The St. Louis Jr. Blues and the Chicago Junior Bulldogs were evenly matched throughout their contest, but St. Louis made the most of its opportunities and won, 6-4.
Each team kept the other at bay throughout the game, and Trevor Thornton secured the win for the Jr. Blues with a goal in the third period.
St. Louis got the win behind a great game by Alex Klaesner, who had two goals and one assist. Klaesner scored the first of his two goals at 19:36 into the first period to make the score 2-2. Tommy Heinzman assisted on the tally. Klaesner\’s next tally made the score 6-4 St. Louis with 59 seconds left in the third period. A checking from behind penalty on Michael Howard had put the Jr. Blues on the power play. Chris Brown picked up the assist.
St. Louis excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in three chances. The Jr. Blues kept Chicago\’s goalie busy throughout the game, and Michael Paku made 27 saves on 33 shots.
St. Louis also got points from Thornton, who also racked up one goal and one assist, Heinzman, who also registered one goal and one assist, Daniel Dunaway, who also tallied one goal and one assist, and Brown, who also had one goal and one assist. More assists for St. Louis came via Zane OBryan and Andrew Wingbermuehle, who contributed one each.
St. Louis was unable to stop the Junior Bulldogs from sending pucks towards the net, and Chicago eventually piled up 37 shots on goal. The Junior Bulldogs could not stay out of the penalty box, as the team accrued 28 minutes in penalties during the game.
Chicago was helped by Niko Moulakelis, who racked up one goal. Moulakelis scored 5:43 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Chicago. Zac Edwards assisted on the tally. Chicago additionally got points from Max Piper, who also registered one goal and one assist and Howard, who also finished with one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Michael Ellis also scored for Chicago. Other players who recorded assists for Chicago were Matt Blaszkiewicz, Toms Taurins, and Dane Kalas, who each chipped in one.
Cooper Cothran recorded 33 saves for the Jr. Blues. St. Louis incurred 22 minutes in penalty time with six minors.