MANKATO – After a slow start, Mankato West boys hockey delivered a four-goal barrage in the second period and cruised to a 7-1 Big Nine Conference victory over Winona on Thursday at All Seasons Arena.
“We’ve been playing a lot of games lately so we were a little sluggish at the start,” said West’s Brodie Cox, who ended up scoring two goals on the night. “We got it going in the second and were able to pull away.”
The first period was scoreless until the 7:53 mark when Jakobe Tosch picked up the puck just outside the Winona blueline and held off a defender as he skated to the right circle. He then snapped the puck past the goalie’s glove for a 1-0 West lead.
The second period was all Scarlets.
Rickey Enter converted a 10-footer from inside the left circle and a few minutes later Cox scored off a power-play scrum in front of the net. Cox scored again at the 14:56 mark, converting a breakaway opportunity to make it 4-0. Jaden Reddy capped the period’s scoring with an off-tempo slap shot from inside the left point at 15:26.
“We didn’t practice yesterday because it was a snow day,” West coach Nate Olsen said. “It took us a while to get going. In the second we found our footing and started playing up-tempo the way we like to play.”
As good as the offense was in the second, it was the Scarlet’s penalty kill and goalie Mason Schreiber who stole the spotlight. The PK unit successfully killed off a 5-minute major after Keaton Dorzek was sent to the box for boarding. Schreiber made three point-bank saves over a 90-second span during the kill.
“We had a similar situation last game where we killed the penalty perfectly for four minutes,” Olsen said. “Then we gave up two power-play goals and that deflated us.”
That wasn’t the case Thursday and the big penalty kill spurred the Scarlets.
“That gave us a spark,” said West’s Isaac Ulman. “It always motivates you when the PK is successful.”
Ulman got into the scoring action in the third with a goal at 1:43 when he skated across the front of the crease and slipped the puck between goalie Cayden Lingen’s stick side and the post. Ulman went on to score again at the 11:53 mark to complete West’s scoring.
Winona’s Andrew Killian spoiled Schreiber’s shutout by finding the net with 11 minutes left. Schreiber stopped 28 of 29 shots. West finished with 34 shots on goal.
West improved to 3-2-1. Winona falls to 4-2