Huskies Grad Scores in Blades Rally

Owatonna High School grad Tyler Wencl scored his first goal as a member of the Steele County Blades junior hockey team Sunday afternoon. The Blades rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to force overtime, but lost to the Minnesota Mullets in a shootout. The final score was 4-3.

Wencl, a 2018 OHS grad, recently joined the Blades and was reunited with his Huskies teammate Carter Broton, a 2017 Owatonna graduate. Wencl scored early in the second period of Sunday afternoon's contest with the Mullets at the Four Seasons Centre. Broton and Jake Freise assisted on the goal that made the score 2-2.

Minnesota jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with goals by Tyler Perkins and Carter Lewis barely over a minute into the game. Steele County got on the board midway through the first on Freise's ninth goal of the season. Danila Besedin and Nick Samuelson assisted.

After Wencl's goal tied the game 4:26 into the second, the Mullets retook the lead ten minutes later on Perkins second goal of the night and 30th of the campaign. The Blades once again tied the game as Vsevold Bannikov notched his ninth of the season, coming on a power play with assists from Freise and Besedin.

The game stayed tied at 3-3 throughout the third period and overtime. The Mullets won the shootout 1-0 for a 4-3 victory. Minnesota out shot the Blades 49-32. George Maguire made 46 stops for Steele County. See the game summary sheet from the United State Premier Hockey League.

Steele County hosted Hudson, WI Saturday with a very good crowd despite the blizzard conditions from the storm. It was Federated Insurance night. Other groups including Youth 1st and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota were also highlighted.

The Havoc slid in less than an hour before the start of the game due to the slower roads due to slippery conditions. The Blades scoring chances were few and far between against the first-place, highest scoring team in the division.

Steele County had a good scoring chance on a point blank opportunity early in the game with it still scoreless, but Cal Ambrose made one of his 11 saves on the night for his fourth shutout of the season. The Havoc have seven shutouts total this season.

Hudson scored three in the first period, three more in the second, and added two in the third in the 8-0 win. The Havoc out shot the Blades 39-11. Steele County goes to Hudson Saturday, January 25 before hosting Rum River Sunday, January 26 at 7:30 pm. View the full Blades schedule here.

Blades players signed autographs and met the fans after Saturday's game (pictured below).

Check out interviews with Blades players here.