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Day stands tall between the pipes to lead Kirkwood over SLUH

By By Joe Harris | Special to STLhighschoolsports.com, 02/04/19, 11:15PM CST

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BALLWIN • Most goalies might crumble after giving up a goal just 13 seconds into a game.

Kirkwood’s Mitchell Day found it funny.

“You’ve just got to laugh at it,” Day said after giving up such a goal against St. Louis U. High on Monday night. “You just look up at the scoreboard and know its 13 seconds in and just look past it and play your game.”

Day made sure that SLUH wouldn’t have any more laughs after that, making 40 saves after the early miscue to lead Kirkwood to a 3-1 win in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association Challenger Cup Blue Division game at Queeny Park.

“It’s important that they know that they have a wall back there,” Kirkwood coach Mark Fischer said of Day. “At the same time you want to take care of your own zone and work hard.”

Trevor Buchanan, Brennan Adkins and Logan Mueller scored for Kirkwood (12-8-2), which finished 3-0 in pool play. The Pioneers advanced to the quarterfinals.

Gabriel Schwartz scored for SLUH (17-3-1). Brendan Rasch made 18 saves.

The loss puts top-seeded and defending champion SLUH in a must-win game against MICDS at Affton on Thursday night. The Jr. Billikens are 0-1-1 after tying Vianney in their first game of pool play.

“Give credit to Day,” SLUH assistant coach Alex Effinger said. “He was great tonight.”

Henry Wagner found Schwartz on the game’s opening rush as SLUH needed less than a quarter of a minute to strike early.

“I was feeling pretty confident today,” Day said. “After that first goal I told myself I wouldn’t let another goal in and it happened. It was pretty fun.”

Buchanan tied it for Kirkwood on a partial break with 1 minute, 5 seconds left in the first.

“Defense just fumbled it on the blue line, I chipped it around him,” Buchanan said. “I originally thought the goalie was going to get there because I saw him going after the puck. I skated as hard as I could, got a stick on it, and luckily it trickled between his legs.”

Adkins gave Kirkwood the lead for good, putting a one-timer from Andrew Herweck into the upper right corner 1:37 into the second.

“To outshoot them (8-7) in the first period after giving up a goal like that, we could have folded right then and there," Fischer said. "But it says a lot of about our team and our compete level and our battle level; and they did it for (Day) because he’s been there all year for us.”

Day made several tough saves on a SLUH power play early in the second to protect the lead.

“It’s reassuring that he back there between the pipes,” Buchanan said. “He’s the anchor of our team. He played out of his mind.”

Day came up big again later in the second, making a sprawling save seconds after another SLUH power play expired. Day stopped all 18 shots the Jr. Billikens sent his way in the middle frame.

“You can sense the frustration coming from the other team and what you try to do as a team is you recognize that they’re frustrated and you try to use that to your advantage,” Fischer said. “We did that tonight.”

Rasch kept SLUH within one goal with a big pad save on a Buchanan shot on a Kirkwood power play.

Day again frustrated an aggressive SLUH power play early in the third, making several saves with traffic in front during prolonged pressure. He capped his night with a slick glove save on a Wagner drive.

“Just stay with it,” Day said of his mindset. “Don’t think too much about yourself. Play your own game. Stay focused on the game.”

Mueller’s empty netter with 10 seconds left sealed the win.

“We knew from a confidence standpoint and a mental standpoint that we need to beat one of the better teams that we play on a regular basis,” Fischer said. “Now we know we can do that moving forward.”

Added Buchanan, “It’s one game, but it’s still a confidence booster. We beat the No. 1 team in the state.”