The Toppers tied the game witha power-play goal.

They didn’t immediately credit junior Zach Mausolf with an assist on the goal, but he deserved one; a Mankato West clearing attempt hit him in the face, and the puck rebounded right to David Hafferty.  Duluth Marshall’s leading scorer made no mistake from the top of the crease, roofing the puck and tying the game at one.

Until the goal, the Hilltoppers had been content to sit back and let their defenseman fire shots on goal.  As far as getting shots on net, it was working - Marshall outshot Mankato West 12-4 in the period - but all the chances were from 50 feet away.  Late in the period, they finally got down and dirty in front of the net, and it paid off.

The Scarlets had a couple of great chances from the slot on their lone second-period power play, but Andrew Bruggeman, Corey Leivermann, and Ricky Litchfield all shot high and wide.  West has had plenty of shot chances - and, for the most part, from closer in than Marshall - but they’ve been unable to get them on goal.

As we head to the second intermission, the Scarlet pep band is playing “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” which I approve of wholeheartedly.  It should be a classic third period.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Boys\' Hockey, State tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.