Boys Hockey: Saiko earns first shutout as Warriors blank St. Cloud 6-0

Warriors 6, St. Cloud 0

The key: Six different players scored and Brainerd goalie Luke Saiko stopped all 19 shots he faced

Conference: Brd 2-1, SC 2-3

Overall: Brd 8-6, SC 3-8-2

Next: Brainerd at Sartell-St. Stephen 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11

Luke Saiko was a little nervous in the closing minutes of the Brainerd Warriors' 6-0 win over visiting St. Cloud in Central Lakes Conference action Tuesday, Jan. 8 at the Essentia Health Sports Center.

That's because the Warriors' junior goaltender had lost a bid for his first career shutout with just 24 seconds remaining last month in a 3-1 win over Grand Rapids (Dec. 21).

"I tried not to think about it," Saiko said of the shutout that earned him his fifth win of the season. "My teammates made some big (defensive) plays and I had some nice saves."

Saiko turned aside 19 shots to post the second straight home shutout for the Warriors as senior Jacob Mitchell also blanked Buffalo 1-0 Thursday, Jan. 4.

"We've been rotating in goal," Saiko said. "If one isn't ready, then the other one steps up. I actually didn't know I was starting until about 15 minutes before the game. I think coach (Dave Aus) does that so we don't worry about it too long."

Saiko relaxed a bit when the Warriors scored shorthanded early in the third period to turn a close 2-0 contest into a comfortable margin. Mason Kruse scored the goal, his third short-handed tally of the season, after taking a pass in front from Riley Andres. The goal came just seconds after Andres was stopped on a breakaway after taking a long pass from Kruse.

"We've been pretty confident on the penalty kill," Kruse explained. "We use our speed and get teams on their heels. I don't think they expect us to be aggressive and they will cough up the puck."

The Warriors iced the victory later in the third period on goals by Joe Klang, Haden Kruse and Eli Roberts.

Brainerd dominated play in the opening minutes of the game, including having five shots on goal in the period's only power play. The biggest save of the man advantage came when goaltender Soren Fallon robbed Brady Anderson after he attempted to bury a pass from Mason Kruse.

Saiko came up big when he made a sprawling save right at the goal line to rob Nick Richert at the side of the net midway through the session. The Warriors took a 1-0 lead with 4:36 left when Anderson passed to Kadolph, who flipped the puck into the top corner of the net.

Brainerd defenseman Eric Pohlkamp made two admirable defensive plays in the final minutes of the period, including tying up a St. Cloud player before he could put home a rebound on the open side of the net with 3:10 left. The Warriors missed a chance to extend their lead with 33.4 seconds left when Mike Laber hit the post on a spinning shot from close range.

Brainerd quickly extended the lead to 2-0 at 40 seconds into the second period when Mason Kruse raced around a defender, fed a pass to Westin Andres, who skated in front and waited for Fallon to drop before firing a pass into the net.

St. Cloud enjoyed a 6-2 edge in shots in the first half of the period, but were scoreless as Saiko made a handful of big saves, including stopping Ian Aadland on a breakaway midway through the session. Aadland made a nice move, but Saiko covered the puck with his glove on the ice and braced against the goal post.

Warrior notes

Brainerd won the junior varsity game 5-0 by outshooting St. Cloud 27-7. Seth Vagts scored twice while goaltenders Greg Peterson and Jed Klang combined for the shutout for the Warriors, who improved to 9-5 overall.

The St. Cloud hockey team, which does not have a nickname, was consolidated last season when St. Cloud Tech and St. Cloud Apollo merged.

"We have 16 players from Apollo and 20 from Tech," said St. Cloud head coach Pete Matanich, who played at Apollo before graduating in 1997.

For more photos, go to https://bit.ly/2Rj76TU .

St. Cloud 0 0 0 - 0

Brainerd 1 1 4 - 6

First period: Brd-Christian Kadolph (Brady Anderson) 12:24

Second period: Brd-Westin Andres (Mason Kruse, Eric Pohlkamp) :40

Third period: Brd-Mason Kruse (Riley Andres) 4:32 (shg); Brd-Joe Klang (Josh McLain, Jack Olson) 8:49; Brd-Haden Kruse (Anthony Menghini) 13:15; Brd-Eli Roberts (Haden Kruse, Menghini) 16:30

Shots on goal: Brd 35, SC 19

Goalies: Brd-Luke Saiko (19 saves); SC-Soren Fallon (29 saves).