THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. – The Thief River Falls Norskies trio of Parker Simonson, Michael Johnson and Mitchell Soderberg combine for eight points to help their side improve to 4-0 on the season as they defeated the Minnesota Iron Rangers 6-3 in a Superior International Junior Hockey League match-up Saturday at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Thief River Falls got on the board early as Boe Bjorge picked up the only marker of the first period, which came at 1:35.
Heading into the middle stanza Johnson put the Norskies up by a pair at 6:39 only to see the Iron Rangers storm back with a trio of tallies in less than two minutes to take the lead.
Bryce Litke’s first put Minnesota on the board at 7:47 before Zach Hayes connected for the visitors 53 seconds later and then teammate Branden Woodward put the visitors in front midway through the frame.
Thief River Falls regrouped to make it 3-3 after two on Simonson’s initial effort of the evening.
Heading into the final frame, Simonson supplied the game-winner at 4:18 with his squad up a man.
Johnson added some insurance with just over eight minutes to go, via the man advantage, before Johnny Bennis iced it with a power play goal at 12:30 to round out the night’s scoring.
Bailey Schmitz made 25 saves for the first place Norskies while Jackson Nelson was peppered with 51 shots in defeat for the Iron Rangers.
Photo credit: Allison Garrigan