Owatonna Loses Championship Game in Overtime
Owatonna came up just short of repeating as tournament champions at the Duluth Heritage Tournament Saturday afternoon, dropping a 2-1 overtime game to host Duluth Denfeld. The loss ended the Huskies eight-game winning streak.
On Saturday's AM 1390 KRFO High School Coaches Show, huskies' coach Josh Storm said the squad was looking forward to the challenge of playing the No. 12-A Hunters, "I'm really, really excited about. They're a good hockey team. This is kind of our first real test. I think this going to be a big game for us. I think our kids are fired up to play a team equal to us in skill and talent."
He added, "We're going to have to play a full game. We have bigger goals than to regular season. We want to do well in the playoffs. These are the games that are going to build the character and create what we need to do to get to that spot."
The Huskies struck first at the Sill Ice Arena. Sophomore Grant Achterkirch scored his first varsity goal 2:33 into the first period with an assist from Zach Kubicek. The Hunters tied the game 2:05 into the third period as Kade Shea scored from Jace Anderson and Connor McClure.
Denfeld got the victory 2:22 into the extra session. Griffin Lehet scored from McClure. Duluth had a 28-23 advantage in shots on goal. Zach Wiese made 26 saves. Jacob Snyder stopped 22 shots to get the win. Owatonna went 0-for-1 on the power play. Denfeld (9-2-1) was 0-for-2.
In Friday's semifinal, OHS topped Irondale 3-1. Senior Austin Mundt scored his first varsity goal and assisted on Wyatt Oldenfendt's power play goal to open the scoring. The Huskies leading scorer junior Dom Valento also scored. Owatonna sailed by Coon Rapids 8-1 in the opening game on Thursday.
Owatonna (8-2) returns to Big Nine Conference play Thursday, January 2 at Austin.
The Owatonna girls had their third game at the Louis Schmitz Tournament cancelled due to icy road conditions on Saturday. The Huskies played a pair of overtime games in Farmington, losing 2-1 to the host Tigers Thursday and ending in a 1-1 tie with New Prague Friday. The Trojans won the shootout 1-0 though the game will remain officially a tie.