After giving up a 2-1 lead and losing to Team North 3-2 on Monday, Team South looked to reassert itself on Tuesday evening, though a strong start eroded into a 5-1 defeat as Team Central improved to 2-0-0 in the tournament.
In the first period, Team South came out with an evident and determined purpose. Evan Karambelas (Topeka) got his turn to start in net and he faced light duty in the first 20 minutes as the South outshot Team Central 12-4. The lone goal in the period was scored by Jacob Poe (Topeka), an unassisted floater from the right point that sailed past Chris Kamal (Alexandria) at 12:01.
Midway in the second period, both teams swapped goalies at 9:51, with Karambelas denying all 15 shots he\’d faced. Dan Sullivan (Texas) came on in relief though he immediately inherited a penalty kill. The South killed it off, but Pat Borer (Owatonna) punched home a Tyler Klein pass at 13:40 to tie the game at 1-1, and lightning struck again just :37 seconds later when Tyler Klein intercepted a South breakout pass and beat Sullivan up high to steal a 2-1 lead at 14:17. The flood gates opened as Team Central scored twice in the span of :25 seconds at 16:35 and 17:00 to pull ahead 4-1. The first was Steve Zierke (Alexandria) on a feed from behind the goal line and then John Avino (Bismarck) added to the scoring barrage. When the horn sounded, the Central had buried 4 goals in just 3:20 and led 4-1.
In the third period, Tyler Klein struck again at 13:15 to put the Central on top 5-1 for the final margin of victory. Team Central held the South to just 3 shots in the third period.
Team South and Team West (both 0-2-0) square off at 9:00 AM CST Wednesday morning in the final game of the tourney for both squads.