sports

RED LAKE FALLS ENDS IMPRESSIVE HOCKEY SEASON WITH LOSS TO EAST GRAND FORKS

February 24, 2022

The Red Lake Falls Boy’s Hockey team traveled to East Grand Forks on Thursday night for their Section 8A quarterfinal matchup with the Green Wave inside the East Grand Forks Civic Center. Red Lake Falls came into the matchup as the #5 seed in the tournament while East Grand Forks was voted as the #4 seed. The matchup was anticipated to be the best game out of all the quarterfinals, however, EGF blitzed the Eagles early scoring 7 first-period goals and never looking back on their way to an 11-1 victory ending Red Lake Falls season. “Was not the performance we were looking for,” said Red Lake Falls Head Coach Trever Page. “We just couldn’t get anything going.”

FIRST PERIOD –
It took just 90 seconds for East Grand Forks to get on the scoreboard, and shortly after that, the Green Wave’s top line got going with a goal at the 2:26 mark making it 2-0 quickly. The top line for East Grand Forks continued to overpower the Eagles, and the puck stayed on that side of the ice the entire period. East Grand Forks would score five more goals in the period, one of which was a Power Play, and never gave Red Lake Falls a chance. The Green Wave were led by their top line in the first period, with Jacksen Panzer getting four points, Caleb Schmiedeberg with three points and Brock Schultz with three points. The Green Wave outshot the Eagles in the first seventeen minutes 23-3.

SECOND PERIOD –
The Eagles were finally able to build a little momentum at the beginning of the second period and had a few chances to get the puck on the net. After their tries were unsuccessful, East Grand Forks would get a few of their own, and take advantage. They would score three more goals in a span of four minutes to take a 10-0 lead with 6:42 remaining in the middle frame. Each team would have a few more chances in the second period, but both goaltenders stood tall, and the teams would skate off to the locker rooms with East Grand Forks in front 10-0. Through two periods, the Green Wave outshot Red Lake Falls 41-6.

THIRD PERIOD –
The third period was played with running time per Minnesota State High School League rules, as East Grand Forks led by 6+ goals. Red Lake Falls wouldn’t go away empty-handed, as their top goal scorer and player Ty Kennett would go coast to coast early in the third period to put the Eagles on the board. It would be the only goal Red Lake Falls would score all night. The Green Wave would add one more goal with under two minutes remaining, for a final score of 11-1. “It was a great season,” said Red Lake Falls Head Coach Trevor Page. “We just had a tough end to it and this wasn’t the performance we were looking for. We did have a lot of good games this season, this just wasn’t one of them.” East Grand Forks outshot the Eagles 49-12 in the contest and each team had just one Power Play opportunity.

Pacey Struthers got the start in net for Red Lake Falls and allowed 4 goals while making 10 saves. He was replaced midway through the first period by Ashtin Fredrickson. Fredrickson made 28 saves the rest of the game while allowing 7 goals. Chase Mero got the start for the Green Wave and made 11 saves while allowing just 1 goal and earning the victory.

Red Lake Falls ends their impressive season with a 17-8-1 record. East Grand Forks improves to 9-17 and will take on the top-seeded team in Section 8A, the Warroad Warriors in the semifinals on Saturday back inside the East Grand Forks Civic Center. The win for East Grand Forks also snaps a 6-game losing streak.

	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Red Lake Falls	0	0	1	1
East Grand Forks	7	3	1	11

1st Period
EGF – 1:30 – Grady Magner (Unassisted)
EGF – 2:26 – Caleb Schmiedeberg (Brock Schultz, Jaksen Panzer)
EGF – 5:42 – Brock Schultz (Jaksen Panzer, Caleb Schmiedeberg)
EGF – 5:55 – Jace Fore (Grady Magner, Sam Frost)
EGF – 10:12 – Jaksen Panzer (Brock Schultz, Caleb Schmiedeberg)
EGF – 13:31 – Landon Jamieson (Cole Bies) (PP)
EGF – 14:10 – Jaksen Panzer (Cole Bies)

2nd Period
EGF – 6:03 – Seth Aaker (Grady Magner)
EGF – 8:03 – Jace Fore (Cole Bies, Justin Overgaard)
EGF – 10:18 – Brock Schultz (Jaksen Panzer, Caleb Schmiedeberg)

3rd Period
RLF – 1:30 – Ty Kennett (Unassisted)
EGF – 16:40 – Cole Bies (Justin Overgaard)