The St. Louis Jr. Blues and the Cincinnati Swords were evenly matched throughout their contest, but St. Louis made the most of its opportunities and won, 4-3.
Each team kept the other at bay throughout the game, and Andrew Kovacich secured the win for the Jr. Blues with a goal in the third period.
Kovacich had two goals to lead St. Louis to victory.
The Jr. Blues put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Cincinnati to score on any of its three power plays.
Others who scored for St. Louis included Andrew McGlynn and Alex Klaesner, who scored one goal each. In addition, St. Louis received assists from Alexander Carlsson, Tyler Opilka, Simon Koscielski, and Christian Argyros, who each chipped in one and Chris Brown and Mike Lozano, who contributed two a piece.
The Swords were led by Luke McCammant, who registered two goals. McCammant scored the first of his two goals at 3:28 into the second period to make the score 2-1 St. Louis. Timmy Weisgerber provided the assist. McCammant\’s next tally made the score 3-2 Cincinnati with 13:13 left in the second period. Weisgerber assisted on the tally. Nathan Chiarizzio also scored for Cincinnati. More assists for Cincinnati came via Andrew Bond, Matt St. Martin, Brenden Williams, and Joe Keenan, who each chipped in one.
St. Louis\’ Cooper Cothran stopped 27 shots out of the 30 that he faced. The Jr. Blues incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors and had no power play opportunities. Alec Rounds made 25 saves for Cincinnati on 29 shots. The Swords incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors.
