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January 30, 2000
Eagles blank DelanoBy BOB VARMETTE Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM -- Sometimes, domination isn't reflected on the scoreboard. The New Ulm Eagles dominated the statistics, dominated the ice and dominated the Delano Tigers, everywhere but in one statistic -- goals. But the Eagles also owned the one stat that matters most. The final score. Playing one of their most complete games of the season, New Ulm scored three times in the second period and took a 3-0 win from Delano Saturday afternoon in Central Minnesota Conference boys hockey at Vogel Arena on Parents' Day. That the Eagles only registered three goals for all their domination was the only negative for New Ulm. "It's no indication of how we did dominate the game," New Ulm coach Tom Macho said. "We just can't score, it seems. But, then again, you win a game 1-0, it's better than losing it. It was really frustrating, though." New Ulm (15-3, 7-1) was able to unleash its frustrations in the second period. The Eagles scored all three of their goals and tallied twice on power plays. Jamie Hoffman, Brandon Rolloff and Ryan Wellmann each scored a goal in the period -- a period in which the Eagles outshot Delano (9-8, 3-5) 23-1. "Everybody just wanted to get that first goal," Hoffman said. "Everybody was motivated. The floodgates just opened. Everything was just an inch off before, but it just fell into place. We all as a team just worked and everything just fell together." Hoffman's goal broke open those floodgates, and the game, with 10:38 left in the second period. The sophomore beat Delano goalie Trent Voltin from in front with just five seconds left on an Eagle power play. Fellow sophomore Brenton Clyne got the assist. The combination energized the New Ulm offense, which had been dominating the Tigers anyway. Rolloff added the Eagles' second goal at the 5:33 mark off assists from Al Wurtzberger and David Sellner, putting a rebound past Voltin. Wellmann then redirected Ryan Neuman's shot from just inside the blue line past Voltin with 7:23 left in the second on another New Ulm man-advantage for a 3-0 Eagle margin. The lead eased a lot of the Eagles' frustration. "We just said, 'Guys, it's going to happen,'" Macho said. "We knew we had the advantage 90 percent of that (first) period. ... Their strategy was almost like they didn't want to lose by too much. We could handle it on the outside, but they didn't let us inside." New Ulm controlled the play in the first period, accumulating more than 12 minutes of possession time in the Tigers' end. The Eagles outshot Delano 11-3 in the first period, but Voltin stopped the three quality chances New Ulm had. But even Voltin couldn't survive the onslaught in the second. And the penalties didn't help. Delano took five penalties in the period. Going back to the basics also helped the Eagles unleash their three-goal barrage in the second period. The Eagles were afforded the opportunity to focus on the fundamentals, not having played in eight days. "We'd been having a hard time passing," junior Travis Thorson said. "We worked on passing like back when we were little. We worked on that in practice and I thought we passed the puck really well today." Hoffman added that breaking the game down helped the Eagles refocus on their performance. "We slowed it down, and put everything into its little place in practice," Hoffman said. "We just worked in little parts and put everything together, and it just all worked for us as a team." Almost overshadowed by the Eagles' offensive domination of Delano was New Ulm's defensive play. The Tigers -- limited by their scant attack time -- managed only eight shots on goal, including only one in the second period. "We had to make sure we did our defensive coverage properly," Macho said. "Had we not played the proper position, they would have had a lot of shots from outside. We did not give them any of those." Eagle goalie Gary Wurtzberger stopped all eight Delano shots for the shut-out victory. New Ulm will host Willmar Thursday night in nonconference game. DELANO 0 0 0--0 NEW ULM 0 3 0--3 First period--No scoring. Penalties--B.Voltin, DHS (interference), 4:31; Holm, NUHS (tripping), 5:12. Second period--1, New Ulm, Hoffman (Clyne), 4:22 (pp). 2, Rolloff (A.Wurtzberger, Sellner), 5:33. 3, Wellmann (Meier, Neuman), 7:37 (pp). Penalties--Nielson, DHS (hooking), 2:27; Belgrade, DHS (roughing), 5:24; Landa, DHS (roughing), 5:24; Thorson, NUHS (roughing), 5:24; Richter, NUHS (roughing), 5:24; Rakos, DHS (roughing), 6:44; Belgrade, DHS (slashing), 7:49. Third period--No scoring. Penalties--Nielson, DHS (roughing), 2:00; G.Wurtzberger, NUHS (roughing), 2:00; St. Aubin, DHS (tripping), 4:12; Rewitzer, NUHS (interference), 9:33; Belgrade, DHS (holding), 11:58; Holm, NUHS (high sticking), 11:58. Shots on goal--Delano 3-1-4--8. New Ulm 11-23-14--48. Goalies--Delano, T.Voltin (48-45). New Ulm, G.Wurtzberger (8-8).
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