EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville freshman hockey player Ian Bowers made history by becoming the first freshman since 2015 to score a hat trick as he scored three times in the Tigers’ 7-1 win over Highland on Thursday night at the RE Lumber Center in Edwardsville
The Tigers had won on Monday night over Bethalto 7-0 at the East Alton Ice Arena, and are now 5-0-0 for the young MVCHA season, dealing the Eagles their first loss of the year. Bethalto is still 6-1-0, with 12 points, and still leads the league, with Edwardsville having 10 points in their first five games.
The Tigers jumped to a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first period, scored by Bowers, with an assist to Zach Johnson, at 5:40 of the period. The Bulldogs tied the game at 30 seconds of the second period on an unassisted goal by Kyson Hoyt, but the Tigers then scored six unanswered goals to take control of the game, three of them in the second period. Edwardsville took the lead for good at 1:37 when Blake Huneke scored, assisted by Colton Boutelle and Reed Wolfe, then Bowers scored his second goal of the game at 3:34, with assists to Will Whittaker and Andrew Mauer. Reed Poettker then scored at 7:28 to give Edwardsville a 4-1 lead, with Huneke getting an assist.
In the third period, Huneke earned his second assist of the night on Wolfe’s first goal of the night, with Boutelle also assisting, at 10:51 to make it 5-1. Then, Wolfe scored 19 seconds later, at 11:10, unassisted, to give Edwardsville a big 6-1 lead. Bowers then completed his historic hat trick at 13:06, assisted by Whittaker, to give the Tigers their 7-1 win.
The Tigers are now 5-0-0, and next play Freeburg/Waterloo at RP Lumber Center at 7 p.m. Monday, while the Bulldogs go to 2-4-0, and meet Triad in a rivalry game Monday at the Wilson Park Ice Rink in Granite City, with the face-off coming at 9 p.m.
Stoelzle, Engfehr Both Score Twice, Panthers Take 7-1 Win Over Triad, Are Now 5-1-0 In MVCHA
EDWARDSVILLE – Both Scott Stoelzle and Noah Engfehr had two goals apiece, and it helped O’Fallon to take a 7-1 win over Triad in a Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association game played Thursday night at RP Lumber Center in Edwardsville.
The win allowed the Panthers, the defending Class 2A runners-up to Edwardsville in last season’s MVCHA finals, to remain in third place overall in the league at 5-1-0, a half-game behind the Tigers, and another half-game behind league leaders Bethalto, who are currently 6-1-0.
Stoelzle scored the opening goal of the game unassisted at 6:31 to give O’Fallon the lead at 1-0, then the Panthers doubled the lead to 2-0 on a goal by Luke Shelton at 10:50, with an assist going to Max Jachhuber, with O’Fallon holding the 2-0 lead at the end of the period.
In the second period, Jaxson Coffey made it 3-0 on an assist to Xavier Williams at 2:30 to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead, and at 7:35 of the period, Stoelzle scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Grant Rhea and Abe Turner, to make it 4-0. The Knights got their only goal of the contest at 10:34 when Jacob Perschbacher scored, assisted by Aston Blevins and Reid Miller, to cut the O’Fallon lead to 4-1. The Panthers got the goal back at 11:01, when Malachi Otero scored, assisted by Shelton, and scored once more at 12:14 on a goal by Engfehr, assisted by Stoelzle, to give O’Fallon a 6-1 lead after two.
The only goal of the third period was scored by Engfehr, assisted by Colby Wallace and Jonny Reed at 3:41, to give the Panthers their 7-1 win. For the game, O’Fallon outshot Triad 44-27.
The Panthers are now 6-1-0, and next play at home at the McKendree Metro Rec-Plex on Tuesday against Granite City in a 7:30 p.m. face-off. The Knights go to 3-3-0, and face Highland in a rivalry game Monday night at the Wilson Park Ice Rink in Granite City at 9 p.m., then play Bethalto Tuesday at the East Alton Ice Arena, with a start time of 7:30 p.m.
