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February 23, 2000
Indian skaters advance in 1ABy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor SLEEPY EYE -- Bear was growling, but it was a stingy defense and solid goaltending that lifted the sixth-seeded Sleepy Eye hockey team to a 2-1 win over No. 11 Waseca in opening-round action of the Section 1A Tournament Tuesday night. "Bear," as most people know, is senior center Loren Havemeier, who netted both Indian goals in the win. Goalie Cody Walter stopped 20 of 21 shots for Sleepy Eye, who it seemed spent much of the game short-handed. "The penalties took us out of our game," Indian head coach Terry Heiderscheidt said. "We played short-handed too much in the second period and really never recovered from it, staying back in the penalty-kill mode. Our feet were slow, we didn't move to the puck, so we were lucky to escape with a win." The first power play for Waseca backfired as Havemeier forced Bluejay goalie Josh Sommers to dump the wide wide to the boards. The lightning-quick senior then scooted to the puck and fired it into the net as Sommers scrambled back, and the short-handed tally gave Sleepy Eye a 1-0 edge. After killing off three penalties in the second, including a 5-on-3 and a four-minute double minor, Havemeier would notch his second goal in the final minute as he got Sommers moving left and went long-side behind the goalie for a 2-0 lead. "He's got all the skills -- there's no question about it," Heiderscheidt said of his captain. "He's got a step on everyone; you can't stay with him and you can't relax. The other team just can't relax at all when he's on the ice." Finally, David Haala's questionable boarding call gave Waseca a man-advantage that it couldn't refuse. Ryan Peterson cut the lead in half, at 1:52, on an assist from Tyrel Anderson. "We knew (Bluejays) were going to come out fired up," Heiderscheidt said. "There's 15 minutes left, and we just told them to play it like it's the last 15 minutes they'll ever play. We didn't know, with the penalties being called, how short-handed we were going to be. We just didn't want to take any stupid penalties and hold on." They did just that as Walter came up with a couple of big saves and the Indian defense constantly dumping the puck. Sommers was pulled in the final seconds, but once again Sleepy Eye was able to get the puck out and preserve the win. Sleepy Eye, with the win, moves its record to 17-7 on the season. The Indians will now face either No. 3 Albert Lea or No. 14 Worthington Saturday. WASECA 0 0 1--1 SLEEPY EYE 1 1 0--2 FIRST PERIOD SE-Havemeier (unassisted) SH 5:12. SECOND PERIOD SE-Havemeier (unassisted) 14:27. THIRD PERIOD W-Peterson (Anderson) PP 1:52. Saves: Waseca (Sommers) 9-7-9 -- 25; Sleepy Eye (Walter) 7-6-7 -- 20.
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