In a contest more reminiscent of pond hockey than a post-season game, the Bemidji High boys hockey team skated to a 9-6 decision over St. Cloud Apollo in Section 8AA quarterfinal action Tuesday in Nymore.
The win advanced the Jacks to a semifinal showdown at Roseau Saturday in one section semifinal. Roseau defeated Monticello 10-1 Tuesday to advance.
It was a wild game all around in Bemidji with 15 goals, 85 shots on goal and 20 penalties.
Junior forward Alec Schulz was a major story offensively for the Jacks, connecting for the hat trick. Chris Curb and Dylan Wizner added two goals each with Riley Colley and Noah Nemgar recording single goals.
Apollo junior Chad Hockemeyer had four goals in the losing effort.
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Hockemeyer got Apollo on the board first, connecting with just over two minutes remaining in the first period.
But the Jacks responded by scoring three times before the end of the period, including two just 19 seconds apart, to take a 3-1 lead into the break.
Schulz tied things up at the 15:06 mark, finishing an odd man rush for a power play goal off a nice pass from Chris Curb. A little over a minute later Curb got his first of two on the night after flying down the far side, beating an Apollo defender and scoring on the backhand.
Schulz made it a two goal lead just 19 seconds later, zipping a wrist shot from the far face off circle.
Hockemeyer cut the Jacks lead to 3-2 less than two minutes into the second period. But once again the Jacks responded by scoring in bunches, connecting twice in 1:11 to go up 5-2.
Schulz got the first, completing his hat trick on the night, as Casey Reierson won a face off and got the puck to Schulz, who buried it.
Noah Nemgar then scored unassisted for the Jacks, connecting off his own rebound.
St. Cloud came back with the next two to make it 5-4 with Hockemeyer getting both. Suddenly it was a game going into the third period.
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Wizner took little time in staking the Jacks to another two goal lead, scoring off a nice individual effort just 48 seconds into the third period. Riley Colley followed up with a nice short handed goal about four minutes later, as he beat an Apollo defender to the puck with a nice burst of speed and scored.
Apollo made it 7-5 with a power play goal at 7:39. But Wizner then got his second of the night, connecting off a 2 on 1 rush following a pass from Noah Nemgar.
Apollo wouldn't be silenced and answered at the 12:41 mark to close within 8-6. But Curb capped the BHS offensive explosion with the final goal of the game at 14:19.
Derek Dudgeon got the win in net for the Jacks, turning back 39 Apollo shots. Dan Ritter took the loss in net for Apollo, ending with 31 saves.
"I thought our third line of Schulz, Matt Boyer and Casey Reierson really played well tonight," said BHS head coach Roger Mischke. "It was a good effort from the entire line.
"Then we had some really good individual efforts as well. Curb, Wizner, freshman Joe Welle and Ryan Johnson all had great games. They might not have all ended up in the scoring column but they played well."
The defensive play of the Jacks was a bit of concern, Mischke agreed. "We had about a 13 minute lapse in the second period where we struggled on defense," he said. "I nearly called a time out during that stretch to get things straightened out."
It will have to be straightened out big time if the Jacks are to have a solid chance against Roseau Saturday. The Rams defeated Bemidji twice during the regular season and have been ranked among the upper echelon of the state the entire year.
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SCA 1 3 2 -- 6
BHS 3 2 4 -- 9
First Period -- 1, SCA, Chad Hockemeyer (Dustin Christen), 14:34. 2, BHS, Alec Schulz (Chris Curb, Justin Hunt), 15:06 (pp). 3, BHS, Curb (Schulz, Greg Larson), 16:14. 4, BHS, Schulz (Matt Boyer, Hunt), 16:33. Penalties -- Nico Demm, SCA (roughing), 1:15, Noah Nemgar, BHS (hooking), 3:27, Dylan Wizner, BHS (cross-checking), 7:17, Brent Butkowski, STC (elbowing), 10:18, Isaac Meemken, STC (tripping), 14:43, Jesse Nemgar, BHS (interference), 16:57
Second Period -- 5, STC, Hockemeyer (unassisted), 1:46 (pp). 6, BHS, Schulz (Boyer, Hunt), 4:30. 7, BHS, Noah Nemgar (unassisted), 5:41. 8, Hockemeyer (unassisted), 10:43 (sh). 9, STC, Hockemeyer (Stephen Theis), 12:14. Penalties -- Ryan Sullivan, BHS (interference), 5:55, SCA, Butkowski (roughing), 6:09, Tom Brown, SCA (roughing), 10:34, Brandon Daniels, BHS (roughing), 11:17, Kyle Nohre, BSU (holding), 14:27, Wizner, BHS (intereference), 15:23
Third Period -- 10, BHS, Wizner (unassisted), :48. 11, BHS, Riley Colley, BHS (unassisted), 4:35 (sh). 12, SCA, Butkowski (Hockemeyer, Christen), 7:39 (pp). 13, BHS, Wizner (Noah Nemgar, Cody Gregg), 9:57. 14, SCA, Meemken (Christen), 12:41 (sh). 15, BHS, Curb (Johnson), 14:19. Penalties -- Wizner, BHS (interference), 3:20, Gregg, BHS (interference), 6:07, Hunt, BHS (high-sticking), 7:08, Brutger Mrozek, SCA (tripping), 11:00. Wizner, BHS (cross-checking), 11:50, Butkowski, SCVA (holding), 11:50, Schulz, BHS (hooking), 14:52, Matt Brateng, SCA (slashing), 16:31
Shots -- SCA 9-22-14 45, BHS 15-13-12 40
Saves -- SCA-Dan Ritter (40 shots-31 saves), BHS-Derek Dudgeon (45 shots-39 saves)
