New Ulm skaters top feisty New Prague

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm boys' hockey team capitalized on opportunities to defeat New Prague 5-3 in a rough game in which a total of 16 penalties were assessed.

The Eagles were called on seven minor penalties, and New Prague had nine -- including two 10 minute misconduct calls -- one of them with a double minor.

Over the years, a rivalry has emerged between the Eagles and the Trojans -- New Ulm goalie Tyler Zollner remembers when they were younger, New Prague beat them in a key regions game.

"It's always been a tough rivalry," he said.

"As they were growing up, they handled our kids well, so this was nice to see. It was rough -- a good game on our part," said Eagle coach Tom Macho. "We made some mistakes early, and they capitalized on them. We let them make mistakes, then we capitalized on them. After the first period, we minimized our mistakes."

Both teams had a slow beginning to the first period, not having many shots on goal on either end until five minutes into the game. Then, after several shots, Chris Reinarts took his own rebound at the right of the goal and passed it in front to Scott Roiger, who flicked it in for the first goal. Less than one minute later, New Prague's Troy Pint passed to Dan Witty, who got his own rebound and gave it to Matt Ambroz for a goal, tying the game at one.

With a player in the box for slashing, New Prague's Kirby Pumper scored off of Witty's rebound at 11:58 to leave the Eagles behind 2-1 going into period two.

"We were slow at the beginning," Zollner said. "But we played really well in the third period. We kept getting quicker and started passing better -- the flow of the game really picked up."

The second period was rough, with five people at one time in the penalty box -- three from New Prague, and two for New Ulm.

New Ulm tied it early on during a power play. Kyle Marti shot from the blue line, and Jay Geisthardt redirected the rebound to Brett Burgau, who put it in to tie the game at two. New Prague then had a power play while Andy Budahn was in the box, but the Eagles kept them from getting too many shots off.

New Ulm had some close opportunities, with consecutive shots by Adam Fromm, Roiger and Marti before New Prague's Pumper took the puck down and shot it into the left side of the net to pull New Prague ahead 3-2.

At 10:47, three New Prague players sat in the penalty box, and they were shorthanded two on the ice. Roiger and Burgau sat in the box as well, leaving both teams shorthanded. The Eagles had several shots on goal when Reinarts skated around the defense, faked right and put it in on the goalie's right to tie it at three.

With just :47 expired in the third period, New Ulm took the lead for good when Tyson Anderson passed to Reinarts, making the New Prague goalie move to his left, and Marti put the puck into an open net. Then, at 2:55, the Eagles pulled ahead 5-3 when Geisthardt broke away and flipped it into the upper right hand corner of the goal.

Tempers flared in a rough game at 8:53 when New Prague's John Edwards had Geisthardt down on the ice, throwing punches. Geisthardt skated past Edwards when the referee was taking him to the penalty box, and Edwards broke out of the ref's grasp, threw his stick, and was sent off the ice. He got a double minor penalty for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct. Geisthardt was called for roughing.

For the most part, Macho was happy with the way his team tried not to get involved in penalties.

"We let them take penalties," he said. "I'm proud of the way our kids backed away. They (New Prague) will get angry if it doesn't go their way."

Despite some good shots by New Prague later in the quarter, the team could not come back, thanks to quick saves by Zollner in the goal.

"Tyler Zollner did a very good job tonight," Macho said. "This is two games in a row that he has made some good saves for us to keep us in the game.

"I'm happy with the overall play of everybody -- I could give you the names of 19 players," he said. "When they left the bench, we told them, 'This is what you need to do,' and they followed it to a T."

The boys host Mound Westonka next Thursday.

New Prague 2 1 0 -- 3

New Ulm 1 2 2 -- 5

First period -- 1, NU, Scott Roger (Chris Reinarts), 6:32. 2, NP, Matt Ambroz (Dan Witty, Troy Pint), 7:47. 3, NP, Kirby Pumper (Witty), 11:58.

Second period -- 4, NU, Brett Burgau (Jay Geisthardt, Kyle Marti), :25. 5, NP, Pumper, 6:50. 6, NU, Reinarts (Burgau), 12:28.

Third period -- 7, NU, Marti (Reinarts, Tyson Anderson), :47. 8, NU, Geisthardt (Adam Fromm), 2:55.

Shots on goal -- New Prague 10-5-12 27. New Ulm 8-15-11 34.

Goalies -- New Prague, Daniel Sacco (34-29). New Ulm, Tyler Zollner (27-24).