Underdog Lindbergh advances in Mid-States playoffs with win over Vianney

Bartz helped show that this underdog has some bite, scoring two goals to lead Lindbergh to a 7-4 win over Vianney at the Kennedy ice rink on Monday night.

“There's a lot of talk going around that we got moved up to the Challenge Cup,” Bartz said. “A lot of teams not taking us seriously.”

Lindbergh, the No. 11 seed out of 12 teams, advanced to the final eight with the win while ending No. 6 seed Vianney’s season.

Alexander Ringhofer scored twice and had an assist, Blake Houston had a goal and two assists, and Jake Williams and Mason Budde each had a goal and an assist for Lindbergh (11-7-6). Nathan Arnold made 25 saves.

“We're the underdogs right from the get go,” Lindbergh coach Kevin Plager said. “It's 20 kids in the locker room, right? The message was not too high, not too low, stay even keeled. Whatever happens is going to happen. Put your foot on the gas and just keep going forward and good things will happen.”

Marco Boccardi had a goal and two assists, Andrew Fendler had a goal and an assist, and Matthew Munez and Devon Hobson also scored for Vianney (7-13-4). Isaac Mejia-Troop made 17 saves.

The game was one of two win or go home scenarios in the Challenge Cup round robin Monday night. In the other game, Marquette needed two late third period goals to edge Seckman 2-1, sending the Mustangs (12-10-2) into the quarterfinals and ending the season for the Jaguars (11-8-5).

Bartz’s second of the game just 23 seconds in the third period snapped a 4-4 tie and essentially gave Lindbergh a two-goal cushion against Vianney, which needed to win outright to advance.

“Just getting pucks deep, taking it shift by shift,” Bartz said. “Obviously, it's a very talented team. They got a lot of speed. So just playing the body on them and getting it deep.”

Williams made the Golden Griffins’ situation more dire four minutes later, poking in a loose puck at the goal line off a Houston shot to make it 6-4 Lindbergh.

Arnold made several big saves down the stretch, including stopping a penalty shot, to make the lead stand and Budde’s late power play goal capped the scoring.

“You ride a hot goalie and that's what we're doing right now,” Plager said. “He's playing out of this world for us.”

Ringhofer gave Lindbergh the lead 2 minutes, 16 seconds into the game with a deflection of a Houston shot.

The Ringhofer/Houston combination struck again three minutes later, but this time it was Houston finding the back of the net to make it 2-0 Flyers.

“It got everyone going,” Ringhofer said. “It’s always good to have an excited crowd behind us.”

Boccardi got Vianney back into it with a dazzling goal midway through the first period, using his speed and stickhandling to weave through the Flyers defense before picking the top right corner.

Boccardi helped Vianney tie it at 2-all with 38 seconds left in the opener, finding Muenz open in front of the Lindbergh net.

“It's hard to play catch up in a playoff game,” Vianney coach Kevin McGlynn said. “That's an old veteran team. I think they have 14 seniors. … Our kids fought back and dug their way back into the game. It wasn't enough.”

Ringhofer regained the lead for Lindbergh with a power play goal early in the second period with a slap shot from the high slot.

Hobson cashed in on a penalty shot at the 5 minute, 37 second mark of the second to briefly pull Vianney even, but Bartz scored 58 seconds later to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead.

Fendler’s power play goal, off a tip of a Quinn Adamec shot, tied the game for Vianney at 4-all late in the middle frame.

McGlynn believes a young Vianney squad will build from this.

“We’re going to return every defenseman that was on the ice tonight and all but three forwards,” McGlynn said. “We’ve got our top three lines coming back. We'll be fine. We'll all wake up tomorrow. Get up, go to work, go to school and start working on next year.”

Lindbergh most likely will draw No. 1 seed CBC as the Challenge Cup moves to a double elimination format. The Flyers will once again be the underdog.

“CBC is awesome,” Plager said. “All's we can do is come out, play our best and do our best and see what happens. Nobody gave us a chance in this room. Nobody wanted us down in the Wickenheiser Cup, so they put us up here and here we are advancing on to final eight.”