Highland High School skaters defeat Vianney, clinch MVCHA 1A semifinal series
A week after beating Vianney 4-2 in the first game of their 1A semifinal round playoff series, the Highland Bulldogs hockey team finished of the Golden Griffins on Monday, Feb. 21, thanks to a 6-4 victory in game two of the series at East Alton Ice Arena.
The win moved HHS into the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association 1A championship series, where they dropped the opener to Alton 2-1 in overtime on Thursday, Feb. 24.
After struggling to win games two seasons ago, and then having no season in 2021 because of COVID-19, enjoying a meaningful playoff run is refreshing for the Bulldogs.
“The kids are really excited about the opportunity to play this thing out and finish with a win and that would be fun to finish your season with a win,” Highland coach Joel Hawkins said after defeating Vianney.
HHS (12-12-2) got its offense rolling early as Tyler Griesbaum scored a goal for a 1-0 lead. Then, a few minutes later, Dominick Emig and Garrett Burton teamed up for a goal before Griesbau scored his second goal of the night to make it 3-0 in the opening period.
Golden Griffins respond, so do Bulldogs
Vianney (8-17) finally scored in the second period but the Bulldogs answered on Griesbaum’s breakaway goal for a 4-1 cushion.
“Tyler Griesbaum had three goals and a couple of really nice breakaway goals,” Hawkins said.
The Golden Griffins closed the gap to 4-2 early in the third period but the Bulldogs answered with a pair of timely goals from Jacob Noll, pushing the edge to 6-2 as Vianney pulled its goalie in the final 7 minutes in favor of an extra attacker.
“I felt like the third period they really had a lot more jump than us and of course, they were a little more desperate trying to get back in the game,” Hawkins said.
Highland shuts the door; up next
Vianney then added a pair of late goals for one final surge before HHS shut the door.
“They (Vianney) were able to get one and then get one really late to make it 6-4 and kind of make it interesting. But we held on and we’re really proud of the kids that they made it through that series with Vianney,” Hawkins said. “Vianney’s a good team and they’re always good in everything.”
Mason Hazelhorst started and picked up the win in goal for the Bulldogs.
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 9:09 PM.