ROCHESTER-Tre'Von Otey registered a hat trick for the Brainerd Warriors in their 7-2 third-round win over Rochester and the Warriors won all three of their games in the Andrew Cormack Memorial Tournament Saturday.
Brainerd goalkeeper Cody Vleck amassed 30 saves, Jake Heikkenen scored two goals, Jacob Heinlen tallied one goal and two assists and Zachary Denny dished out two assists.
In Saturday's second-round 7-2 win against Dakota United, Matt Allord recorded two goals and one assist for the Warriors. Heikkenen collected one goal and two assists. Blaise Edinger, Otey and Denny each compiled one goal and one assist.
"This opening-weekend tournament was a good experience for our team to start the season," Warriors coach Todd Person said. "Playing three games in less than 24 hours can be extremely difficult and that's what will be required of them at the state tournament in March.
"Each of our Saturday opponents, Rochester and Dakota United, have large rosters, but our ability to get on the board in both games within the first two minutes helped our players be able to slow things down and control the tempo. Our team did an excellent job of moving the puck around and getting several people involved in the offense.
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"As a coaching staff, we have seen a lot of improvement on the defensive end of the floor with players showing discipline in getting back to challenge the opponents more when the puck is in our zone. Zachary Denny showed his maturity as a player, after being the goaltender for the past two seasons, being able to seamlessly slide back into his old role as a defenseman out on the floor. Cody Vleck had a 90-percent save percentage for the weekend and got stronger with each game. "
Rochester 1 0 1-2
Brainerd 3 3 1-7
First period: B-Matt Allord (Jake Heikkenen) 0:49, B-Zachary Denny 7:39, B-Tre'Von Otey (Blaise Edinger) 10:33, R-Sean Healy 12:03
Second period: B-Heikkenen 9:32, B-Allord (Heikkenen) 12:07, B-Allord (Denny) 13:47
Third period: B-Edinger (Otey) 2:47, R-Nicholas Geving (Garrison Israelson) 13:30
Shots on goal: Brd 16 12 9 - 37, R 4 5 9 - 18
Goalies: Brd- Cody Vleck (16 saves); R- Erik Anderson (30 saves)
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Dakota United 1 1 0-2
Brainerd 5 1 1-7
First period: B-Jacob Heinlen (Denny) 1:37, B-Heikkenen (Heinlen) 3:20, B-Heikkenen (Heinlen) 3:58, B-Otey (Maddox Canon) 6:04, B-Otey (Tate Boelter, Edinger) 6:20, DU-Blake Jackson (Riley Wisniewski) 8:40
Second period: DU-Wisniewski 1:50, B-Brach Delcastillo (Denny) 10:30
Third period: B-Otey 14:58
Shots on goal: Brd 11 6 5 - 22, DU 9 15 8 - 32
Goalies: Brd- Vleck (30 saves); DU- Jonathon Lyons (15 saves)
Overall: Brd 3-0. Next: Brainerd at Mounds View 4:30 p.m. Jan 18.
