Huskies continue to fight for Big Nine top spot

Owatonna boys hockey has been one of the state’s hottest teams over the course of the last month with the team compiling an 8-1-1 record since Jan. 13.

The Huskies had a shaky 6-7 start to the season, but have since rebounded to outscore opponents 39-23 during their heater with the team’s only loss coming to Class A No. 16 ranked Waseca (17-5-2.)

“We kind of knew that it was going to take a bit of time for our young team to get going. We have 10 sophomores on our squad, so we knew that jumping from bantams to high school is a big jump; especially varsity. Usually, what you see with a lot of sophomores is that when they come out of the Christmas tournament, they have things figured out. I just think we’re seeing growth,” said Owatonna Head Coach Dennis Will.

Owatonna put on two key performances last week by beating Red Wing 2-1 on the road and tying Big Nine Conference leader Northfield 5-5 in the Raiders’ home rink.

The win against 10-13 Red Wing required some late-game heroics after the Wingers scored the game’s first goal to lead 1-0 with 9:20 remaining in the third period.

With time quickly running out, Owatonna scored its game-saving goal off the stick of Zachary Klecker with 3:43 left to play.

Overtime seemed inevitable until Huskies sophomore forward Brayden Spindler scored the game-winner with 32 seconds left on a play assisted by linemates Jackson Kath and Grady Roush.

The goal earned the team critical Big Nine Conference points and iced a frustrating game for the Huskies, who out-shot Red Wing 45-19 despite trailing late in the game.

Earlier in the week, Owatonna traveled to Northfield for a clash with the conference’s top squad.

Tensions were high in the Northfield Ice Arena at puck drop, but the home crowd instantly had reason to cheer as the Raiders scored in the opening 18 seconds of the game on a dangerous scoring opportunity from just outside the crease.

The early tally could have rattled the Huskies, but the team shook it off well to tie the game just 2:46 later with a power play goal by Klecker following a tripping penalty by the Raiders.

“I’m really proud of their resilience. Coming into that building, we knew that it was going to be a tough game. They were undefeated in the conference and nobody had really given them a great fight. On top of it all, it was the 50^th anniversary of their program, so they had over 100 alumni at the game, and they’re getting ready to close the rink before they move into their new one. But we knew that we were up for the challenge,” said Will.

Klecker managed to beat the Raiders’ goaltender by screening in front of the net and tipping a shot from the point.

Owatonna then jumped out to its first lead of the game after sophomore Zachary Roesner scored on a similar play where he put a shot on net from the blue line and beat the screened goaltender again.

However, Northfield responded by scoring less than two minutes later to tie the game at 2-2 and eventually took a 3-2 lead into intermission after finding a goal with 51 seconds left in the first period.

The Raiders jumped on the Huskies again with another goal 2:44 into the second period to go up 4-2, but Owatonna fought back with goals by Kath and Caleb Ringhofer to tie the game in the late stages of the frame.

The Northfield Ice Arena fell silent in the third when Owatonna’s Wyatt Macy scored 19 seconds into the period to reclaim the lead at 5-4, but a costly late penalty would prove detrimental.

The Huskies were handed an infraction for having too many men on the ice and Northfield used its stellar power play to tie the game at 5-5 with a goal coming just shy of the 10-minute mark.

Neither team scored for the remainder of the third, sending the game into overtime.

Both teams had chances in extra time, but solid goaltending kept each side scoreless as the game ended in a 5-5 tie.

Owatonna’s Braxton Ringhofer was the busier netminder and saved 33 of 38 shots while the Huskies were outdone 38-26 on attempts against.

Up next for Owatonna is the team’s last regular season game against Hopkins at the Hopkins Pavilion on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.

The Huskies squared off with Big Nine Conference foe Mankato West on Tuesday, but stats and results were not available at the time of press.

Player Stats

vs. Red Wing

                        G    A    P

Spindler            1    1    2

Klecker             1    0    1

Roush               0    1    1

Macy                0    1    1

Kath                 0    1    1

                                SA  SV  GA

B. Ringhofer      19   18   1