GRANITE CITY – The Edwardsville Tigers went into Granite City and beat the Warriors 5-1 in MVCHA Class 2A action Thursday night.
The visitors got off to an early start thanks to a power play. Granite’s Reid Parker was sent to the box for roughing at 10:21 and Dean Schlarman made the Warriors pay for that infraction at 9:05 when he scored his first of four goals on the night.
The Tigers didn’t play their best hockey in the first period, but they held onto the one-goal lead. The period ended with Atticus Arth being sent to the box for roughing with 25.9 seconds remaining.
To kick off the second period, Schlarman got his second of the night, a short-handed goal at 12:37.
Granite was quick to cut the deficit in half when Tannan Nenninger scored at 10:13.
The Warriors seemed like they were gaining traction and momentum, but the Tigers had other plans.
Arth rang back with a goal 70 seconds later to regain the two-goal lead.
“To respond that quickly, that was huge,” Edwardsville head coach Jason Walker said after the game. “We got off to what we felt was a slow start. We couldn’t really get a lot going in the first period. We seemed to kind of build some momentum throughout the game.”
Schlarman wrapped up his hattrick with another goal at 8:00 in the second. He scored again with 1:55 left in the third period to get to the final score of 5-1.
“Obviously, when we come to Granite City and play Granite here, it’s always going to be a tough game. To come away with a victory is something that we’re happy about,” Walker said.
“77 (Schlarman) tonight was the difference. He got four goals. Dean played outstanding. We have a lot of guys in the locker room that can make a difference night in and night out, and we needed someone to step up tonight and he was the guy,” Walker added.
To go along with Schlarman’s four-goal night, Luke Thomilson recorded three assists while Blake Huneke and Zach Cohn each had a helper.
Tiger’s goalie Miles Rosenthal got the win as Edwardsville outshot Granite 30-17.
Edwardsville improves to 6-4-1 overall on the season and 3-1 in MVCHA action.
The Tigers will be back at home on Friday, November 15 against Parkway West, part of the 10-game Hockey Fights Cancer series. Gametime is set for 8:15 p.m. at R.P. Lumber Center.
