ST. PETERS • As Seckman's Jonathan Schwartz found out Saturday, good things happen when you shoot the puck.
Trailing Fort Zumwalt East with just over two minutes to play, Schwartz received a pass off the face-off and stepped into a shot just between the circles.
The shot was partially deflected by a defender and found the back of the net to finish off a 3-3 tie in the team's opening game of their Wickenheiser Cup quarterfinal series with Zumwalt East at the Rec Plex.
"It feels great to do that," Schwartz said. "We just didn't give up tonight. We were down twice in that game and we came back. This will give us momentum for the next game for sure."
The tie means that the rematch Monday at 7 p.m. at the Kennedy Recreation Complex in South County will set up a winner-take-all scenario with the winner moving into the semifinal round.
If the second game of the series ends tied, then the teams will go right to a mini-game to decide a Wick Cup semifinalist.
Zumwalt East goaltender Bryan Lowery made no excuse for the tying goal, although he had a great one.
Just minutes before the face-off, Lowery took a puck to the neck and play had to be stopped for a while.
"It was a slapper to the throat, and I just lost my air," Lowery said. "This really stings. You want to win them all, but some of them just slip away."
Seckman (9-10-5), the tournament's No. 5 seed, opened the scoring exactly 100 seconds into the game.
No. 4 seed Zumwalt East responded with two goals before the period's end, though.
Alex Klaesner scored his 44th and 45th goals to put the Lions up 2-1.
He tied it with 9:15 left in the period on a power play goal and then gave his team the lead after stealing the puck and beating Charles Hercules with a shot with 7:00 left.
"There were some momentum swings during the game," Klaesner said. "This was nice, but it really didn't (mean much) because of the end."
Late in the second period, Phillip Adams tied the game at 2-2 when he let a backhand loose that got past Lowery.
Klaesner completed the hat trick with his 46th goal, scored with exactly 13:00 to play, as he sent a backhand past Hercules to give Zumwalt East the lead before Schwartz's tying goal.
But it was all for naught. As Zumwalt East's coach Greg Gajewski put it, the reason for the tie was simple.
"Our key is that we have got to play strong defensively," Gajewski said. "We've preached that from day one. We didn't do that (every time), and it cost us."
Shots on goal were tied 23 all for the game.
The team that emerges victorious Monday would move to the semifinals against either Holt or Lutheran South.
