After a slow start, Park got rolling in the second period and took a 2-1 lead, but an experienced Rosemount Irish team quickly regained control and skated to a 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon at Cottage Grove Ice Arena.

Seventh-ranked Rosemount (2-0) came out strong and took a 1-0 lead in the first period. But Park scored the next two goals for a 2-1 edge. The Irish responded with two goals in the second half of the second period, then outscored Park 1-0 in the third for the final tally.

“Our kids are fighting,” said Park head coach Jeff Corkish. “They’re fighting, they’re competitors, they just have a lot of their plates in what to learn because we’ve got so many young kids, came from bantam, this is their first crack at varsity. So, every game is going to be a new challenge for them and tonight playing in their second game for these tenth graders, and we’re using a lot of tenth graders right now. It’s fast. They need time to acclimate. They need time to see what it’s like and unfortunately in games like this you don’t get time to feel it out. They’re not giving you any grace.

"So, our first period was a little bit about feeling it out and they took it to us and then by the time we got back in the second period our kids were calmed down a little bit,” Corkish continued. “Processing information was a little bit easier for them, and they were a little bit more confident and then we got a little bit of momentum and then it made them confident and then the wheels started moving fast because when your brains processing information on the ice it’s amazing how hard it is to see what’s going on. It’s a lot easier up in the stands to say we should do this or that but when you’re doing it on the ice and there’s big guys trying to hit you and trying to figure out where to go it’s tough.”

Senior Brady Siemer and sophomore Jaxson Yates had Park’s scores, with assists to junior Quintin Wilhelmy and sophomore Owen Mordorski.

Park captain Henry Voss stopped 22 of Rosemount’s 26 shots on goal. On the other side of the ice, Rosemount stopped 17 of Park’s 19 shots.

“So, they’re going to do well,” Corkish added. “And every time we look up, they’re doing something else that we’re asking them to do. They just need a chance to screw up here and there. They need a chance to make mistakes. And they need to know they’re not going to get yelled at for it. Because if they know they can make mistakes and they go back over the boards in the next shift then they’re going to grow. So, I think that’s where they're at and it’s going to take us a little while.”

Park (0-1-1) opens Suburban East Conference play by hosting Stillwater (1-0) Wednesday with a 7 p.m. start.

Park 4, Eagan 4

The Wolfpack opened the 2025-26 season with a 4-all draw at Eagan Thursday. The Wolfpack battled back from a 4-1 deficit with two goals in the second period and then tied the game at 4-all with a score at 15:01 in the third by Riley Koch.

Neither team could find the back of the net in overtime.

Chase Nadler, Nick Bailey and Mordorski scored Park’s other three goals. Assists went to Mordorski, Koch, Gavin Sand, Bailey, Logan Bachand and Wilhelmy.