ST. PAUL — Robert Cooley registered a hat trick and Henry Rivers and James Martin combined for a shutout as the Brainerd Warriors defeated St. Paul 3-0 Tuesday, Feb. 3.

Cooley scored once in each period for his hat trick. His final goal was assisted by Rivers and Tony Slipp.

“We started all of our younger players today and gave them extended minutes on the floor,” Brainerd head coach Todd Person said. “Our regular goalie, Andrew Kargel, spent some time on the floor with his brother. He had several shots on goal, but couldn’t get one past the Humboldt goaltender.

“Filling in for Andrew, Henry Rivers, gave us two periods in net and did a nice job of tracking the puck and covering it when he was able to. James Martin also played a period in net and had a couple of solid saves to preserve the shutout.

“Robert gave us all of the offense we needed by being aggressive and crashing the net when there was a loose puck. Our regular starters took several shifts playing in a defensive chair position.”

Brainerd improves to 12-0 and moves its winning streak to 25 games.

The Warriors’ final regular-season game will be 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, against a Maple Grove team, which tallied four goals against Brainerd last time the two squared off.

First period: Brd-Robert Cooley 12:22

Second period: Brd-Cooley 12:10

Third period: Brd-Cooley (Henry Rivers, Tony Slipp) 13:09

Shots on goal: Brd 26, SP 7

Goalies: Brd-Henry Rivers (5 saves), James Martin (2 saves); SP-McKenzie Gee (23 saves)

Overall: Brd 12-0. Next: Brainerd hosts Maple Grove 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11.

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