Riley Giauque is playing in the Kiwanis/Cambria boys hockey Festival for the fourth time.
The Fargo (N.D.) South/Shanley senior forward has never carried the championship trophy off the Graham Arena ice, though the Bruins have come close more than once, including last year, when a tie-breaker didn't go their way to win the round-robin Blue Division.
Giauque and his linemates have put the Bruins (5-4-0 overall) in position once again to win the tournament, with one big test left in front of them.
After South/Shanley's 4-1 victory against Verona (Wis.) on Tuesday, the Bruins will face Appleton (Wis.) United at 1:30 p.m. today with the Festival championship at stake.
"We get excited to play in this tournament every year," Giauque said. "It's fun to come down, get away, spend a few days in the hotel and bond as a team. It's fun to come out and see what we can do against the other teams here."
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Giauque and linemates Luke Sandy and Patrick Traynor have been nearly unstoppable in their first two Festival games. They have combined for 23 points through two games, including a total of nine in Tuesday's victory. All three had one goal and two assists apiece.
Zach Ritter scored the lone goal for Verona (7-5-0), which had won the Blue Division title the past three years.
"We just put those guys together about four or five games ago," South/Shanley coach Wade Storey said of his top line. "We weren't getting a lot of offense, so we put them together. They have a knack of knowing where each other are at all times. They play the game the same way. They play hard and feed off each other.
"They've been our bread and butter lately."
The Bruins had a slow start to their season, losing their first three games. But they have been strong since, going 5-1-0 in their past six games, the only loss in that stretch to Grand Forks Red River, a top-five team in North Dakota.
The explosive trio of Sandy, Traynor and Giauque has playd a big part in the Bruins' recent success. Giauque now has 27 points through nine games, while Sandy and Traynor have 22 each.
"Both of those guys are great players," Giauque said of Traynor and Sandy. "Pat and I have played together since we were little kids, and the same thing with Luke. It's nice to be up at the high school level and play with those guys on this stage.
"As soon as you get that trust factor, then things come together and the goals come."
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South/Shanley 4, Verona 1
Verona#0#0#1#—#1
South/Shanley#1#2#1#—#4
Verona: Zach Ritter 1 goal; Jacob Keyes 1 assist; Nathan Cleghorn 27 saves.
Fargo South/Shanley: Riley Giauque 1 goal, 2 assists; Patrick Traynor 1 goal, 2 assists; Luke Sandy 1 goal, 2 assists; Sean Braun 1 goal; Brody Davidson 1 assist; Jack Olson 25 saves.
Appleton 7, Lourdes 5
Appleton United is making the most of its first trip to the Kiwanis/Cambria Festival. The unbeaten, No. 1-ranked team in Wisconsin showed its character Tuesday night, rallying from two deficits and again from a tied score to beat Rochester Lourdes 7-5 in a Blue Division game.
The victory sets up a showdown between United (11-0-0 overall) and Fargo South/Shanley at 1:30 p.m. today for the Blue Division championship.
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United received a hat trick and an assist from Trenton Bliss and two goals and two assists from freshman forward Erik Bargholtz in Tuesday's victory. Goalie Marcus Alfaro, making just his third start of the season, stopped 11 shots to earn the victory.
Lourdes (2-8-0) played well in stretches at both ends. The Eagles put up their second-best offensive output of the season, while goalie Adam Renn stopped 33 of 39 shots and held his team in the game.
"I thought Adam played lights-out," Lourdes coach Josh Spaniol said. "That's two games back-to-back for him playing that way. We battled back pretty hard, showed good jump. Appleton, that's a good team, a really nice team.
"It was a good effort, but we have to fix some mistakes and be a better team."
Three Lourdes players recorded multi-point games. Mason Carstens and Peter Alexander had a goal and an assist each, while Logan Olson had two assists. Though the result wasn't what they wanted, the Eagles played better on Tuesday than in an opening-round loss to Fargo South/Shanley on Monday.
"We changed up some lines a little bit in this game," Spaniol said. "We put Montana (Streit) with Mason and they played well, so did Peter and Tucker (Chapman).
"We play a tough schedule (to get ready for the playoffs), and if we have to take some lumps, we take some lumps, hopefully we'll be better for it at the end."
Lourdes plays Verona today at 5:45 p.m. in the final Blue Division game of the tournament.
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Appleton United 7, Lourdes 5
Appleton United#2#1#4#—#7
Lourdes#2#2#1#—#5
Appleton United: Trenton Bliss 3 goals, 1 assist; Erik Bargholtz 2 goals, 2 assists; Nathan Zilisch 1 goal, 1 assist; Matthew Gruber 2 assists; Kieran Brosnan 2 assists; Connor Zilisch 1 goal; Michael Alfaro 1 assist; Marcus Alfaro 11 saves.
Rochester Lourdes: Mason Carstens 1 goal, 1 assist; Peter Alexander 1 goal, 1 assist; Logan Olson 2 assists; Duncan Adams 1 goal; Jake Olney 1 goal; Montana Streit 1 goal; Tucker Chapman 1 assist; Collin Williams 1 assist; Adam Renn 33 saves.
