The preliminary round-robin portion of the Mid-States Challenge Cup playoffs had been an offensive struggle for the Chaminade hockey club until last Monday night, Feb. 4.

After a scoreless first period against Metro Catholic Conference foe Vianney, the Red Devils offense finally woke-up with three second period goals en route to a convincing 4-0 victory.

Thanks to the win, Chaminade (18-8-4), moves on to the Challenge Cup quarterfinal round.

“During the regular season, we have been a really good scoring club offensively but up until the Vianney game we had really struggled putting the puck in the net,” Chaminade assistant coach Chris Peterson. “It was nice to finally see the offense click in the second period and we were able to relax.”

After scoring with ease in most games during the regular season, goals became tough to come by in the round robin portion of the playoffs as Chaminade fell to De Smet Jesuit 2-1 in the first game on Jan. 31, and skated to a 3-3 draw with Oakville  on Feb. 1.

Vianney (8-12-2)  gave the Red Devils plenty of resistance in the opening period of play as their goaltender Brendan Shuck was stout between the pipes early in the evening.

“”Their keeper Shuck was doing a tremendous job in the first period and he really didn’t give us a whole lot of chances and we were a bit frustrated,” Peterson said.

That changed quickly in the second period as Adam Roeder put the Red Devils on top at 10:41 on a goal from Mason Campbell and Ian Woolverton for a 1-0 lead.

Late in the period, the Red Devils caught fire as Jake Carothers lit the lamp with a goal at the 4:48 mark off an assist from Woolverton and Bradley Johnson and then 20 seconds later, Lee Holtzman scored, pushing the cushion to 3-0.

“In between the first and second period, we told the boys that if we didn’t start scoring that we were going to be eliminated from the playoffs,” Peterson said. “It was pretty much do or die for us and fortunately the boys did a good job of stepping up.”

Woolverton, a second-line winger had a big night for Chaminade with a pair of assists.

The Red Devils defense got a huge lift from goalie Ellis Burgett, who was perfect in the net as he turned away 19 shots to claim the shutout.

“Ellis has been tremendous for us in goal all year,” Peterson said.

Campbell added an insurance goal for Chaminade in the third period with 14:07 left to go making it 4-0.

Next up for Chaminade is a quarterfinal round match-up in the Challenge Cup playoffs.

The Red Devils next opponent should be determined by Feb.7 and the quarterfinals are slated to begin by Feb. 10.

http://www.newsmagazinenetwork.com/2014020444153/chaminade-rolls-past-vianney-advances-to-challenge-cup-quarterfinals/