final Weekend
Team Southeast won two of three games this past weekend to maintain a narrow two-point lead over Team Southwest in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League.
Southeast opened the weekend with by handling Shattuck-St. Mary’s its second league defeat this season, a 5-2 victory in which Team Southeast scored twice in the first period, then added three more second-period goals to build a 5-1 lead. A.J. Reid, A.J. Michaelson and Kevin Becker each had a goal and an assist for Southwest. After losing 9-7 to Team Northwest, Southeast finished the weekend by beating Team North 5-4. Max Gaede had a goal and assist in the win.
Team Southwest had a three-game sweep to move into sole possession of second place. First, Dan Molenaar scored two goals and goalie Jacob Meyers made 45 saves in a 5-2 win over Wisconsin. Next, Archie Skalbeck had two goals and Mike Erickson recorded three assists in a 7-4 victory over Great Plains. The sweep was completed Sunday when Thomas Schutt scored a pair of goals and Skalbeck had a three-point game (1G, 2A) in a 6-1 win over Team Northeast. Meyers and fellow goalie Alex Fons combined to stop 39 of 40 shots.
Team Northwest went 2-1 to hold on to third place. Eight different players scored in an 8-2 win over Team North, setting up a showdown with first-place Team Southeast that would turn out to be the wildest game so far this season. The teams skated to a 2-2 tie after one period, then combined for eight goals in a wild second period, including two by Cal Decowski as Northwest jumped ahead 7-5. Southeast rallied to tie the game at 7-7 early in the third period, but Nick Bjugstad’s goal gave Northwest the lead and Christian Horn’s second goal of the game sealed a 9-7 victory. Northwest then played another exciting game on Sunday, falling behind Shattuck 4-0 before cutting the margin to 4-3 late in the third period. Shattuck held on for the 4-3 win.
Shattuck had a 2-1 weekend, defeating Team North 4-1 and Northwest 4-3 after the loss to Southeast. Brad Robbins scored a pair of goals and added an assist in the victory over Northwest.
A winless weekend dropped Great Plains from championship contention. After a 7-1 loss to Northeast, Great Plains dropped a 7-4 game to Southwest and a 5-4 decision to Wisconsin. Jake LaDouceur had two goals and Casey Purpur had two assists in the Wisconsin game.
Team Northeast recorded a pair of wins, defeating Great Plains 7-1 as Connor Reilly had two goals and an assist. Six different players scored in a 6-3 win over Wisconsin, while Ryan Wolter had a pair of assists.
Team North suffered through three losses, falling 8-2 to Northwest, 4-1 to Shattuck and 5-4 to Southeast.
Wisconsin earned its third win of the season on Sunday, defeating Great Plains 5-4 as Brian Berger scored two goals. Austin Schmid stopped 55 of 59 shots in the game for Wisconsin.
NOTES: Caleb Herbert of Team Southeast extended his league scoring lead with a goal and three assists. The Bloomington Jefferson senior now has 34 points, four ahead of Southeast teammate Justin Crandall. Hopkins’ Archie Skalbeck had three goals on the weekend, bringing his season total to 14 and sharing the league goal-scoring lead with Adam Krause of Team North…The 16 goals scored in Northwest’s 9-7 win over Southeast was the most goals scored in an Elite League game this season…Connor Reilly of Northeast leads with five power-play goals….Jacob Meyers of Southwest continues to lead in goals-against average (2.53) and save percentage (.936.)
The Elite League goes on the road for the final regular-season weekend. Six games will be played at the Urban Plains Center in Fargo, N.D., and five games will take place in Hobbs Ice Arena in Eau Claire, Wisc. League-leading Southeast will play at Shattuck on Wednesday night. Southeast enters the weekend with a two-point lead over Southwest, and can clinch the league title by earning five points in their three games. Pairings will be set Sunday night for the league playoffs, which take place at New Hope Arena Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
