| Bulldogs break losing streak |
By: Pat Beck
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Posted: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 11:07 am
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LE SUEUR — Freshman goalie Chris Amsden has faced 40 shots per game for the St. Peter/Le Sueur-Henderson/Montgomery-Lonsdale/Le Center boys hockey team and he has saved 88 percent of them. But, with the Bulldogs 3-11 and on a six-game losing streak, he hadn’t been rewarded often for his efforts until Thursday’s 3-2 victory over Windom Area.
Amsden welcomes the challenge of having so many shots fired at him. “Sometimes it’s hard, but it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “It was a big turning point for our team. We’ve been struggling lately, and it will help us get going and motivated. It’s fun to have a good, strong win. We needed a win like this.”
Head coach Jeff Christ said, “Chris played his best game of the year. He made saves that kept us in the game, and he needed that game, too. We’ve lost some games by six, seven, eight goals and I think he’s been feeling a little bit low, although we certainly aren’t going to blame him for those. It gets hard mentally when you’re getting hammered like that. He needed a game like that not only for the team but for him as well to regain that confidence.”
Amsden and the Bulldogs held off a barrage of shots when the Eagles pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker in the last minute. The Bulldogs displayed their excitement after winning by swarming around Amsden and holding their sticks high.
Amsden made 27 saves as Windom out shot the Bulldogs 29-23. Windom led 1-0 after the first period. But the Bulldogs tied it 26 seconds into the second period on a power-play goal by forward Jordan Wilmes, assisted by defensemen Zach Steuck and Nick Stepka. Wilmes scored on a rebound on a shot from the point.
The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the third period when the fourth line of Tom Amsden, Cole Shaughnessy and Austin Braun teamed up to score. Amsden passed the puck behind the net to Shaughnessy who relayed it out front to Braun who one-timed it into the net at 4:58.
“Definitely, our fourth line gave us a spark,” Christ said. “They had some good jump. Sometimes you put those fourth-liners in and they’re fired up and ready to go. The second period on the bench was up and guys were positive and they were talking.”
The Bulldogs upped their lead to 3-1 at 8:34 on another power-play goal with what turned out to be the game winner. Forward Beau Bachman pounced on a rebound off a shot by forward Jack Swanberg and put the puck into the net.
Putting on the pressure the rest of the way, the Eagles scored a power-play goal of their own with 4:31 left to get within 3-2. Windom then had another power-play opportunity as the Bulldogs took a penalty with 3:46 left, but that was as close as they got.
“We won a good, tight game where we had to really buckle down,” Christ said. “It seems like all year in a game like that they would have scored with 10 seconds to go. Last year at Windom we were up a goal. We take a penalty just like we did tonight at the end of the game. They scored to tie it, and 10 seconds into overtime they scored to win it. It was nice to be on the other end of it. It was fun. “They were fired up at the end, and they deserved it.
“It’s been a tough stretch. We’ve been playing OK. Our effort has been there. But when you’re not winning, you don’t get that tangible reward for it. We haven’t to be able to score goals and we ran into some good teams.”
In their six-game losing streak, the Bulldogs scored just 1.33 goals per game, while giving up 5.33. For the season, the Bulldogs are averaging 2.93 goals per game and allowing 4.93.
Windom 1 0 1—2
Bulldogs 0 1 2—3
First period —1. W, Nick Eisenmenger (Hunter Johnson), 2:36.
Second period — 2. SPLSHMLLC, Jordan Wilmes (Zach Steuck, Nick Stepka), 0:36 (pp).
Third period — 3. SPLSHMLLC, Austin Braun (Cole Shaughnessy, Tom Amsden), 4:58. 4. SPLSHMLLC, Beau Bachman (Jack Swanberg), 8:24 (pp). 5. W, Cody Mischke (Tyler Clark), 12:19 (pp).
Saves — Windom, Ethan Villenueve 8-3-9—20. SPLSHMLLC, Chris Amsden 4-14-9—27.
Penalties — Windom, 6 for 12 minutes. SPLSHMLLC, 4 for 8 minutes.
Power plays — Windom, 1 for 4. SPLSHMLLC, 2 for 6.
Farimont 6, Bulldogs 3
FAIRMONT — The Bulldogs suffered a major setback Saturday at Martin County Arena, falling to South Central Conference foe Fairmont (6-13, 2-4) for the first time in at least 10 years. The Bulldogs beat the Cardinals 4-1 in their first meeting.
The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Swanberg, assisted by Bachman, and Jeff Leary, assisted by Lance Willson, but the Cardinals went up 5-2 in the second period.
Bachman gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead in the second period on a goal assisted by Nick Stepka, but the Cardinals scored three unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead into the third period.
Fairmont’s overtime win over Waseca (5-9-1, 2-2) on Thursday ended a nine-year losing streak in conference play and the win over the Bulldogs marked the Cardinal’s first three-game winning streak in at least 10 seasons.
The Cardinals out shot the Bulldogs 32-18. Kevin Renneke made 26 saves in goal for the Bulldogs, including stopping a penalty shot with 1 minute to play. Ryan Rivers stopped 15 shots for Fairmont.
Dodge County 3, Bulldogs 1
Trailing 3-0 after one period, Swanberg, assisted by Bachman, scored the one goal for the Bulldogs with 8 minutes left in last week’s loss at Dodge Center. Amsden made 37 saves for the Bulldogs who were out shot 40-13. |
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