MOORHEAD — The Cobber Men’s hockey team won 4-3 in an overtime victory against the St. Johns Johnnies at the Moorhead Sports Center on Thursday, Nov. 9.
The Cobbers struck first blood with 1:24 left in the first period when junior center Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe scored, assisted by freshman forward Caden Triggs. Less than a minute later, the Johnnies evened up the score with an unassisted goal by junior forward Matt DeRosa.
The Cobbers ended the first period with one goal and 13 shots, against one goal and eight shots for the Johnnies.
After the first period, Elliot Bates assistant coach described the goal surrendered on the Cobbers play.
“A quick lapse, for the most part we controlled that period,” Bates said.
Bates looked forward to the second period.
“Control the pace and good things are going to be coming the rest of the night,” Bates said.
Once again, the Cobbers got on the board first in the second period with a goal from fifth-year forward Kevin Ness assisted by both freshman defensemen Bauer Berry and sophmore forward Hunter Olson, with 10:47 remaining in the period.
With 5:36 to go in the second period, Cobber sophomore forward Jack Westlund committed the first penalty of the game with a two minute targeting call. The Cobbers successfully defended the power play, but the Johnnies still managed to score with 1:47 left in the period, evening up the score at the conclusion of the second period.
The Cobbers still lead in shots on goal 22 to 17. After the second period, Bates emphasized maintaining pressure. He credited the success of the cobbers power play defense.
“Close off their gaps, get the jump on them early and maintain our angles,” Bates said.
The Johnnies jumped on top for the first time early in the third period, with a goal from freshman defensemen Parker Gnos. Less than a minute later, the Johnnies committed the first of their three penalties in the third period.
The Cobbers were unable to capitalize on any of their power play opportunities. Still trailing 3-2 with less than three minutes to go in the game, Triggs came up with the tying goal assisted by junior forward Cole O’Connell and junior defensemen Liam Haslam.
Freshman defenseman Zach Stoner shared his thoughts after the game on how the team was able to battle back from a deficit late in the final period.
“(We) dug deep and worked together to get pucks low and find soft areas to get the pucks to the net and score,” said Stoner.
The score remained knotted at three as time expired in the third period, sending the game to a sudden death overtime period. Less than a minute into overtime, O’Connell slammed the door shut on the Johnnies, scoring the game-winning goal and securing a nail biting win for the Cobbers as they stayed undefeated moving to 4-0-1 on the season.
Triggs commented on what they had to do to stay prepared.
“Keep intensity up and we’ll just bring the energy we had tonight,” Triggs said.
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