Mustangs vying for second state hockey title today

ST. JOHN | "I'll tell you Drew, I've never seen you skate faster than the way you skated against Lawrence," Munster Hockey Club assistant coach Bob DeGard said to senior Drew Kerber. "It was beautiful."

"Gee, thanks, Coach," Kerber simply replied before the rest of the room broke out in laughter.

Before the Mustangs' final practice at Midwest Training and Ice Center in preparation for the Indiana State Hockey Championships today in Fishers, prepractice classroom sessions are usually not the place where the Munster coaching staff tosses out Valentines.

"This is where we get yelled at," senior Luke Dotto said before DeGard entered the room.

In the wake of Munster's victories over Homestead and Marian last Saturday, and a tie against Lawrence the following Sunday during the state tournament qualifying rounds, DeGard didn't have much to be disgruntled about. But he reminded his team about the length of regulation.

"We've got to play 45 minutes of hockey, not 44," he said. "And not just 15 minutes at the beginning (after taking an early lead) or just 15 minutes at the end (while scrambling for a comeback)."

Munster will be vying for its second state title in three years. Seniors Kerber, Mitch Lyness, Tony Rubino and Kyle Wargo were varsity sophomores when the Mustangs won the Class 1A title in 2009. Munster will play the Lakeshore Warriors for the Class 3A title.

The Mustangs are 1-1 against the Warriors this season.

"I do not want them to take that title back to Michigan," DeGard said of the Warriors, who are from St. Joseph's, Mich. "They have the size on us, but we've got the speed,"

DeGard assists head coach Rick Rubino and both coached the Mustangs during their previous state championship.

Munster sports an overall record of 23-10-2 and paced the Illiana Hockey League with a 13-2 showing.

But the weekend before state tournament began, Munster lost to Crown Point 2-1 in the championship game of the Roper Cup -- the IHL postseason tournament -- in front of a packed house at Midwest.

"We've just got to learn to play playoff games like regular-season games," said Lyness, who has three goals during the state tournament. "We can't let ourselves to get too tight."

DeGard said that the Roper Cup loss to the Bulldogs didn't sit too with his team.

"But it may have come at the right time," he said. "We've been playing and practicing much better since then."