HERMANTOWN — With the overtime period ticking away, Duluth Marshall senior Bennett Scissons thought he had a step on Hermantown defenseman Gabe Swenson Tuesday at Hermantown Hockey Arena.
“I was trying to take a step in and drive,” Scissons said. “But he had a good stick and ended up taking me down — it was a good play.”
Swenson’s play stopped Scissons from getting a natural hat trick, but the Hilltoppers’ forward finished with a three-point night and his team rallied from three goals down over the final nine minutes to earn a 5-5 tie with Hermantown — the No. 2 Class A team in the state.
It looked like the Hawks had sealed the win when Kole Lendzyk beat Wyatt Brown to put Hermantown up 5-2, but coming out of a Marshall timeout, Sam Berry scored with 8:25 to play and Scissons drew them to within one about four minutes later.
With time running out, coach Shawn Bartlette waved Brown to the bench and made a change to make sure Scissons saw the puck.
“He’s a guy that has a knack for the net,” Bartlette said. “We actually lined him up at the defensive position there with a 6-on-5, knowing that he has that knack for getting the puck through traffic.”
Paxson Madill (26) of Hermantown passes the puck against Bennett Scissons (23) of Duluth Marshall on Tuesday in Hermantown.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
After the timeout, the Hilltoppers knew they had to get pucks to the net, Scissons said.
“I was ready for a shot there,” he said. “We were trying to get one quick off the draw and it ended up bouncing out to me. I was just trying to get a puck on net and it ended up going in.”
Hermantown came out strong in the first period, according to coach Pat Andrews.
“Our guys were playing well,” he said. “We were simple, pucks were going forward — we were above pucks on the forecheck.”
Junior Mick Martalock finished put the Hawks up two with a shorthanded goal late in the first period. After Eli Thorson got Marshall on the board with his own shorthanded score, Ford Skytta got one by Brown with just .1 seconds remaining in the first period — the second-straight game Hermantown has scored with less than a second left in a period.
“All the things were really good in the first period,” Andrews said. “Then, as high school hockey goes, they had a great push and they owned the second period.”
The response from Marshall after a demoralizing goal to end the first and two more in quick succession was exactly what Bartlette wanted to see from his team.
“We’re going to face adversity all season long,” he said. “Finding a way to dig down and overcome that early in the season, that’s definitely going to pay off for us.”
Kyler Berg (19) of Hermantown scores a goal against Duluth Marshall goaltender Wyatt Brown (1) on Tuesday in Hermantown.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
With 10 goals scored, it might be easy to look past the goalies, but there were impressive saves all night, particularly during overtime. Brown finished with 38 saves and Hermantown’s Bryce Francisco had 39.
“Everything was hard-fought,” Andrews said. “They earned their goals and I thought we earned our goals and both goalies made spectacular saves to save the game. We had a couple looks late when (Brown) was down and out and Bryce did that to them twice.”
It was a great hockey game, Andrews said, and while he’s not happy his team gave up three goals late in the third period at home, it’s still early December.
“There were a lot of lessons learned here with a lot of guys who have never played in this spot,” he said. “Even our older guys haven’t had the roles they have. We’re learning as we go and that’s why we play the schedule we do.”
Kyler Berg (19) of Hermantown celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Duluth Marshall on Tuesday in Hermantown.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Marshall (5-0-1) will next play at 7 p.m. Friday at Rochester Mayo.
Hermantown (3-0-2) will host Centennial at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Benson Peterson (17) of Duluth Marshall passes the puck against Alexander Nicklin (27) of Hermantown on Tuesday in Hermantown.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
David Schachte (7) of Duluth Marshall shoots the puck against Hermantown on Tuesday in Hermantown.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Duluth Marshall players celebrate after scoring the game-tying goal in the final minute of play against Hermantown on Tuesday in Hermantown.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Duluth Marshall goaltender Wyatt Brown makes a save against Hermantown on Tuesday in Hermantown.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Jamey Malcomb has a been high school sports reporter for the Duluth News Tribune since October 2021. He spent the previous six years covering news and sports for the Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors and the Cloquet Pine Journal. He graduated from the George Washington University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in history and literature and also holds a master’s degree in secondary English education from George Mason University.