CREVE COEUR – De Smet senior goalie Jack Leinauer normally plays one half while senior Brosnan Mark plays the other.
The two Spartans’ netminders have split minutes almost evenly this season, but with Leinauer matching MICDS all-state goalie George Herron save-for-save during the first half on Tuesday, the Spartans rode the hot hand.
And he was brilliant.
Leinauer backstopped a suffocating De Smet defense with 13 saves and senior Kyle Sindelar scored the game-winning goal to propel the Spartans to a 5-3 victory over MICDS at LaBarge Stadium.
De Smet (9-3), which won its sixth consecutive game, held MICDS to its lowest goal output against an in-state opponent since the Rams dropped an 11-2 decision to Rockhurst on March 14, 2007.
“We played our best game, yet,” senior defender Daniel Grisham said. “We stayed tight, we played as a team and we were there for each other.”
Leinauer, who plays on the same summer team as Herron, proved to be just as impenetrable as the MICDS senior captain and area leader in goals against average.
On the opening possession, Leinauer denied MICDS senior Mac Stevens and freshman Mikey Getchewsky in rapid succession. He closed the first quarter with a spectacular leg save to deny freshman Jaxon Abernathy.
Leinauer matched Herron with six first-quarter saves as each goalie one-upped the other with a highlight-reel stop.
“I knew it was going to be a tough matchup (with Herron). It was great to see him making a lot of really good, equal saves,” Leinauer said.
MICDS (7-3), the eight-time defending state champion, struck first when freshman Graham Faust cruised down the alley and fired a laser that zoomed past Leinauer. Getchewsky delivered a left-handed bouncer early in the second quarter that gave the Rams a 2-0 lead.
Young players continued to be major contributors for MICDS, which employed four freshmen on offense during crucial moments of the game.
“We have a young group that is coming into their own. I like to think our ceiling is really high,” MICDS coach Andy Kay said.
The two-goal advantage for MICDS lasted only 22 seconds before De Smet junior Graham LaBonte continued to make his own impressive contributions.
LaBonte, who had scored 11 goals in his previous three games, pinballed through the middle of the MICDS defense and delivered a reverse, over-the-head shot that Herron deflected, but it trickled over the goal line to put De Smet on the scoreboard.
Midway through the second quarter, De Smet sophomore Jack McManus stood behind the net and delivered a perfect strike to senior Nick Salthouse, who peppered the net with the tying goal.
Another strong save by Leinauer denied a streaking Faust and put the teams into halftime with a modest 2-2 score.
“Both teams made it hard on the offenses to find the open man,” De Smet coach Joe Douglas said. “We did a good job of covering everybody up and so did they.”
Leinauer was equally sharp to begin the second half, making a courageous, chest pad save on a blast from MICDS junior Willy Carpenter. He was so locked in that Herron decided to try to score himself, launching an 80-yard shot from outside his goal crease that Leinauer captured in the netting of his stick.
During a midfield scramble late in the third quarter, Douglas called a timely timeout to retain possession for the Spartans, and the tandem of Sindelar and Salthouse found its chemistry directly thereafter.
Salthouse dodged defenders 30 yards from the net, then turned and located Sindelar, who caught and fired in one motion to give De Smet a 3-2 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
MICDS tied the score with seven minutes remaining when senior Mac Stevens received a pass from senior Holt Tipton and snuck a shot inside the far post.
It was the first goal allowed by De Smet in more than 29 minutes of game time, but the Salthouse-Sindelar connection had one more answer.
Salthouse again dragged two defenders with him, reversed the flow and found Sindelar, who unleashed the game-winning goal with 4:24 to play.
“It was super-low scoring, so at halftime, we knew any goal would be a difference maker,” Sindelar said. “(Salthouse) drew the defenders and found me on both goals. I just ripped it on cage and they found their way in. It was electric.”
Led by stifling perimeter defense by AJ Russell, James Lane and Charles Moffatt, De Smet continued to deny MICDS access to high-quality scoring areas.
“Our team really stood strong in front of me,” said Leinauer, who played the full 48 minutes for the second time this season.
Grisham was a major force defensively, three times clashing sticks with a Rams’ shooter at the last possible moment to propel a shot wayward. With two minutes remaining, he intercepted a pass, raced down the field and prompted the final timeout for the Spartans.
“My favorite thing in the game is picking off passes and hearing the crowd as I’m running down the field,” Grisham said.
After the timeout, De Smet senior Tommy Ruder immediately identified a double-teaming defense that included Herron, circled the net and scored into a semi-vacant cage to give the Spartans a 5-3 lead.
“(Ruder) went a little rogue. He wasn’t supposed to do that,” Douglas said.
Leinauer remained refined.
He denied Carpenter from in tight, picked off a centering pass that originated from behind the net and made one final save in the closing 30 seconds to preserve the win.
De Smet, which has lost 13 of its last 15 to MICDS, including three consecutive state championship games, kept the significance of Tuesday’s win muted.
“Our mantra is that every game is the most important game, and we won the game that happened today,” Douglas said.
Grisham added, “Ultimately, our goal is to play our best at the end of the season. This is just a step forward in our goal to win state.”
