The St. Louis Jr. Blues tried to dig themselves out of a three-goal hole, but the La Crosse Freeze held on for a 4-2 victory.
La Crosse took a 4-1 lead during the third period, only to have St. Louis storm back on a Franky Melton goal 18:12 into the third period to pull to two goals down.
Taylor Trapp was all over the ice for the Freeze, as he tallied two goals in the win. Trapp found the back of the net on the power play 13:58 into the second period to make the score 2-1 La Crosse and again while on the power play 19:26 into the second to make the score 3-1 La Crosse.
La Crosse forced its penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up eight minors and one major for 41 minutes in penalty time. The Freeze had been averaging 20.0 minutes in penalties per game. La Crosse\’s offense rang up 51 shots on the Jr. Blues\’ net.
La Crosse also got points from Anthony Miller, who also registered one goal and one assist. La Crosse also got a goal from Jake Lipski as well. Other players who recorded assists for La Crosse were Brit Brothen, who had two and Hunter Dragosh, Jace Cseter, and Augusts Veidenbaums, who contributed one each.
St. Louis could not stay out of the penalty box, as the team accrued 26 minutes in penalties during the game.
Sam Maddox also scored for St. Louis. In addition, St. Louis received assists from Zane OBryan, Daniel Dunaway, and Chris Brown, who each chipped in one.
Andrew Wagner made 23 saves for the Freeze on 25 shots. La Crosse registered two goals on four power play opportunities. For the Freeze, Miller was ejected from the game. Cooper Cothran recorded 47 saves for the Jr. Blues. St. Louis registered one goal on five power play opportunities.