Hawks Win Overtime Thriller

Wes Vork-NSO

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Dec 23

Wes Vork-NSO

Hockey fans of all ages received an early Christmas treat on Wednesday evening when the Hermantown Hawks faced the Denfeld-Central Trojans at the Heritage Center in Duluth. The game featured lots of up and down the ice action, both teams possessing the lead at one point, outstanding goaltending and terrific penalty kill units. In the end the Hermantown Hawks got an overtime goal from Jared Thomas to leave town with the 3-2 overtime victory.

Garrett Skrbich got things started at 8:09 for the Hawks when he pulled the goalie to the left, but brought the puck across the goal crease and put it in the open left side of the net. Bo Gronseth picked up the assist on the play. Four minutes later Denfeld-Central answered back when Colin Magnuson won a faceoff in the Hawks zone and fed it to Tyler Kaspari, who blew it by the Hawks goaltender on a bing-bang play just two seconds after a Trojan power play had expired.

The second period was more like a heavyweight bout with both teams matching the other in effort and intensity. Just when it looked like the period would end up scoreless, Denfeld-Central put together a great effort, peppering several shots on goal. One of those shots was deflected to Ben Wrazidio, who found himself in the right spot for a tap in on the right side of the net with just 23.5 seconds left in the period. Matt Kero and Ben Campbell picked up assists on the play and the Trojans went to the locker room up 2-1 after two.

Much of the third period was the same as the second with lots of effort by both squads, but no goals scored. The Hawks, last year’s state runners-up in Class A who lost 14 seniors from that state tournament team found themselves down by a goal, but on the power play with time running down in the third period.

The question of who would step up for the young Hawks team was answered when, with an assist from Jake Zeleznikar, Sophomore Chris Benson scored on the power play to tie things up and give Hermantown new life with 1:38 remaining in the third period. “That goal was huge for us.” Hermantown Head Coach Bruce Plante told Northland Sports Online after the game. Adding, “There are very few holdovers on our team, we have seniors who played JV last year and Bantams who came up. For Chris to score that goal on the power play in only his seventh varsity game, was huge for him and the team.”

The joy of tying the game was short lived however, when just six seconds later the Hawks were called for interference, putting Denfeld-Central on the power play. While killing off the one man advantage, the Hawks were called for hooking on a play which appeared to have both players battling for the puck. Despite spirited protests from Hermantown, the play stood and the Hawks finished out the third period killing off a 5 on 3 Trojans power play.

Hermantown entered the overtime stanza with 38 seconds remaining on the first penalty and 1:19 on the second. “We told the kids to take it in increments, get back to 5 on 4, kill that off and then start over.” Coach Plante explained. What didn’t hurt is just the day prior the Hawks spent a fair amount of practice time working on 5 on 3 situations. “They are young but this is a great group of kids, they listen to every word we say and do what we ask them to do.” Coach Plante added.

The Hawks picked up a power play of their own, when at 2:07 into the overtime period the Trojans were called for interference. Although they didn’t score on the power play, killing off the 5 on 3 penalty in overtime seemed to fire up and re-energize the Hawks squad, who outshot Denfeld-Central 8-2 in the overtime period. That effort paid off when with just 1:03 left in the extra session, Junior Jared Thomas, one of the holdovers from last year’s state tournament team ended scoring while falling in front of the net.

Thomas was able to get the puck on the play when teammate Andrew Mattson jarred the puck loose and created a turnover as the Trojans were on the breakout. Coming in, Thomas made a beautiful blind pass and then circled to the front of the net. Thomas said after the game. “I knew I had a teammate over there, but couldn’t see who it was at the time. He got off a great shot and I was able to hop on the rebound and put it in.” Adding, “.The coaches tell us when in overtime to just shoot, that any puck on net might go in and it did.”

Afterwards Coach Plante credited his young team’s efforts in securing the win. “They just work hard and compete, Mattson made that play by knocking the puck loose and we were fortunate it fell on the right stick, that kid (Thomas) knows how to score goals.” Adding, “We don’t like overtime games but we have had some luck with them. It’s a nice win, they (the Trojans) are a great team. It is great to be able to play the best competition around, right here in your own back yard.”

For the game Trojans sophomore goaltender Zach Thompson was spectacular, making 31 saves on 34 shots. His efforts were matched by Hawks senior Connor Lucas, who stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced.

The win keeps the Hawks record perfect at 7-0. They will be back in action on the 28th, 29th, and 30th when they compete in the Thief River Falls arena. Denfeld–Central will host and play in the Heritage Tournament on the 28th, 29th, and 30th also.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com