Huskies Pull Away From Raiders in Boys Lacrosse, Draw Even in Big Nine Race
Owatonna scored the last five goals to beat Northfield 14-9 at Husky Stadium on Friday night to forge a tie for the conference lead, but they had to avoid history to gain the win.
Northfield had just completed a rally from a four-goal, third-quarter deficit to tie the game early in the fourth frame. That's just what happened earlier this season when Northfield shutout Owatonna down the stretch and scored with two seconds to go to grab a 10-9 win.
Owatonna coach Scott Seykora had a message to his players to implore them to not let that happen again. The Huskies responded with a five-goal outburst to get the victory. Walker Nelson scored his fifth goal of the night 11 seconds after the Raiders tied the game to give the Huskies a 10-9 lead with 9:25 remaining. Josh Nelson notched his fourth goal of the evening just over a minute later.
The Huskies' 11-9 lead remained stagnant until Nate Smith scored with 4:35 to go. Tyler Wencl slammed the door on any comeback thoughts for Northfield with a pair of goals 20 seconds apart with about two minutes left to give OHS their 14-9 win.
Seykora credited the defense with holding the Big Nine's leading scorer Chase Marlenee to just a pair of goals. Alex Tryhus started in goal and made four first-quarter saves before Ryan Johnson took over and made several point-blank saves.
It was senior night for the boys lacrosse team as they honored Brett Solie and Blake Pfieffer. The game was a Kat Kountry 105FM broadcast with Shawn Pfieffer assisting on the coverage. Owatonna (7-3, 6-1 Big Nine) travels to Mankato on Tuesday. OHS won the junior varsity game 12-2.
The Owatonna girls lacrosse squad beat Northfield 15-3 Friday. OHS hosts a key conference game with Mankato on Tuesday at 7:15PM. Owatonna has a one-game lead over Mankato, according to the Big Nine Conference website.