The Hill-Murray Pioneers survived a determined comeback attempt by the St. Thomas Academy Cadets on the way to a 3-1 win.

Hill-Murray made the score 3-0 on a goal by Ryan Black at 5:55 in the third period, and St. Thomas Academy got as close as 3-1 when Henry Hart scored 16:28 into the third period.

The Pioneers' John Dugas was a brick wall in net, as he came up with 31 saves and let only one puck past him. Dugas certainly lowered his goals against average, which was 1.65 entering the contest.

Hill-Murray put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow the Cadets to score on any of their three power plays. With 29 shots on target during the contest, the Pioneers exceeded the 3.6 shots they average per game this year.

Hill-Murray was helped by Joey Anderson, who racked up one goal and one assist. Anderson scored 15:45 into the second period to make the score 2-0 Hill-Murray. Tyler Funk picked up the assist. Hill-Murray additionally got points from Willie Brown, who also had one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Other players who recorded assists for Hill-Murray were Zach LaValle and Mitch Slattery, who each chipped in one.

St. Thomas Academy's offense operated below it season average. The Cadets put an average of 3.9 pucks into the net per game. St. Thomas Academy forced the Pioneers goalie Dugas to work between the pipes, taking 32 shots.

In addition, St. Thomas Academy received assists from Wyatt Schmidt and Seamus Donohue, who contributed one a piece.

Hill-Murray incurred six minutes in penalty time with three minors. The Cadets' David Zevnik stopped 26 shots out of the 29 that he faced. St. Thomas Academy incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors.