Tyler Resch scored twice as the state-ranked Alexandria Cardinals ousted Wadena-Deer Creek from the Section 6A boys' hockey playoffs Tuesday night with a 9-2 victory at Runestone Arena.
The second-seeded Cardinals out-shot the seventh-seeded Wolverines 43-17. Trevor Ness and Brandon Wing each had one goal and one assist for the Wolverines, who ended their season with a 12-13-1 record.
Allen Uselman stopped 31 Alexandria shots while Tyler Muehler recorded three saves.
"It was a very, very good game," said WDC Head Coach Dan Savoie. "We worked very hard for the entire game. We played as well as we could."
Savoie felt his team was simply out-matched on the ice by the Central Lakes club, which faces Little Falls Thursday night at the MAC in St. Cloud for the section championship.
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"They have four lines," Savoie said. "It is hard to work against that. We only have two although I tried to play a third line. They are a very, very good hockey club."
Savoie looks forward to having experience on the blue line next year along with his No. 2 scorer (Brandon Wing) and a strong goalie (Tyler Muehler). Kyle Beiswenger will be back for his junior year and Logan Meyer will return for his sophomore season. Savoie will need strong performances from junior Brandyn Swanson and sophomore Colter Pettit next season.
"We'll probably have a real good first line, a good second line and then we'll have to put together a better third line," Savoie said.
WDC 1 0 1 - 2
Alex. 3 3 3 - 9
First Period
A Tyler Resch (Scott Hennen, Casey Vangsness) 7:10
WDC Trevor Ness (Brandon Wing) 12:01
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A Resch (Vangsness, Thomas Williams) 14:03
A Dylan Carlson (Tyler Hocum, Tyler Ostendorf) 16:59
Second Period
A Ashton Gronholz (Bennet Black, Ross Thompson) 3:53
A Tyler Iverson (Cody Rieland, Carlson) 9:59
A Black (Gronholz) 11:10
Third Period
A Gronholz (Hennen) 1:05
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A Williams (unassisted) 2:47
WDC Wing (Ness) 8:24
A Rieland (Ostendorf, Marvin Wensman) 9:20
Saves
Allen Uselman (WDC) 31, Tyler Muehler (WDC) 3; Matt Hemingway (A) 15
