Jacks Come Up Just Short At Heritage Tournament

Wes Vork-NSO

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Dec 29, 2011

Kerry Rodd-NSO

The Heritage Holiday Class Boys Hockey tournament ended the way it should on Thursday evening, other than the home team coming out on top. A well-played game between two good teams, great goaltending, and a game that ended in overtime. That is exactly how things played out at Heritage Arena in Duluth when Andover slipped by Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 3-2 in overtime to win the championship game.

Tyler Jokinen gave Andover a 1-0 lead at 8:09 of the first period, but by the end of the first session the Jacks had fought back and had nabbed a 2-1 lead. At 11:53, while on the power play, Westin Michaud slammed home a goal while on his knees in front of the net with Karson Kuhlman assisting. Just over a minute later the Jacks went ahead 2-1 on a goal by Eric Peterson with Aaron Peterson adding the assist and that is how the first period ended.

Kyle Gausman tied the game for Andover at 5:01 of the second period with an assist to Tyler Tomberlin and after two periods the game was deadlocked at 2-2. The Lumberjacks did have a great chance in the second period when they got the puck past Andover goalie Chase Perry but knocked a bunch of paint off of the crossbar with the puck, rather than it going in the net.

Despite no goals being scored in the third period it wasn’t without drama; both goalies made stellar saves and kept the game even and allowing their team an opportunity to win. John Scheuer played strong for CEC as he finished with 31 saves on 34 shots. Meanwhile Andover goalie Chase Perry was equal to the task with 31 saves on 33 shots on his way to being named tournament MVP. Ironically, it was that one extra shot that made the difference when Calvin Rak got the puck past Scheuer at 2:30 of the extra session to give his team the victory.

The Jacks did have their chances in overtime when on the first shift out the Michaud to Michaud connection nearly clicked on a rush to the net and just a bit later Perry was caught way out of the net but managed to keep just enough of an angle that CEC couldn’t get the puck in the net.

The win drops CEC’s record to 9-4 and ended a four-game win streak for the Lumberjacks. The Lumberjacks were vying for back-to-back titles in the Classic after having won the initial tournament a year ago.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com