Hunter Smith gave the La Crosse Freeze the lead in the first period, and the Alexandria Blizzard was never able to catch up in a close game that ended 4-2.
Smith provided La Crosse with the game-winning tally when he scored 6:46 into the first period. Anthony Miller picked up the assist.
The Freeze were led by Chong Hyun Lee, who tallied one goal. Lee scored 16:51 into the first period to make the score 3-1 La Crosse.
La Crosse forced Alexandria goalie Evan Bisek to work between the pipes, taking 38 shots. The Freeze\’s defensemen played an important role in the offense, chipping in two goals.
La Crosse also got points from Smith, who also had one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Others who scored for La Crosse included Hunter Dragosh and Travis Hall, who each put in one. More assists for La Crosse came via Jake Lipski and Jack Sterne, who each chipped in one.
The Blizzard stifled La Crosse\’s power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Alexandria\’s offense rang up 32 shots on the Freeze\’s net.
The Blizzard were led by Bo Gronseth, who registered one goal and one assist. Gronseth scored 25 seconds into the first period to make the score 1-0 Alexandria. Tommy Hall provided the assist. Tyler Berginski also scored for Alexandria. Other players who recorded assists for Alexandria were Trent Olson and Tom Schmidt, who contributed one each.
Andrew Wagner rejected 30 shots on goal for La Crosse. The Freeze incurred 16 minutes in penalty time with three minors. Alexandria\’s Bisek stopped 34 shots out of the 37 that he faced. The Blizzard totaled 41 minutes in penalty time with three minors and one major and went 1-for-3 on the power play. Alexandria ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Aaron Ryback was ejected from the game.
