CARLYLE - The Carlyle Cougars are off to the semifinal round in the Big Six Hockey League playoffs.
Third-seeded Carlyle blanked the No. 6 Midale Mustangs 9-0 on Feb. 4 night in Carlyle to win the best-of-five first-round series in three straight games. Carlyle outscored Midale 24-4 in the three games.
The Cougars join the top-seeded Redvers Rockets in the Big Six semifinal round.
Carlyle scored four times in the opening six minutes of the first period of Game 3. Ben Johnstone paced the Carlyle attack with two goals and two assists on the night. Brett Turgeon also scored twice. Josh Romanyk, Marc Shaw, Kaelan Holt, Connor Hewitt and Randen Schmidt also had goals.
Curtis Meger had the shutout in goal for Carlyle, while Carver Ottenbreit and Talen King shared the goaltending duties for Midale.
Also on Feb. 4, the fifth-ranked Oxbow Huskies shut out the No. 4 Carnduff Red Devils 2-0 in Oxbow to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series. After a scoreless first period, Liam Rutten scored with just over seven minutes to play in the second period to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Cody Davis' goal midway through the third gave the Huskies some breathing room.
Cody Levesque picked up the shutout win for the Huskies, while Cody Dumaine was in goal for Carnduff.
Oxbow can wrap up the series in Game 3 on Feb. 6 in Carnduff. That game is slated to start at 8 p.m. Dates for Games 4 and 5, if necessary, have not been determined.
