Cochenour Ontario
The Wisconsin Lumberjacks made the longest road trip in the SIJHL from Spooner to the Cochenour Arena to face the Red Lake Miners for the first time in the 2023-2024 SIJHL season. Jakob Barcelona from Wasilla Alaska got the start for the visitors while Trent Boryszczuk got his second home start for the Miners.
Both teams struggled to find scoring chances in the first period. Koen Burkholder opened the scoring at 14:57 taking advantage of a Miners miscue and beating Boryszczuk for his second goal of the season. Neither team could convert on their power play opportunities and after 20 minutes of play the Lumberjacks led 1-0 despite the Miners holding a 9-7 edge in shots.
Both teams would get power play opportunities again in the second period with neither team having any success. The only goal in the second period would come during four on four play. Noah Tenney would take a pass from Bryson Carlyle and beat Barcelona for his third goal of the season at 17:47. After 40 minutes of play the game is tied at 1 and the Miners hold the edge in shots 21-18.
After failing to convert on their first 7 power play chances the Lumberjacks found success on their 8th when Connor Corcoran scored hist first goal at 5:49. Down 2-1 the Miners found themselves on the wrong side of 5 on 3 man advantage. This could have gone either way for momentum for either team but the Miners managed to kill it off. Carter Deschamps would help get the Miners back in the game with a nice rush and shot that snuck through the pads of Barcelona where Blake Hiltermann would push it over the goal line for his third of the season to tie the game at 2. Neither team could score for the rest of the period and this game would head to overtime.
Both teams would have chances early in the extra time but Barcelona and Boryszczuk would both stand their ground. Boryszczuk would make a huge save in the overtime frame and shortly after that Blake Hiltermann would score his second of the night to give the Miners a 3-2 win. Trent Boryszczuk made 30 saves for his 3rd win of the season while Barcelona stopped 33 shots in the OTL.