La Crosse had a two-goal lead after two periods and cruised the rest of the way en route to a 4-1 win over Granite City.
Reed Kelly had two goals to lead La Crosse to victory. Kelly\’s tallies came at 12:51 into the first period to make the score 1-1 and 16:49 into the second to make the score 3-1 La Crosse.
La Crosse\’s Garret Matz was a brick wall in net, as he came up with 48 saves and let only one puck past him.
La Crosse excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in four chances.
La Crosse additionally got points from Jacob St. Andre, who also tallied one goal and one assist and Cameron Pries, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for La Crosse were JP Eykyn, who had two and Alexander Rickoff, Dylan Goggin, and Colin Huffman, who contributed one each.
Granite City put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow La Crosse to score on any of its three power plays. Granite City could not produce up to its normal offensive output. Granite City puts an average of 4.4 pucks into the net per game. Granite City forced La Crosse goalie Matz to work between the pipes, taking 49 shots.
Granite City was led by Matthew Cowger, who scored the team\’s only goal. Cowger scored 2:32 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Granite City. John Suess picked up the assist.
La Crosse incurred 14 minutes in penalty time with seven minors. Nathan Isaacson recorded 18 saves for Granite City. Granite City incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.