St. Ambrose claims spot in Heart title game with win over Mount Vernon Nazarene
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
(RV) Mount Vernon Nazarene (11-4) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
|
St. Ambrose (8-6) | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
St. Ambrose enacted a little revenge Wednesday night in Davenport. After falling to Mount Vernon Nazarene in the regular season, the Bees claimed the postseason victory, 14-9, at the St. Vincent's Athletic Complex to earn a spot in the Heart Championship. SAU will play for the title on Saturday, April 29th.
Down by one at halftime, the Bees came out of the break with a purpose. A goal from Matt Cortopassi with 12:49 left in the third quarter made it a 5-5 score. SAU won the next faceoff, and Isaiah Hahn found Michael Shakerin who went behind the back for the score to give St. Ambrose a 6-5 lead at the 12:04 mark. Shakerin scored again with 7:53 on the clock to give the Bees a two-goal lead. The visitors stopped the three-goal run with a score from Jason LaAsmar to make it 7-6 with 6:50 to go, but Shakerin found the back of the net once again for the 8-6 lead at 5:02. The teams traded goals to end the quarter with Michael Keating finding Cole Danner with 46 seconds left to give the home team a 9-7 advantage heading into the fourth.
Keating and Danner combined again for the first goal in the final frame to push the lead to three with 12:40 to go. Keating forced the Cougar keeper into a turnover, leading to an easy score for Cortopassi to make it 11-7 at the 8:12 mark. Jack Wiltrout won the ensuing faceoff, and Keating found Cortopassi for another St. Ambrose goal and a five-goal lead with 7:56 left to play. Mount Vernon got on the board with 2:51 left to make it a 12-8 score, but Shakerin and Cortopassi got scores for the Bees for a 14-8 advantage with 44 seconds left. The Cougars found the net late to account for the 14-9 final.
St. Ambrose jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with scores from Hahn and Shakerin with 8:46 left in the first quarter. Mount Vernon closed out the quarter with a three-goal run to take a 3-2 lead after the first. The visitors continued their goal-scoring run, netting two goals in the second to make it a 5-2 game with 12:45 left until the half. Both teams struggled to find the back of the net until Keating found Makaile Shaddix with 1:34 on the clock to make it 5-3. St. Ambrose won the next faceoff, and after a timeout by the Bees, Shakerin found Shaddix with 59 seconds left to make it a one-score game at the break.
Shakerin led the way with five goals and two assists, while Cortopassi netted four. Keating had a team-high four assists in the win. Danner and Shaddix (two) and Hahn (one) were the other Bee scorers. Wiltrout won 17 faceoffs and collected six ground balls. Nolan Hayes made six saves and collected five ground balls. Adam Kraft had a game-high four caused turnovers. Shaddix, Joe Campbell, Edward Loggins, and Dawson Dickerson each caused two. Keating, Shakerin, Chris Bridich, and Joey Curzon also contributed to causing a season-high 16 turnovers.
The Bees will face William Penn in the Heart Championship on Saturday, April 29 at 2 p.m. in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Tickets MUST be purchased digitally and can be bought here. St. Ambrose will look for some revenge again as the Statesmen took the regular season match, 9-7, on April 1st.
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