O’Fallon club wins opening round playoff series over Bethalto
The O’Fallon Panthers Hockey Club won its opening playoff round matchup with Bethalto.
O’Fallon swept the best-of-three series with a 7-4 victory Feb. 4 and an 11-3 win Feb. 6
In the game Feb. 4, Hayden Ourada had a hand in all the team’s goals, finding the back of the net four times himself and adding three assists. He was awarded Player of the Game honors.
Graham Sudduth had two goals and four assists.
Jack Wallace had one goal and four assists.
Joey Kurrasch had an assist.
Goalie Kristin Smith stopped 22 of 26 Bethalto shots and also had one assist.
In the game Monday, Logan Drolet got the Panthers started 10 seconds into play with a goal assisted by Ryan Boeck and Christopher Duncan.
The Panthers ended the first period up 3-2, despite being outshot 16-11.
“We erupted in the second period, rattling off five unanswered goals and ending the period up 8-2 and out-shooting Bethalto 31 to 19,” said O’Fallon Panthers Hockey Club head coach Patrick Roy. “We outscored Bethalto in the third period also and the game ended 11-3 with shot totals 42-27 in our favor.”
Graham Sudduth had four goals and an assist, earning him Player of the Game honors.
Ryan Boeck had a hat trick with three goals and one assist.
Hayden Ourada had two goals and three assists.
Logan Drolet had one goal and two assists.
Cooper Barnhill had one goal.
Christopher Duncan had two assists.
Carson Bair, Ethan Ourada, and Cody Wyatt also each had one assist.
“Bethalto had a really good team this season with five of their players up in the top ranks for goals scored,” Roy said. “We were fired up to play them and talked about the Super Bowl game before our game. How Atlanta let up on New England and allowed them an opportunity to get back in the game. The result speaks for itself. They got the point.
“I’m happy our team is playing great at the right time of the season. Everyone is contributing, whether it ends up on the score sheet or not. It is very important that all our guys make the most of the shift at hand and often times that means just playing mistake-free hockey.”
The Panthers now move on to a second-round playoff matchup with Columbia. The first game will be Thursday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. at Granite City Ice Rink.
“I am looking forward to taking on a really good Columbia team Thursday in another best-of-three games,” Roy said.
All Star Game
O’Fallon Panthers Hockey Club head coach Patrick Roy led the “Blue” team to an 8-2 victory in the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association 2A All Star game Jan. 31.
The O’Fallon Panthers had seven players on the “Blue” team. Seniors Hayden Ourada and Cooper Barnhill, juniors Graham Sudduth, Jack Wallace, Logan Drolet, and goalie Kristin Smith, and sophomore Ethan Ourada all participated. Hayden Ourada, who serves as captain of the O’Fallon team, also captained the all start team.
In addition to O’Fallon players, the Blue squad also had members from Columbia and Collinsville. Their Red team had players from Edwardsville, Bethalto and Freeburg/Waterloo.
Panthers players had five of the eight goals scored, as the Blue team outshot the Red team 53-29.
Sudduth, who had a hat trick (three goals), started the game out with a goal assisted from Hayden Ourada in the first period. Graham had an assist in the game. Hayden Ourada had one goal and three assists. Wallace also had a goal and an a assist. Drolet and Ethan Ourada also both added an assist.
Smith had nine saves in the third period.
“It was a fun game for all our players, and I am very proud they represented our Panther team so well on the score sheet,” said coach Roy. “The game was a nice breaking point between the end of the regular season and the start to the playoffs.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 9:52 AM with the headline "O’Fallon club wins opening round playoff series over Bethalto."