Cochenour Ontario
For the second straight night the Wisconsin Lumberjacks visited the Cochenour Arena to face the Red Lake Miners. Kyler Lowden would start in net for the Lumberjacks while Connor Hatfield would make his first Junior A start for the Miners.
First period action was fast and furious. Dylan Olsen opened the scoring 44 seconds into the game with his 3rd of the season giving the Lumberjacks a 1-0 lead. Trever Sanderson tied it at one with his second ripping a wrist shot past Lowden to tie the game at 1:45. Sal Poggiali’s 10th would put the Lumberjacks up 1 but Jacob Lamoureux’s league leading 16th goal would tie it back up at two. Dobie Unrau would score his 2nd and 3rd of the season before Kyle Schechtel would notch his 3rd to put the Miners up 5-3 at 15:10. Poggiali’s second of the game at 19:42 on the power play would make it 5-3.
Wisconsin’s Brandon McDonald scored 33 second into the second period to make it a one goal game. Mason Mowat would answer back for the Miners at 2:01 with his second to restore the 2 goal lead. A too many men bench penalty looked like it may swing the momentum back towards Wisconsin but shorthanded goals by Kyle Schectel (4) and Aidan Ballance (3) on the same penalty kill would put the Miners up 8-4. The score would remain that way for the rest of the period.
Down 4 goals heading into the third period did not discourage the Lumberjacks. Brandon McDonald and Ryan Kayser would both score power play goals to pull within 2. Connor McClure and Dylan Olsen both scored within a 3 minute span and the game was tied at 8 with 7 minutes left on the clock. Both teams had some chances but could not convert and this game headed to 3 on 3 overtime.
Overtime opened up with both sides having a couple chances with the extra space on the ice. At 1:47 Aidan Ballance would end the game ripping a beauty past Lowden for his second of the game and 4th of the season. Connor Hatfield although it wasn’t pretty picked up his first Junior A win.