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  • Mankato West's Ryan Jutting (20) tries to get his own rebound as he is surrounded by Mankato East/Loyola's Shane Sellner (17), Sean Allan (22) and goalie Lucas Weihe during the first period Tuesday at All Seasons Arena. Pat Christman

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February 21, 2012

West advances with 3rd shutout of Cougars

By Joe Tischler The Free Press

MANKATO — MANKATO — When East and West meet in any sport, bragging rights are at stake. It means even more when the two schools meet in the playoffs.

The two met Tuesday night at All Seasons Arena in the first round of the Section 1A boys hockey playoffs. The Scarlets broke open a close game with a 5-goal third period to defeat East/Loyola 6-0 and advance to a second round date with Red Wing on Thursday.

In two previous meetings this season, West outscored East 12-0. Much of the same was expected for the third meeting as the Cougars came in with just four wins on the season. Despite the outcome, the game was not quite as one-sided as the score indicated.

 “It’s a crosstown rivalry. You never know what to expect,” said West head coach Curtis Doell. “It doesn’t matter who should win or who should lose. You can never expect to win a hockey game.”

The game’s pivotal moment came late in the second period with West holding a 1-0 lead. Scarlet defenseman Scott McKissick was called for a tripping penalty almost a minute after Tyler Resner was whistled for a cross checking penalty.

East was left with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:04. West senior goaltender Zach Fox was able to stop East’s hopes of an equalizing goal.  

“The 5-on-3 got me worried,” said Fox. “It basically allows them to put guys in front. It kind of takes away my eyes. It’s really hard to peek through bodies and legs. I was definitely quite nervous.”

With American Idol contestant Shelby Tweeten singing the national anthem before the game, it was Fox that played the role of “Scarlet Idol” as he broke a school record with five shutouts in one season.

“It’s kind of always been in the back of my mind,” Fox said. “I’ve had like eight one-goal games and it was really frustrating. To finally get this is a lot of weight off my shoulders.”

West broke open the tight game quickly in the third as the Scarlets erupted for five goals. Tyler Resner scored on a deflection off a pass from Billy Bigham 1:53 into the period.

A little more than two minutes later, Zach Erickson went top shelf over the right shoulder of East goalie Lucas Weihe to make it 3-0 Scarlets. Josh Christenson, Galt Goettl and Resner added late goals to finish the 6-0 outcome.

Fox stopped 14 Cougar shots on goal while Weihe saved 31 of 37 shots sent his way for East.

The Scarlets will be looking for some payback as they travel to Red Wing on Thursday. They lost to the Wingers in the second round of last year’s tournament 6-3.

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