Joey Mullen's late goal helps CBC break deadlock to beat SLUH

Mullen, a CBC defenseman, labored off the ice hunched over early in the third period after taking a hard hit against St. Louis U. High at Queeny Park on Monday.

Mullen didn’t miss a shift and his goal late in the third period broke a 3-all tie and lifted CBC to a 5-3 win in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association Municipal Division game.

“It was hurting, but I knew we had to come through,” Mullen said.

Mullen’s goal came with 1:41 left. The junior hesitated and used a SLUH defender as a screen before unleashing the shot.

“I was looking for the back door pass, but both the D kept skating backwards, and I saw the shot open,” Mullen said. “Their D was screening their own goalie, so I took it.”

Karson Price added an empty netter for the Cadets.

Chase Blanchard scored twice and Carson Trader added another for CBC (3-2-1 overall). Gavin Arnold made 18 saves.

“I think it's persistence,” CBC coach Ryan Trenz said. “We had our leaders step up with how we responded in the third period and earned our way to get that goal.”

Ryan Hill scored twice and Thomas Caplin scored for SLUH (3-1-1). Andrew Bely made 18 saves.

“At the beginning of the game, they had a little bit quicker step on us,” SLUH coach Steve Walters said. “But as the game settled, as we settled into the game, I think we played them even in the second and then that third period, I think we dominated, obviously on the scoreboard as well. But just we made four costly mistakes and they ended up in the net.”

Trader broke a scoreless tie for CBC at 4:11 of the first period. It was Trader’s first ever varsity goal.

Blanchard added to the Cadets’ lead with 6:00 left in the opening period, scoring off a Robert Kelly feed. The goal game seconds after a CBC power play had expired.

“It was just good to go up on them,” Price said. “I remember last game against SLUH, they kind of went up on us at first, but we got the upper hand this game, and we just kept battling, and we kept going.”

Hill got SLUH back into it, scoring after creating a turnover with 3:51 left in the first.

But Blanchard answered just 26 seconds later with an unassisted goal to make it 3-1 CBC. Four of his five goals this season have come against the Jr. Billikens.

“It was a big win,” Blanchard said. “The games come quick, playoffs come quick. You got to be ready to go and as the playoffs come, these games get more and more important and they continue to add up.”

After a free-wheeling first period that featured 23 total shots on goal, the second period turned into a defensive stalemate with just eight total shots.

CBC had six of those shots, but Bely kept the Cadets off the board including a big stop on a high-danger chance in the middle frame’s waning seconds.

Arnold made a nice glove save on a Brendan Kelly wrister as SLUH ramped up the pressure early in the third period.

SLUH broke through shortly after as Caplin knocked in a loose puck amid a net-front scrum to cut the CBC lead to 3-2 at 4:24 of the third.

Hill rifled a wrist shot into the upper corner to tie the game at 3-all for SLUH with just 3:51 left.

Before Mullen’s goal, the game had followed the same script as the first meeting between the two rivals, a 2-2 tie on November 9. SLUH also tied the game in the third period in that one.

“We're always looking to build,” Trenz said. “There's going to be growing pains every step of the way, but we try to take the positives as much as we can and build on those and continue to look forward.”