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December 15, 1999
New Ulm blanks CrusadersBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor NEW ULM -- The New Ulm boy's hockey team improved to 2-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference Tuesday night, shutting down St. Cloud Cathedral 4-0 at Vogel Arena. Travis Thorson scored two goals for the Eagles, with netminder Gary Wurtzberger stopping all 14 shots he faced. "A win is a win," New Ulm coach Tom Macho said following the game. "It was a hard-fought win for us; we outshot them by quite a bit, but goaltending was very good on their part. They played good position and didn't let us get into a rhythm where we could have totally dominated the game. They did what they had to do to stay with us, because we were much quicker than they were." That wasn;t evident early, though, as both teams came out sluggish. An early penalty led to a New Ulm power play, and the Eagles didn't disappoint as Brian Meier's pass went off B.J. Rewitzer's stick and past goalie Jason Kacures for a 1-0 New Ulm lead at 5:06 of the first. Thorson would then net his first goal of the game at 8:52 off an assist from Jamie Hoffman. "Those (goals) really set the tone for us," Macho said. "Then, we just absolutely shelled them in the second and held them down." The Eagles would not score in that second frame, but the defense held the Crusaders to just two shots on goal in the period. "Our backchecking was excellent," Macho commented. "A lot of times play would be at the blue line, but by the time they got there we'd already have a forward there waiting." One of the two saves Wurtzberger made was a beauty, stonewalling a breakaway effort in the final minute of the period. "Gary earned his shutout tonight," Macho said. "He didn't make many saves, but a few he had were excellent. That one at the end of the second, plus the leg save (late) in the third were highlight-film." The Eagles wouldn't take long to put the game away in the final period. Ryan Neuman notched a pretty breakaway goal at the 1:37 mark to push the New Ulm edge to 3-0, and Thorson would get his second tally at 8:52 on an unselfish play by Rewitzer. The senior forward skated in all alone but shoveled the puck to Thorson, who literally had the whole net to shoot at Paul Yager also had an assist on the play. Kacures finished the night with 36 saves on 40 shots. "We took it to them, and we have to do that," Macho said. "We have to play to our strength, which is speed. We need to use that (speed) on teams that aren't as quick as we are, and I thought we did that tonight." New Ulm (4-2, 2-0) will host Fairmont Thursday. ST. CLOUD CATH 0 0 0--0 NEW ULM 2 0 2--4 FIRST PERIOD NU-Rewitzer (Meier) 5:06 PP; NU-Thorson (Hoffman) 8:52. SECOND PERIOD No scoring. THIRD PERIOD NU-Neuman (unassisted) 1:37; NU-Thorson (Yager, Rewitzer) 8:52.
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