Crusaders Sack Ice Force 7-1

There is a saying in the world of ice hockey that sometimes a game is essentially the men against the boys.  While that might be a bit of a stretch when high school hockey is involved, the adage seemed eerily appropriate in this game.  The Greendale Ice Force gave a valiant effort, but unfortunately were handily beaten by the Catholic Memorial/Pius Crusaders 7-1 at the Eble Park Ice Arena.

The Crusaders were paced by senior forwards Anthony Soo Hoo who scored the hat trick, and Dominic Zanoni's two goals. Senior defenseman Cody Dixon added four assists. The Ice Force's lone goal was scored by Kyle Hoffman.

Ice Force coach John Kennedy tried to have a positive outlook despite the lopsided outcome.

"It's tough, they're a good team, probably one of the top teams in the area," said Kennedy.  "We have got to play mistake free, you know. We played fairly well, had a couple of soft goals, for the most part the kids hustled and gave us everything they had."

Unfortunately everything they had wouldn't be enough on this night.

Just a mere 2:38 into the first period, the Crusaders showed signs of their prowess.  Cody Dixon rushed the puck up ice along the right wing boards.  He weaved through the Ice Force defense and stepped towards the middle of the slot.  He then slipped the puck across the slot to a wide open Nick Mikelonis, who buried the easy tap in for a 1-0 lead.

Exactly seven minutes later, the Crusaders would dent the twine again when Anthony Soo Hoo notched his first goal of the evening when he banged home the rebound of a Cody Dixon shot.    Dixon fired a shot from the point, and the rebound came right to Soo Hoo, who was left all alone in front of the crease for an easy tap in to make it 2-0.

Dominic Zanoni would close out the first period with his first goal of the game when he came out of the left wing corner, eluding his check.  He worked past the defenceman to the slot and fired a shot low to the glove side to make it 3-0.

The second period would become a bit more chippy, with both teams taking turns in the penalty box.  Each team was a man short when Sam Chapin would stretch the Crusaders lead to 4-0.  Cody Dixon circled the net with the puck and released a shot from the face off dot.  The rebound came right to Chapin who buried it.

Greendale would finally get on the scoreboard when Kyle Hoffman converted on a rebound from just outside the Crusader crease. After a scramble for a loose puck, Hoffman was able to knock the puck past Kyle Senglaub to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Just when there was the faint glimmer of hope in the Ice Force, that glimmer quickly dissipated just a mere 14 seconds later.  Anthony Soo Hoo notched his second goal of the game when he found a loose puck down low and fired the puck past Ice Force goaltender Joe Koepp to make it 5-1.

Soo Hoo would complete his hat trick midway through the third period when he eluded his check coming out of the corner and shooting high to the glove side to make it 6-1.  Dominic Zanoni would round out the scoring converting on a great three way cycle down low to make the final score 7-1.

Crusader goaltender Kyle Senglaub wasn't tested too often and stopped eleven of the twelve shots he faced.  Ice Force goaltender Joe Koepp was a tad more active, facing thirty two shots.

"It's tough competing against teams when you just don't have the talent," said Ice Force coach John Kennedy.  "They have a nice dump and chase system and we just don't have the horses to keep up and we ran out of gas."

The next game for the Ice Force is Monday afternoon Dec. 20 when they face Whitefish Bay at 4:30 p.m. at the Wilson Park Ice Arena.