Kreke, Giffhorn power Highland hockey past East Alton Wood River for Senior Night win
Senior Dylan Kreke and junior Dylan Giffhorn wanted to make sure the Highland hockey team got to enjoy a victory on Senior Night on Thursday, Jan. 19.
The duo delivered big time for the Bulldogs as Kreke scored a pair of goals and Giffhorn pitched a virtual shutout in goal to lead HHS to a 3-1 MVCHA Senior Night win over East Alton Wood-River at Granite City Ice Rink.
Breaking through for Highland’s first win of the 2022-23 season was a big lift for Kreke and the Bulldogs as HHS had dropped 17 games before knocking off EAWR.
“We hadn’t gotten a win yet, so it’s a great feeling,” Kreke said. “It feels great to finally get a win and score two goals (in a game).”
Highland (1-17-2) — which dropped a 6-5 decision to the Oilers back in late November — managed to get on top in the second period, thanks to Kreke’s smooth stickwork around the goal.
At just under 11 minutes in the second stanza, Kreke popped in a goal on the short side of the net past EAWR goalie Garold Myatt, giving HHS a 1-0 lead.
“I was just digging deep in front of the net and I got it and it slid out across from me and I got a nice tap in (there),” Kreke said.
Meanwhile, Giffhorn — with help from the HHS defense — kept the Oilers from getting quality shots and scoring. Giffhorn shut out the Oilers for over 30 minutes.
“Dylan Giffhorn played a tremendous game for us in goal,” Highland coach Joel Hawkins said. “He was outstanding.”
East Alton Wood River (4-17) turned up the pressure in the Highland end of the ice during the final five minutes and picked up a soft goal with 1:35 left to cut the lead to 2-1.
Kreke put the game away in the final five seconds, popping in an empty net goal to kill the Oilers last-second rally.
Closing the game with an empty netter was the perfect end to the night for Kreke.
“It feels great. We’ve put in a lot of work, so I think we deserve our first win for this and it’s my senior year too,” he said.
Hawkins was ecstatic over his team’s hard fought triumph.
“It’s been a lot of crazy things that have happened with this season and when we play Alton or East Alton Wood River, or Civic Memorial, all of us are kind of all in the same pod and anything can happen,” Hawkins said. “This (win) shows that when we play together and we are working together, good things can happen.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 12:20 AM.