In a rough-and-tumble, back-and-forth contest, Park got the better of arch-rival East Ridge Friday, skating to a wild 4-3 victory at Cottage Grove Ice Arena.
East Ridge scored first, led 1-0, …
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In a rough-and-tumble, back-and-forth contest, Park got the better of arch-rival East Ridge Friday, skating to a wild 4-3 victory at Cottage Grove Ice Arena.
East Ridge scored first, led 1-0, then 2-1. But the Wolfpack scored three straight goals in the end of the second and beginning of the third to take a 4-2 lead.
East Ridge closed to 4-3 in the third with a goal at the 16:36 mark but could come no closer.
Luke Dahlstrom powered the Park offense with two goals, both in the second period. Max Kaplan and Owen Corkish had Park’s other two scores. Dahlstrom scored at the 8:31 mark of the second period, then added his second goal of the period at 13:50 to pull Park into a 2-all tie.
“We adapted and realized we can’t just fall down after we get scored upon,” said Dahlstrom. “So, we just took it on ourselves we need to do something about it and we did something about it.”
Kaplan gave Park a 3-2 lead at 1:13 into the third and Corkish’s goal at the 13-minute mark made it a 4-2 Park edge. East Ridge closed to within 4-3 at 16:36 but could come no closer.
Coach Corkish said he was expecting a bit of a slow start to the game for the Wolfpack.
"That’s how we saw it, that’s how we expected it,” said Corkish. “The same thing happened last year the first game. East Ridge is so well prepared from their coaches. They do a great job; they work so hard. They’re passionate as heck and they don’t want to lose. They’re coming in and they’re doing everything they can to stop us. They scout us, they watch video, they prepare in practice and that’s what makes this so darn fun. I love those guys over there. They’re friends of mine and I know how hard they work.
“And it makes it so much fun to play against them because it’s going to be a game like that,” Corkish continued. “It doesn’t matter who has who on either team. It doesn’t matter if they’ve got the best player in the state and we don’t. It doesn’t matter. Because it’s just going to be a grind because it's going to be a team hockey game where there’s five guys playing hard, making it hard on the other team and you’ve got to be able to struggle through things. They got a couple goals right away; they got a couple huge saves right away and now you’re chasing the game a little bit. And you’ve got to see what you’ve got inside ya. If you've got enough character, if you've got enough grit, and you can stick it together, stay together, then you know you've got a chance.”
Corkish and Caden Schwartz added two assists each. Kaplan, Gavin Moss and Dahlstrom had one assist each.
“I think we moved the puck well,” said Corkish. “And in the second and third we started to get into it and moved the puck well and got in front of the net and just battled for those goals in front of the net and had good screens so it all just came together.”
Park outshot the Raptors by more than two-to-one, 39-17.
Park goalie Aidan Miller stopped 14 of 15 East Ridge shots for an .824 success rate.
It was a rough-and-tumble game with several brief fights breaking out, especially late. Both teams had 10 minutes of penalties on five infractions.
Park 9, Hastings 1
After opening the season with a tough 4-2 loss at Rosemount, Park had things go all its own way Wednesday in a 9-1 romp past Hastings at Cottage Grove Ice Area.
The Wolfpack scored the first seven goals of the game and led 7-0 early in the second period.
Gavin Moss and Drew Schumacher each scored a pair of goals for the Wolfpack. Emmett Opichka, Caden Schwartz, Luke Dahlstrom, Owen Corkish and Nick Bailey had one goal apiece.
Corkish and Max Kaplan tallied three assists each. Others with assists for Park were Zane Dostal, Bailey, Michael DeStasio, Schumacher, Schwartz, Gavin Sand, Jack Kennedy, Gavin Moss, Opichka, Quintin Wilhelmy and Brady Siemer.
Heny Voss got the nod in the net and stopped 19 of 20 shots by Hastings.
With the win, Park improved to 1-0 in the Suburban East Conference and 2-1 on the season. East Ridge slipped to 0-2 in the SEC and 2-3 overall.
Park hosts league-leading and seventh-ranked Stillwater (2-0, 5-0) Thursday, starting at 7 p.m.
