Peoria, IL – For the first time in six weeks the Peoria Mustangs skated on Owens Center ice in an NA3HL contest welcoming the New Ulm Steel to Peoria for an out-of-division pair of games. The Mustangs scored early and often Friday night and never look back as they cruised to an 8-0 triumph in front of delighted fans. The win, Peoria’s second straight improves them to 8-6-3 on the season.
Peoria opened the scoring early in the opening period and never looked back. Justin Hubble, Chris Kondiles were pinned against the far corner in the attacking zone battling for the lose puck. Kondiles scooped the puck from the wall and slipped it to Tristan Trudel in the right circle. Trudel took the feed and wristed a shot that trickled through the legs of Steel netminder Nolan Lacosse and into the back of the net at 7:04 of the opening period for the 1-0 Mustangs edge and eventual game winner.
The home team added a pair of tallies 10 seconds apart in the closing seconds of the opening period as Perry Lagatuz lit the lamp at 19:11 of the frame assisted by Trudel and Kondiles. Then Ethan Chesney netted his 12th of the season and first of the game from Brett Anderson and Declan McDermott. The Mustangs skated into the first intermission with a 3-0 advantage.
Peoria picked up in the second period where they left off when the clock hit all zeros in the first. Kondiles tallied his 6th goal of the season from Lagatuz and a secondary assist from Trudel at 3:02 of the middle stanza, and Chesney added his second of the contest at 4:44 from Jaycob Bland and Edwin Peterson. Through 40 minutes of hockey the Mustangs were in control of the contest and held a 5-0 lead.
The third period was a carbon copy of the first 40 minutes as Peoria added three goals to their existing 5. Chesney got the scoring started with his third goal of the night completing the hat trick for the Elgin, IL native. Lagatuz and Jackson gram added goals late and Peoria skated on for the 8-0 shutout victory.
Joe Ambroffi earned the goal between the pipes stopping all 13 shots faced in the contest. The win, Ambroffi’s second consecutive on home ice improves the netminder to 3-2-1 on the 2021/22 campaign.
The Mustangs welcomed the Steel back for the second game of the weekend’s series Saturday night. Peoria scored late in the opening period, and it was all they needed as the completed the weekend sweep of New Ulm taking game two of the weekend 3-0. The win, Peoria’s third straight improves the squad to 9-6-3 on the season.
Peoria opened the scoring late in the first period while skating with the man advantage. With New Ulm forward Lahoussine Salama in the sin bin serving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the Mustangs won an offensive zone draw. The puck cycled out to Ethan Chesney who let a shot go that sailed wide of the net, Chris Kondiles corralled the puck behind the New Ulm goal and slipped a pass to Chesney who slipped the puck past Steel goaltender Alex Benson and into the back of the net at 15:51 for the power play goal and 1-0 Mustangs edge.
Peoria doubled their lead in the opening seconds of the middle period while skating once again with the man advantage. Tristan Trudel possessed the puck along the left with boards and put a shot on goal that was deflected off the skate of Chris Kondiles and into the back of the net at :59 of the middle frame for the 2-0 Mustangs lead.
Peoria put the icing on the caked just prior to the midway point of the middle frame when Ethan Chesney added his second goal of the contest while the teams were skating 4-on-4, Thomas Kayner sent a pass into the neutral zone to Chesney who raced into the attacking zone with a defender on his heels and snapped the puck over the glove of Lacosse at 10:38 of the middle frame for the eventual 3-0 final. Andrew Doran earned the victory between the pipes for Peoria stopping all 16 shots faced. With the win, Doran is 2-1-0 on the season in his 3 total appearances.
Notes: With his shutout Friday night, Joe Ambroffi has played 120 consecutive minutes of shutout hockey at the Owens Center, Ambroffi earned a 3-0 shutout win on 10/9 vs. Wausau stopping all 21 shots faced that night…Ethan Chesney tallied his first career regular season hat trick in Friday night’s win…Defenseman Brett Anderson collected his first career point Friday night, tallying an assist on Chesney’s first goal…Forward Edwin Peterson tallied his first career point in Friday night’s victory, getting credit for an assist on Peoria’s 4th goal of the night…Forward Jake Ratner also collected his first career NA3HL point in Friday night’s win, Ratner assisted on Jackson Grams goal in the final period…With his shutout Saturday night, Andrew Doran now has 3 career shutouts in a Mustangs sweater…Chris Kondiles has recorded at least a point in 7 straight games, and 11 of his last 12 outings dating back to 10/15 at New Ulm. In that 11-game span Kondiles has 18 total points 7G+11A…Tristan Trudel has points in 4 straight, including a 4-point outing in Friday night’s contest…Ethan Chesney has points in 5 straight, in that span Chesney has 9 total points, 6G+3A…
Up Next: The Mustangs remain home as they host a trio of games after the Thanksgiving holiday. The Milwaukee Power will make their first visit of the season to Peoria on Friday and Saturday night. Friday night’s contest gets underway at 6:45 pm. Saturday night is Citylink Stuff a Bus night. Fans that bring a non-perishable canned food item will receive free entry into the game along with a special giveaway from Citylink. One donation is required per-person for free entry, Puck drop for Saturday night’s game is scheduled for 6:30 pm. Sunday afternoon the Mustangs welcome the St. Louis Jr. Blues to town for a 1:00 afternoon matinee. All games can be viewed on HockeyTV or by following along on Mustang social media platforms.
