Red Knights show their mettle in bounce back win
Phillips hat trick leads BSM comeback from early deficit.
CHAMPLIN, Minn. -- Much like Monday's loss, Benilde-St. Margaret's fell behind early by two goals.
However, they rebounded with two goals in the final three minutes, 13 seconds of the opening frame and the dominated the second period by scoring four goals as the ninth-ranked Red Knights remained unbeaten on the road with an 8-2 win over #18 Champlin Park.
"It was a huge effort tonight," BSM head coach Ken Pauly said. "It was really important after Monday's disappointment, because a loss isn't deadly but you don't want bad feelings to linger, and winning is the best way to get rid of bad feelings."
Sophomore Maceo Phillips got rid of any bad feelings by recording his first career hat trick, which included getting the Red Knights on the scoreboard with a power-play goal at 13:47 of the opening period.
After getting chased from Monday's start, Brennan Chapman rebounded to stop 27 shots versus Champlin Park.
Ben Norris had a career-high three assists, recording one in each period.
Less than a minute and a half later, junior Caleb Koskie tied the game at 2-2 with his third goal in four games.
Senior goalie Brennan Chapman stopped the first seven shots he faced before give up goals on back-to-back shots but, from that point, we stopped all 20 of the Rebels' shots on goal over the final 42 minutes.
The appearance was an emergency start as scheduled starter junior Mason McElroy was unable to go, and a quick return to the lineup proved to be just what he needed.
"I'm incredibly proud of Brennan," Pauly said. "He was not happy with his performance on Monday and he got off to a slow start tonight. But he showed a ton of character and just kept battling and had a great game."
The Red Knights then dominated the second period, out-shooting their hosts, 15-7, while scoring four times.
The go-ahead, and eventual game-winning, goal, came 3:43 into the middle from from senior Ryan Baird before Phillips scored his second goal of the game with 8:11 to play in the period.
It became a 5-2 game just 44 seconds later when junior Drew Stewart his goal-scoring streak to five games and point-scoring streak to 12 games with an unassisted tally.
Freshman Mason Minor, who scored his first career goal, Monday, picked up his second goal with 50.5 seconds to play in the period.
Champlin Park got back on its feet in the third period, playing even hockey until senior Wes Berg made it a 7-1 game with 5:50 to play.
Phillips then completed his hat trick with 13.6 seconds showing on the clock.
With an assist on Minor's goal, Phillips recorded a career-high four points while junior Ben Norris chipped in with a career-best three assists.
BSM is idle until Tuesday, when it returns home for a Metro West Conference meeting with Bloomington Jefferson. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
