Alexandria boys' hockey: Cardinals take overtime win

• Leary

Senior forward Patrick Leary handled the puck during a game against Prairie Centre earlier this season. (Eric Morken, Echo Press)

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The Alexandria boys’ hockey team made its biggest statement of the young season last Thursday with a 4-3 overtime win in Brainerd.

The Warriors came into the night 2-0 having given up only two goals through those first two wins. Alexandria did one better than that through the first period before the two teams went into overtime tied at three apiece.

That’s when Ryan Marciniak sent his team home a winner. The sophomore forward carried the puck down the ice and around the back of the net before placing it in the upper corner for the game winner.

“It was a big win as Brainerd is one of the favorites to win the conference,” head coach Scott Woods said. “It was rewarding to see what this team can do with hard work and unselfish play.”

It was the second point of the night for Marciniak. He assisted on the first goal of the game when Parker Revering let go of a wrister from the point in the first period. Brainerd scored the equalizer on a power play in the 11th minute before Tom Schmidt got on the board for Alexandria off a nice pass from Matt Resch at 13:08.

Less than 20 seconds later, it was Resch’s turn to get in on the act. The junior forward scored his first varsity goal off an assist from Kevin Finley that helped Alexandria take a 3-2 lead into the second period.

The Warriors got the only goal of the middle frame, but it wasn’t enough in the end. The Cardinals’ Ben Allen stopped 34 shots on the night to pick up the win. Both teams were evenly matched all night as they finished tied with 37 shots apiece.

The win moved the Cardinals to 2-1-1 on the season. They are 1-0-1 in the Central Lakes Conference play. St. Cloud Tech was the only other unbeaten team at 1-0 after taking care of Sauk Rapids-Rice last Tuesday night.

GAME SUMMARY

ALEXANDRIA 3 0 0 1 – 4

BRAINERD 2 1 0 0 – 3

SHOTS – Alexandria – 12, 12, 12, 1 – 37; Brainerd – 12, 16, 6, 3 – 37

SCORING – FIRST PERIOD – Alexandria – Parker Revering (Chris Leary, Ryan Marciniak), 6:26; Brainerd – Jacob Ellingson (Logan Rivard, Jed Rusk), 11:15; Alexandria – Tom Schmidt (Matt Resch), 13:08; Alexandria – Resch (Kevin Finley), 13:26; Brainerd – Logan Rivard (Jed Rusk), 16:30

SECOND PERIOD – Brainerd – Isaac Johnson (PPG) (Thomas Stoxen), 5:49

THIRD PERIOD – No scoring

OVERTIME – Marciniak (unassisted), 2:53

GOALTENDING – Alexandria – Ben Allen – W, 34 saves, 37 shots; Brainerd – Kyle Helmberger – L, 33 saves, 37 shots

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, boys, hockey