Warm and sunny when the game started, it was dark and getting darker Friday night when Park sophomore Sidni Gitzen turned out the stadium lights on visiting East Ridge.
Gitzen scored the …
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Warm and sunny when the game started, it was dark and getting darker Friday night when Park sophomore Sidni Gitzen turned out the stadium lights on visiting East Ridge.
Gitzen scored the game-winning goal in the fifth overtime to lift the host Park Wolfpack to a dramatic 6-5 win over rival East Ridge.
“It is an absolute battle every time we play them,” said Park head coach Scott Leonard. “And it’s so fun. They go to school together here and there throughout the middle schools and elementaries. Five overtimes. Crazy. Longest game I’ve ever been involved with in my life. I had three heart attacks in there somewhere."
Asked what he says to the players to keep their heads in the game after several overtimes, Leonard said: “We just try to remind them of the little details. Like we made a couple of mistakes in the last possession by not having someone behind the net. We ran through every play in our playbook by that time and we tried to give them something. Both these teams are so defensive minded. We just had to find that one lucky shot. The last goal was nothing we drew up. We’ve got a young sophomore caught a ball, first year varsity player steps up in a big moment and ends the game.”
Both teams came into the contest 5-1 in the Suburban East Conference and for regulation and four overtimes it was a dead even battle. East Ridge led 1-0 after the first period, and 3-2 after two, but each time the Raptors would gain an edge, the Wolfpack found a way to catch up. The teams were tied ay 4-all heading into the fourth quarter, then each scored again to force overtime.
“We’ve had a couple that were this type,” said Josie Leonard. “Not five (overtimes), this was a record. We’ve had like two. We say we’re tired, they’re tired, we’ve got to give it all we have. There’s really no tomorrow game against them so we just have to give everything we have now.”
Overtimes one, two, three and four came and went with both teams having chances to win it, but neither team able to find the back of the net.
The win gave Park a 6-1 record in the Suburban East Conference, just behind league leader Stillwater’s 7-1 record. East Ridge and Cretin-Derham Hall stand 6-2 in the conference and White Bear Lake is 5-3.
Leading scorer Madi Brinkman did her thing again, leading Park with three goals. Maleah McMorrow and Josie Leonard each added one score, in addition to Gitzen’s game-winner.
“I think we did really good on defense, our defense was insane, our goalie did insane out there,” said Brinkman. “And we were doing really good on ground balls today. We’ve improved on that since last game. She (Ehrenstrom) had five saved shots in overtime which is insane.”
Lauryn Ehrenstrom stopped nine of 14 East Ridge shots in a whopping 73:28 of action to earn the net win.
“It was definitely a tough one,” said Ehrenstrom. “Defense definitely made a big impact and helped me out. Got some big saves. This was an intense game where we all had to make our big parts in.”
NOTES: Park junior Madi Brickman’s 44 goals so far this season ranks fourth on the 2024 Minnesota leaders list.
Park 17, Irondale 4
Brinkman powered in a whopping eight goals to lead Park to a dominating 17-4 victory at Irondale Wednesday.
Josie Leonard had four goals and an assist. Maleah McMorrow had three goals and an assist. Ava Reckinger and Alaina Wright has one score apiece. Kyra Stofer led Park with five assists each.
Park led 6-0 after one period, 11-3 at the half and 17-3 after three periods.
Park 16, St. Paul Central/Two Rivers 2
Park rolled to an easy non-conference win Monday afternoon at St, Paul Central, downing St. Paul/Two Rivers 16-2.
Josie Leonard and Madi Brinkman led the Wolfpack with four goals apiece. Lily Newhouse had two goals, Tori Henderson, Alaina Wright, Audrey Eschom, Kyra Stofer, Ava Reckinger and Sidni Gitzen one each.
Park (6-1, 8-1) hosts Cretin-Derham Hall (6-2, 7-4) Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m., then plays a non-conference game at Rochester Mayo (4-4) Friday.
