by Mike Isola,
Staff Writer
After a disappointing 2-0 loss to Detroit Lakes on Jan. 23, the Wolverine boys hockey team bounced back by defeating Litchfield 3-2 on Jan. 25 and Willmar 6-5 on Saturday.
Against the Lakers, Wolverine netminder Tanner Muehler turned away 27 shots but couldn't get the offensive support from his teammates in the loss. The Wolverines peppered Detroit Lakes' goalie Jake Vavricka with 23 shots and went 0-for-5 on power-plays.
The Lakers' Joe Schiller broke open a scoreless game with his second period goal at 12:17 and then assisted on a shorthanded goal by Ben Bergquist at 7:41 of the third period.
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Justin Wolden's goal at 1:10 into the first period got the Wolverines going against Litchfield, but the Dragons tied it up 1:09 later on a Nate Adams goal.
Before the period was out, the Wolverines tacked on two more scores to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission. Zach Maas and Jascha Pettit each tallied a goal. The Wolverines withstood a late Dragon rally to win 3-2.
Litchfield scored once in the second period and was continually frustrated by the Wolverine defense and goalie Derek Neu. The Dragons out-shot the Wolverines 17-3 in the third period. The teams combined to go 0-17 on power-plays with the Wolverines getting nine chances to the Dragons' eight.
Neu finished with 34 saves in the contest while Wolden racked up a goal and two assists for the Wolverines.
If there was a game where someone needed to step up, this was it. The Wolverines survived a grueling 6-5 game with the Willmar Cardinals in front of a large home crowd at the Wadena Community Center on Saturday.
Both teams combined for 28 minutes in the sin bin as bad blood between the two teams showed up on the ice via jarring hits and checks that left fans cringing. The Wolverines capitalized on the power-plays to etch out the win, scoring twice on five chances.
Wolden tallied a hat trick to go along with two assists and Maas added a pair of goals and a pair of assists for the Wolverines. Jascha Pettit also got in on the action, scoring a goal and assisted on another in the win.
Joel Jonsson and Joel Schendel each had a goal and two assists for Willmar. Mitch Schneider had a goal and an assist. Griffin Leitch and Josh Aslesen also scored for the Cardinals.
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Muehler earned the win between the pipes for the Wolverines, stopping 35-of-40 shots.
The Wolverines (14-5) traveled to Mora on Tuesday, will host Morris-Benson Area today (Thursday) at 7 p.m., and travel to Kittson Central on Saturday.
Detroit Lakes at WDC on Jan. 23
Lakers 2, Wolverines 0
DL 0 1 1-2
WDC 0 0-0
First Period
No scoring
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Second Period
DL-Joe Schiller (unassisted) 12:17
Third Period
DL-Ben Bergquist (Schiller) SHG 7:41
Shots on Goal: WDC 3-12-8 23; DL 9-12-8 29
Goalies-Saves: WDC-Tanner Muehler 27; DL-Jake Vavricka 23
WDC at Litchfield on Jan. 25
Wolverines 3, Dragons 2
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WDC 3 0 0-3
LFD 1 1 0-2
First Period
WDC-Wolden (Jascha Pettit, Maas) 1:10
LFD-Nate Adams (Mitch Loge) 2:19
WDC-Maas (Wolden) 8:59
WDC-Jascha Pettit (Maas, Wolden) 9:18
Second Period
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LFD-Zac Johnson (Tim Wold) 5:40
Shots on Goal: WDC 7-15-3 25; LFD 9-10-17 36
Goalie-Saves: WDC-Neu 34; LFD-Lucas Johnson 22
Willmar at WDC on Jan. 27
Wolverines 6, Cardinals 5
WIL1 2 2-5
WDC1 2 3-6
First Period
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WIL-Mitchell Schnider (Joel Schendel) 5:46
WDC-Maas (Wolden, Trevor Ness) PPG 8:46
Second Period
WDC-Wolden (Maas, Jascha Pettit) 3:35
WDC-Wolden (Maas) 7:28
WIL-Andy Boersman (Schendel, Schnider) PPG 9:18
WIL-Josh Aslesen (Joel Jonsson, Rory Schnider) 16:17.
Third Period
WDC-Wolden (Joe Peters) PPG 8:22
WIL-Jonsson (Adam Schow) 10:09
WDC-Maas (unassisted) 10:21
WDC-Jascha Pettit (Wolden) 10:43
WIL-Schendel (Jonsson) 13:23
Shots on Goal: WDC 11-6-7 24; WIL 8-23-9 40
Goalies-Saves: WDC-Muehler 35; WIL-Jon Mattison 18
