| Written by Mike Lundgren |
Ian Lund of Thief River Falls moved the puck while being pursued by Will Mix of Achiever Academy during the tenth annual Ralph Engelstad Arena Classic boys high school hockey games. Isak Bergland of the Prowlers and Austin Parrish of the Aces looked on. Thief River Falls won the game 7-1.
Another impressive Thief River Falls offensive showing carried the host Prowlers past Crookston 6-1 Saturday afternoon in the final game of the tenth annual Ralph Engelstad Arena Classic boys high school hockey match-ups.
Earlier in the day, Achiever Academy from Vadnais Heights outlasted Fort Frances, Ont. 7-6 in overtime and Fargo North overwhelmed Siren, Wis. 10-1.
In three REA Classic starts, Thief River Falls out-scored Siren, Achiever Academy and Crookston by a combined 24-5.
After struggling to score goals in a 3-5 start to the 2013-14 season, the now 7-5 Prowlers began their offensive breakout with a 7-0 win at International Falls before jumping into the REA Classic with wins over Siren 11-3 and Achiever Academy 7-1.
Thief River Falls grabbed a 3-1 first period lead and stretched the difference to 5-1 in the second period against the Pirates in a game that also counts as a regular Section 8A contest.
Logan Ose scored twice in the Saturday victory. Isak Bergland, Eli Olson, Landon Sanders and Michael Johnson were single-goal scorers. Zeb Nelson collected three assists.
Ose opened the scoring at 9:47 of the first period. Bobby Tiedemann of Crookston tied it just 43 seconds later, but the rest of the goals came from the Prowlers.
Thief River Falls goalie Tanner Holmes turned back 24 of the 25 shots he faced. Ian Johnson had a 28-save game for the Pirates.
The Prowlers play at Kittson County Central Thursday and at Moorhead Saturday.
A hat trick and four-point game by Cory Sprague led Achiever Academy past Fort Frances in the high-scoring Saturday opener.
Scoring single goals for the Aces were Victor Morgan, Mack Stevens, Zach Black and Austin Parrish.
Jarred Taylor scored three goals for Fort Frances, with Chase Ferguson, Tyler Mosbeck and David Prydl scoring one goal each. Nolan Vold of the Muskies had two assists.
Fort Frances had a 2-1 first period lead and took a 5-3 edge into the third period.
Sprague put Achiever Academy ahead 6-6 at 11:31 of the third period, but Taylor quickly answered, tying the game just 18 seconds later.
The game-winner was scored by Sprague at 1:04 of the overtime.
Achiever Academy goalie Sage Broda stopped 30 shots. Jonah Johnson of Fort Frances finished with 34 saves.
Fargo North led Siren by just a 2-1 margin after one period, but opened up a 6-1 spread at the second intermission and tacked on four third period goals for the rout.
Spencer Helming had a hat trick, along with an assist, for the Spartans while Jackson Graalum had two goals and three assists and Alex Samek scored twice. With Taran Wols of Siren and Soren Nelson of North in the nets, the Spartans out-shot the Blizzards 54-18.
Achiever vs. Fort Frances
First period – FF, Jarred Taylor (Nolan Vold), 8:36; FF, Chase Ferguson (Tyler Mosbeck), 10:17; AA, Mack Stevens (Will Mix, Cory Sprague), 12:04.
Second period – AA, Sprague, 2:13; AA, Austin Parrish (Victor Morgan), 9:24; FF, Mosbeck (Cole Tympkin, Vold), 10:24; FF, Taylor (Carter Brown), 12:27; FF, David Prydl (Ferguson), 12:38.
Third period – AA, Morgan, 2:55; AA, Zach Black (Stevens, Mark Sanchez), 3:24; AA, Sprague (Mix, Dante Zapata), 11:31; FF, Taylor (Graeme Kitt, Prydl), 11:49.
Overtime – AA, Sprague (Mix, Garrett Martin), 1:04.
Goalie saves – FF, Jonah Johnson 10-13-9-2–34; AA, Sage Broda 17-16-
6-1–30.
Fargo North vs. Siren
First period – FN, Spencer Helming, 9:26; Siren, Drew Alderman (Aaron Dietmeier), 12:09; FN, Jackson Graalum, Tyrell Schloesser), 15:42.
Second period – FN, Helming (Schloesser, Graalum), :36; FN, Jordan Sager (James Schock, Joe Weist), 10:43; FN, Jacob Gunderson (Seth Brenneman), 15:11; FN, Schock, 16:01.
Third period – FN, Alex Samek (Helming, Weist), 3:51; FN, Graalum, 9:45; FN, Samek (Graalum), 15:55; FN, Helming (Graalum), 16:20.
Goalie saves – FN, Soren Nelson 6-7-4–17; Siren, Taran Wols 21-10-12–43.
TRF vs. Crookston
First period – TRF, Logan Ose (Zeb Nelson), 9:47; Crookston, Bobby Tiedemann (Doug Larson, Patrick Berg), 10:30; TRF, Ose (Keaton Huot), 11:53; TRF, Isak Bergland, 16:25.
Second period – TRF, Eli Olson (Nelson), 10:36; TRF, Landon Sanders (Bergland, Brendan Bushy), 16:49.
Third period – TRF, Michael Johnson (Adam Pancoast, Nelson), 3:50.
Goalie saves – TRF, Tanner Holmes 8-11-5–24; Crookston, Ian Johnson 8-8-12–28.
REA Classic
n First round Thursday, Dec. 26 – Crookston 3, Fort Frances 1; Achiever Academy 4, Fargo North 2; Thief River Falls 11, Siren 3.
n Second round Friday, Dec. 27 – Fort Frances 7, Siren 0; Fargo North 4, Crookston 2; Thief River Falls 7, Achiever Academy 1.
n Third round Saturday, Dec. 28 – Achiever Academy 7, Fort Frances 6 (ot); Fargo North 10, Siren 1; Thief River Falls 6, Crookston 1.