News by "The News-Star" Monroe, Louisiana
By James Crawford

Monroe (5-1-0) knocked two goals past Warthogs goaltender Marc Pethke with less than two minutes remaining in the period to grab a 3-2 lead heading into the final stanza.

"That gave us confidence going into the dressing room," Monroe center Matt Cressman said. "We knew we had to pick it up to win, but that gave us a good boost going into the second intermission."

Defenseman Duncan Dalmao took a feed from Lukas Smital and slapped it past Pethke with less than two minutes remaining.

Then Cressman and Bill McKay hooked for the first of their two goals, as McKay poked the puck through Pethke's legs into the back of the net. McKay took a loose puck from Cressman and slipped it into the net, giving the Mocs a 3-2 lead with 12 seconds left in the period.

"It was a hell of an effort from the Cressman line their best yet," Mocs coach Brian Curran said. "The (Jamie) Yoder line did a nice job, but the (Lucas) Miller line didn't have a good game. They didn't play well tonight."

McKay put the Mocs ahead right out of the gate. He scored past Pethke 28 seconds into the game, taking a beautiful cross-ice pass from Cressman on the Mocs' first chance in the Warthogs' end. McKay's second goal of the season put the Mocs up 1-0.

"Matt and I played together for almost the entire season last year," McKay said. "We work great together down low, cycle the puck well and know each other.

"On both goals the credit goes to Cressman. On the second one, he made a great play and tired out the defenseman. I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time."

Pethke then faced numerous chances shortly afterward, but a little luck and some misfortune for the Mocs kept the Warthogs just one goal down.

Alexandria capitalized on the opportunity by equaling the game 1-1 on a power-play goal by Matt Turek. Turek tipped the puck on a Chad Wilchynski shot, skipping it past Mocs goalie Marten Engren.

Alexandria (3-2-0) appeared to take the momentum from the Mocs during the second period. The Warthogs uncorked some aggressive play and benefited when Chris Peach put a goal past Engren for a 2-1 Alexandria advantage.

But just when the Mocs seemed to need it most, both teams went down a man and Monroe capitalized. The Mocs netted two goals less than a minute apart to take a 3-2 advantage into the third period.

Left winger Kelvin Solari added a power play goal midway through the third period for the final margin.

Despite the win, Curran and the Mocs were disappointed in the team's performance. Monroe only managed 22 shots and the defense, which has played well most of the season, seemed to have lulls in concentration throughout the game.

"It was an ugly game, but a win is a win," Curran said. "The players know they can play a much better game, and Alexandria also played well, but we didn't help ourselves by not doing the little things necessary to win."