VIRGINIA — Ethan Moore's power play goal early in the second period held up as the game winner for Rochester Mayo in a hard-fought 3-2 non-conference boys hockey victory against Virginia/Mt. Iron-Buhl on Saturday at Miners Memorial Arena.
Moore's goal 4:42 into the second period gave the Spartans (7-4-1 overall) a 3-1 lead. Eric Gibson stopped 36 shots, including 23 over the final two periods, to help Mayo hold off the Blue Devils (7-5-1).
"It was a very typical hard-nosed, Iron Range-type hockey game," Mayo assistant coach Todd Huyber said. "The officials let the kids play, there were a lot of hard hits and a lot of up-and-down action."
Mayo's Austyn Renn opened the scoring with 2:48 to go in the first period on a short-handed goal.
Virginia's Jay Peterson tied the score a minute later, but Matt Rogers and Moore scored early in the second period to give Mayo the goals it needed.
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Mayo plays host to Mankato West, the No. 6-ranked team in the state in Class A, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in a matchup of two of three remaining unbeaten teams in the Big Nine Conference. West is 8-0-0 in conference play, Mayo is 5-0-0. Rochester Century (6-0-0) is the other unbeaten.
Mayo 3, Virginia 2
Mayo#1#2#0#—#3
Virginia#1#1#0#—#2
Rochester Mayo: Austyn Renn 1 goal, 1 assist; Matt Rogers 1 goal; Justyn Sweet 1 assist; Logan Haskins 1 assist; Ethan Moore 1 goal; Tommy Fjelsted 1 assist; Eric Gibson 30 saves.
Virginia/Mt. Iron-Buhl: Jay Peterson 1 goal; Justice Chaffee 1 assist; Andy Callister 1 assist; Alex Lackner 1 goal; Ian Blaeser 1 assist; Lucas Murray 28 saves.
