Windom blanks Sleepy Eye

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Things looked promising for the Sleepy Eye boys hockey team after the first period.

Despite being outhit and outshot in the first period, Sleepy Eye found itself trailing only 1-0 after the first 17 minutes.

But a rejuvenated Windom team came out and turned up the intensity, dominating the physical aspect of the game and finished the numerous scoring chances it had created. Windom won the nonconference game 9-0.

"They're working harder and hustling more," Sleepy Eye coach Dave Beaty said. "You gotta hit. It's a physical game. If you're not going to forecheck hard, you're not going to get much offense going.

"For most of the game, I thought our guys hustled pretty good," Beaty said. "We have a lot of new players and young guys, so there needs to be enthusiasm that you can't teach."

The Eagles had several chances to cash in against Sleepy Eye in the first period, but were unable to beat Lonnie Beltz. Cody Fast scored the only Eagle goal in the when he got open on a breakaway, juked Beltz to the right and backhanded the puck in with 2:16 remaining.

The second period was a different story with Windom able to attack the Sleepy Eye zone. Jake Stade scored on a one-timer on assists from Kody Johnson and Nick Wells with 14:56 remaining. Less than a minute later, Fast scored again to up the Windom lead to 3-0. Mike Thies and Cody Lewis put the Eagles up 5-0, and a goal from Thies gave the Eagles a 6-0 lead heading into the third period.

"The second period has been a problem for us all year," Beaty said. "Just to maintain that level -- we've only done it once throughout three periods, and we won that game."

Sleepy Eye continued to struggle and looked frustrated in the third period.

Marcus Schultz put back a rebound to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. The goal was assisted by Lee Fast and Bill Kruppiak.

Then, with 3:09 remaining, Johnson scored on an assist from Thies and Tony Nemitz. The Eagles scored their final goal with 15 seconds remaining for the 9-0 deficit.

"They did a great job of just taking advantage of some of the weaknesses that we have on our team," Beaty said. "They hustled well and I thought they hit well, and they deserved to win by 9-0."

Sleepy Eye (1-6) is at Fairmont Tuesday.