STMA Skates by Buffalo 4-0 in Section 8AA Quarterfinal Action
Buffalo, MN – The Buffalo Bison battled the St. Michael-Albertville Knights in a quarterfinal matchup of the Class 2A Section 8 Quarterfinals at the Buffalo Civic Center. Austin Dietrich #31 (G, L, 5’9″, 161, St. Michael-Albertville, 05/21/2004) got the nod for the Knights while Max Varner #31 (G, L, 5’11”, 172, Buffalo HS (MN), 09/19/2005) tended the cage at the other end. The first period was dominated by St. Michael-Albertville as they seemed to be in the offensive zone for all seventeen minutes. Caleb Waller #2 (F, L, 5’7″, 145, St. Michael-Albertville, 01/01/2005) opened up the scoring, grabbing a pass in the neutral zone from Reme Lobitz #8 (D, R, St. Michael-Albertville, 01/01/2005), as he was able to take the puck wide and beat the netminder with a nice shot. Lobitz was not done on the scoresheet as he found a pocket of space, near the right face off dot and was able to fire a shot through some traffic to the back of the net. The Knights outshot Buffalo 14-5 through the first frame and had all the momentum with a 2-0 lead.
The second period was mostly uneventful as the pace seemed to level off. The Bison responded well early taking the game back to the Knights but were unable to generate many quality chances. STMA once again carried all the possession as the ice was tilted in their favor but couldn’t quite create the same chances they had in the first. The Knights did have two powerplay opportunities but were not able to capitalize on either. Tyler Jordan #22 (F, R, 5’10”, 165, St. Michael-Albertville, 10/14/2004) of the Knights continued to turn heads every shift, as he garnered a ton of attention with his pace and confidence as he could single handily drive a line. STMA held a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.
The Knights continued with their stranglehold of possession in the third period and did not let up. They were able to stretch their lead with a solid individual effort from JP Johnson #28 (F, R, 5’9″, 152, St. Michael-Albertville, 01/01/2003), grabbing a loose puck in his own end and racing down the ice wide and firing a shot home from just inside the right face off dot, short side high. Buffalo was unable to create many chances from the inside as everything was coming from the perimeter making it a relatively easy night for Dietrich. Gavin Robeck #26 (F, L, 6’0″, 160, St. Michael-Albertville, 01/01/2004) sealed the deal with an empty netter late in the third to put the game away.
St. Michael-Albertville came away with a 4-0 victory and will be advancing to the Semi-Final round where they will face the #1 seed Moorhead on Saturday February 26th.
Three Stars
First: Austin Deitrich -STMA
Second: Tyler Jordan -STMA
Third- Reme Lobitz -STMA
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images