BROOKLYN PARK — Josiah Reier posted a goal and two assists for the Northern Lakes Lightning, who suffered a 5-3 “hard-fought loss” to Class 2A’s Totino-Grace Saturday, Nov. 29.
“We tied it 1-1 and tied it again 3-3 to start the third period,” Klein said. “Then they scored the last two goals to make it 5-3 and our captain said it best when he said, ‘Coach, that was a hard-fought loss.’ I told him, Leyton (Cable), you’re going to go into the locker room and tell the team exactly what you told me. It was a hard-fought loss. It was a good game. In the end, their goalie had 28 saves and ours had 40.”
Parker Fulton put the Lightning on the board first with a goal assisted by Reier and Derek Berg. Berg added another assist on Reier’s goal to end the second period with Northern Lakes trailing 3-2.
Huck Balmer also assisted on Reier’s goal and then he opened the third period with a goal at 0:42, assisted by Fulton and Reier.
Sam Suja finished with 40 saves in what Lightning head coach Thomas Klein called an unbelievable performance.
“It could have easily been 5-0 after the first period, but Sam made some incredible saves,” Klein said. “This is my 50th year of coaching and that kid made some saves I’ve never seen made. You see a play developing and as a coach, you’re thinking to yourself, well, there’s a goal. And then all of a sudden you’re like Wow. The guy had him beat to his stick side, and all of Sam’s weight was headed the other direction and the kid made a move on Sam and had over half of the net wide open to just slide the puck in. Out of nowhere, it was like a Transformer, his leg shoots out and where that pad came from, I don’t know. It should have been a goal.”
Northern Lakes 0 2 1 — 3
First period: TG-Tyler Westphal (Oliver Hay, Ryan Overskei) 2:34
Second period: NL-Westphal (Chase Morgan, Hay) 5:50; NL-Parker Fulton (Derek Berg, Josiah Reier) ppg 7:27; TG-Van Voelker (Noah Osland, Keegan Kiedroski) 8:58; NL-Reier (Huck Balmer, Berg) 11:19
Third period: NL-Balmer (Fulton, Reier) 0:42; TG-Roger Mourad (Liam Hamre, Kiedrowski) 4:17; TG-Hamre (AJ Lach) 5:46
Shots on goal: NL 31, TG 45
Goalies: NL-Sam Suja (40 saves); TG-Taylor Hatton (28 saves)
Overall: NL 1-2-1. Next: Northern Lakes at Superior 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4.
Greenway 4, Wadena-Deer Creek 1
COLERAINE — Cole Sundby prevented the shutout as he scored in the second period for the Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines in a 4-1 loss to Greenway Saturday, Nov. 29.
Hudson Hathaway assisted on Sundby’s goal.
WDC’s Grayson Meyer finished with 46 saves.
Wadena-Deer Creek 0 1 0 — 1
First period: G-Vinnie Denucci (Bryce Nielsen) 0:54; G-Axl Milkulich (Damien Mandich) 4:58
Second period: G-Evan Woodman 1:53; WDC-Cole Sundby (Hudson Hathaway) 4:31
Shots on goal: WDC 17, G 50
Goalies: WDC-Grayson Meyer (46 saves); G-Zane Schad (16 saves)
Overall: WDC 1-1. Next: WDC at Red Lake Falls 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
Hi, I’m the Brainerd Dispatch. I started working a few days before Christmas in 1881 and became a daily paper two years later. I’ve gone through a lot of changes over the years, but what has never changed is my commitment to community and to local journalism. I’ve got an entire team of dedicated people who work night and day to make sure I go out every morning, whether in print, as an e-edition, via an app or with additional information at www.brainerddispatch.com. News, weather, sports — videos, photos, podcasts and social media — all covering stories from central Minnesota about your neighbors, your lakes, your communities, your challenges and your opportunities. It’s all part of the effort to keep people connected and informed. And we couldn’t do it without support.