Ashland stifles KHS hockey 4-1 | News, Sports, Jobs

Kingsford senior captain Will Murvich is tripped from behind on a breakaway attempt during the second period against Ashland on Thursday at the Bay Area Civic Center. Murvich drew a penalty, but the Flivvers couldn’t cash in on the power play and wound up falling to the Oredockers 4-1.
(Ron Deuter photo)

ASHLAND, Wis. – With the way things are going for Kingsford right now, escaping quicksand might be easier than breaking out of their own defensive zone.

Outshot 38-17, the Flivvers (8-10-0) dropped a sixth straight game Thursday evening, bowing to Ashland 4-1 in a non-conference varsity hockey matchup.

“I thought the first and third were strong, but we had some bad breaks in the second period, and Ashland found the back of the net,” Flivvers assistant coach Erik Berglund. “We’ve been struggling to find the back of the net. We’re not getting many shots. We’re tentative, not competing as well as I think we could.”

After a scoreless first period, Kingsford took a lead against the Oredockers when junior Jonah Doenier snapped in a goal from the top of the right circle at 16:01 of the second period, an unassisted tally for his fifth of the season.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as Ashland tied it on a power play goal by freshman Judd Justinak a few minutes later when he rocketed a shot past sophomore goaltender Alex Hemgren off the cross bar from the right side at the 13:27 mark. A delay of game call on the Flivvers set up the extra man situation for Ashland.

The Oredockers scored the go ahead tally at the 10:30 mark off the second on an even strength goal by senior Madden Sommer. They stretched the lead open with a pair of goals 23 seconds apart late in the stanza, including a second by Justinak. Junior defenseman Eli Wickman went unassisted with 1:09 to go ahead of Justinak’s marker with 46 seconds to go in the period.

The two quick strikes effectively put the game out of reach for the Flivvers, whose offense just can’t find a spark.

“It was a winnable game, and I’m not going to say we didn’t show up, but we’re just struggling to find the net,” Berglund said. “We have to figure something out.”

Hemgren made 34 saves in the loss and shows a 3-5-0 record on the season.

Kingsford returns home Thursday, hosting Negaunee, a team they defeated 5-2 back in November.