BLOOMINGTON — Brainerd started strong and gave offensively-minded South Suburban all it could handle for two periods before the Flyers pulled away with six third period goals to defeat the Warriors 9-4 in the quarterfinals of state tournament at Bloomington Jefferson high school Friday.
Brainerd entered the game with a record of 6-5 and as the No. 3 seed in North Division while South Suburban was 9-3-1 and seeded second in the South Division.
Senior Richard Volkmuth scored unassisted 45 seconds into the contest and eighth-grader Devin Annable put Brainerd up 2-0 less than five minutes later with assists from Dalton Schreirer and Brennen Myers.
Flyer leading scorer Karen Kreidler then tallied the first of her four goals, but Myers countered unassisted to give Brainerd a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period.
South Suburban found the net twice in the second to tie the game at 3-3 before pulling away with six more in the final stanza.
Brainerd’s lone answer in the third was the second score of the contest for Annable who also had a goal disallowed in the waning minutes.
The Flyers outshot the Warriors 21-15 with goalie Anna Wahl making 12 saves.
“Our team played with everything they had,” said Brainerd coach Todd Person, “and I’m really proud of how hard they played and worked throughout the game.”
The Warriors will face Wayzata/Minnetonka (3-7-1) in the consolation semifinals 9 a.m. Saturday with the consolation championship following at 12:15 p.m.
South Suburban 1 2 6 — 9
Brainerd 3 0 1 — 4
First period: Brd-Richard Volkmuth :45; Brd-Devin Annable (Dalton Schreier, Brennen Myers) 5:31; SS-Karen Kreidler 11:21; Brd-Myers 13:39.
Second period: SS-Dequan Williams 1:56; SS-Alexei Dickenson 3:56.
Third period: SS-Andrew Mortinson :13; SS Williams pp 2:32; Brd-Annable (Myers) 3:06, SS-Krediler 4:07; SS-Kreidler 8:20; SS-Kreidler 14:16; SS-Mortinson 14:43.
Shots on goal: Brd 15, SS 21
Goalies: Brd-Anna Wahl (12 saves); SS-Christopher Reichel (10 saves)
Overall: Brd 6-6-0. Next: Brainerd vs. Wayzata/Minnetonka (3-7-1) in consolation semifinals 9 a.m. Saturday; consolation championship 12:15 p.m. Saturday, Bloomington Jefferson High School.
