CEC Gets 3-2 OT Win Over Hermantown

Wes Vork-NSO

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Feb 4

Kerry Rodd-NSO

There’s an old sports axiom that states ‘it ain’t over till the fat lady sings’, and for Cloquet-Esko-Carlton forward Mark Savage that saying couldn’t be more true. After spending enough time in the penalty box to play a few games of cribbage, the junior winger tipped in a slap shot from the point to send CEC to a 3-2 overtime win over #3 ranked Hermantown.

Hermantown took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Connor Hady at 3:38 of the first period with Adam Krause notching the assist. That would be only one of two goals the Hawks would get by John Scheuer, who played a brilliant game in goal by making 50 saves on 52 shots.

The Lumberjacks rallied in the second period with a goal by Jack McFarlane on an assist by Ben Michaud just 1:51 into the period on a power play. CEC then took a 2-1 lead when Savage brought the puck into the Hawks zone and found Adam Hanson breaking to the net.
Hanson then dropped a pretty saucer pass to Tony Wilcox, who beat Hermantown goalie Tyler Ampe for a 2-1 Jacks edge. The Hawks showed their resilience by storming the Jacks net, and that paid off when Cody Christopherson banged in a goal with assists going to Krause and Charlie Comnick. The beautiful textbook tic-tac-toe goal was scored on the power play.

The third period was a wild affair with the Hawks putting on tremendous pressure in the CEC zone. In fact, the Hawks outshot the Jacks 21-5 in the final period, but they couldn’t get anything by Scheuer. Things got real interesting just about four minutes into the period when it appeared as if Scheuer was hit after the whistle by a Hawks player. The Lumberjacks took exception to the hit and a melee ensued with the penalty boxes filling up with players. Unfortunately for CEC, they ended up taking an extra two-minute penalty for roughing and that left the Hawks on the power play once again. However, it was Scheuer’s play, along with a stout defense in front of him, that kept the Hawks from scoring. Ironically, one of those players in the box was the eventual hero for CEC, Savage.

The Lumberjacks appeared to have won the game right at the end of regulation However, the officials on ice ruled that the goal that was scored occurred just after the horn, so the goal was nullified.

The game winning play happened when McFarlane carried the puck into the Hawks zone and dropped it back to Ryan Tollerud in the high slot. Tollerud then ripped a slap shot towards the net that was deflected by Savage past Ampe for the game winning goal just 1:06 into the overtime, setting off an on-ice celebration by the Jacks.

The Jacks were out shot in the game 52-28, but the only shot on goal in overtime was the game winner by Savage.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com