ST. PETER -- New Ulm won a section title in boys hockey for the first time since 1992 as the Eagles beat Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 5-2 in the Section 3A championship Friday at Don Roberts Ice Rink on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College.
Kaleb Juntunen netted two goals to help New Ulm (16-9-1) outshoot LDC (16-10-1) 32-21. The Eagles had a 15-5 advantage in shots in the first period to take an early 2-1 lead.
New Ulm upped its lead to 3-1 when Brody Peterson scored on a penalty shot after being knocked down near the LDC net. Brandon DeWolf scored two minutes later to get LDC within one again at 3-2.
But the Dragons were blanked the remainder of the way by New Ulm goaltender Blake Burgau while the Eagles added two goals midway through the third period. Juntunen and Jeff Banal scored under a minute apart to give Burgau some insurance.
Nate Adams netted the first goal for LDC, with four minutes left in the first period. But the Eagles answered not too long after with Adam Loose netting a goal with just 36 seconds left in the period.
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LDC received the No. 4 seed for the tournament and knocked off No. 5 Marshall and top-seeded Hutchinson to reach the section final.
The Eagles surrendered only three goals in the tournament after blanking No. 6 Windom 8-0 in the quarterfinals and routing No. 7 Luverne 11-1 in the semifinals.
New Ulm 5, Litchfield/DC 2
Litchfield/DC (16-10-1) 1 1 0 -- 2
New Ulm (16-9-1) 2 1 2 -- 5
FIRST PERIOD - NU: Kaleb Juntunen (Adam Loose, Quinn O'Connor) 6:02 ... LDC: Nate Adams (Jeff Janckila) 13:00 ... NU: Loose (Bryan Kehren) 16:24
SECOND PERIOD - NU: Brody Peterson (penalty shot) 9:58 ... LDC: Brandon DeWolf (unassisted) 11:56
THIRD PERIOD - NU: Juntunen (unassisted) 7:50 ... NU: Jeff Banal (Peterson) pp, 8:46
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GOALIE SAVES - Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato: Bryce Johnson 27 ... New Ulm: Blake Burgau 19
