Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Carsten Haala (22) celebrates with Carson Uecker (11) after Uecker scores a goal during a nonconference boys hockey game against Mound Westonka Tuesday at the New Ulm Civic Center.

NEW ULM — New Ulm stayed strong in all phases to come away with a 4-2 victory over Mound Westonka in a nonconference boys hockey game Tuesday at the New Ulm Civic Center.

“We talked about some things before the game and set some goals,” New Ulm head coach Ryan Neuman said. “And we checked them off as the game went on. Our penalty kill was better, we did give up one there tonight. But overall the penalty kill was better. We just played better in all three zones, and credit to the team for that.”

Carson Uecker had two goals in the game, including an empty-netter to seal the victory with under a minute to play. Masyn Hauser and Jaxon Saenz each had a goal, while Kayden Klein had two assists. Carsten Haala, Hunter Larson and Bodey Hagberg each added an assist. Blaine Arneson had 35 saves for the Eagles.

New Ulm held a 2-0 lead after two periods, but a flurry of goals in the third period changed the dynamic of the game. Mound Westonka’s Collin Hagen, Saenz and Mound Westonka’s Logan Hill all scored within a minute of each other to make it a 3-2 game.

“The biggest thing we said is we answered when they scored,” Neuman said. “Any time you can do that, that shows a good hockey team, not getting down after you get a goal. As soon as you can answer and put one back on the scoreboard is always a positive.”

But New Ulm held on for the rest of the game, with Uecker’s empty-netter with 43 seconds to go putting the game away.

While Mound Westonka held a 13-8 shots on goal advantage in the first period, New Ulm was able to capitalize on a long-distance shot by Hauser down the left slot, assisted by Klein, at 6:20 of the first period. The Eagles continued to keep the While Hawks off the scoreboard and poured in the shots themselves in the second period, with Uecker taking a rebound from the left of the net for New Ulm’s second goal at 1:55. While New Ulm committed two penalties in the second period, it was able to kill both and take 10 more shots on net than Westonka in the period.

The Eagles gave up their first goal of the night on Hagen’s power play goal at 5:28 in the third, but New Ulm immediately responded as Saenz put a shot by Haala back to the net for a 3-1 lead just 25 seconds later. Hill came back 25 seconds after that with a goal of his own to cut the lead to 3-2, but the New Ulm defense settled down, locking down Mound Westonka for the rest of the game. The White Hawks called a timeout with 1:49 to play to pull the goalie, but Mound Westonka was unable to get a shot through, with Uecker collecting a turnover and putting it in the goal from neutral ice to clinch the victory.

New Ulm (5-4) plays at Dodge County on Saturday, Jan. 3.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
New Ulm’s Melvin Sellner (7) races a Mound Westonka defender to the puck during a nonconference boys hockey game Tuesday at the New Ulm Civic Center.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
New Ulm’s Jaxon Saenz looks for a shot during a nonconference boys hockey game against Mound Westonka Tuesday at the New Ulm Civic Center.