MANKATO — Mankato East and Mankato West collided in hockey Tuesday.
And to the surprise of no one, the two teams didn’t just share hugs and sing “Kumbaya, My Lord.” West took the win in the boys game while East emerged victorious on the girls side.
Here’s how it went down.
Boy’s game
Mankato West 6 Mankato East 2
Tuesday’s main event saw the teams carry a 1-1 tie after the first intermission. But as expected whenever the Scarlets play the Cougars in anything from football to chutes and ladders, tempers flared.
Early in the second period Cougars senior Jack Fugazzi was assessed a five-minute major for a check from behind on West sophomore Dane Hatlestad.
Within a minute the 1-1 tie morphed into a 3-1 Scarlets lead.
West junior Jakobe Tosch scored six seconds into the five-minute advantage. Junior Brodie Cox netted his second goal of the night 47 seconds into the man-advantage.
Then, in the blink of an eye, penalties mounted up. At one point East had a 4-on-3 advantage. For less than a minute the teams skated 3 on 3. Then West had a 5 on 3. Then West completed its power play.
Once all the penalties expired West seized momentum once again. Within 48 seconds the 3-1 advantage doubled to a 6-1 lead thanks to goals from Tosch, junior Keaton Dorzek and senior Brayden Keech which held until intermission.
Despite dropping the rivalry game the Cougars did have momentum early. Junior Zach Lang scored the game’s first goal 4:10 into the first for a 1-0 lead.
The advantage held until Cox netted a power play goal less than five minutes later to tie the game.
The teams combined to commit 15 penalties. No ejections were issued.
West sophomore Blake Brekke stopped 22 of 24 shots. East junior Brayden Bernard stopped 31 of 37 shots through two periods. Senior Collin Pierskalla stopped all 12 shots in the third period.
East junior Brayson Arnoldy scored in the third period.
West (10-4-2) travels to face Rochester Century/John Marshall at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. East (7-8) hosts Faribault at 5:15 p.m. Thursday.
Girls game
Mankato East 8 Mankato West 0
The Cougars (17-1-1) struck early and often, tallying four goals in the first period, two goals in the second and two goals in the third.
Alexis Erickson finished with two goals and an assist. Ella Fugazzi added a goal and two assists. Brielle Newton, Ava Tibodeau and Grace Campbell each scored a goal and an assist. Jillian Borgmeier had two assists. Ella Hudspith and Makenzie Juliar each scored a goal. Laina Peterson and Kira Prange each had an assist.
Ilamay Draheim stopped all 10 shots for the Cougars, who host New Ulm at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
Lucy Schaefer stopped 43 of 51 shots for the Scarlets (6-10-1), who host Rochester Century/John Marshall at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.