The men’s hockey team took on Lake Forest this past Saturday night in a game that would end in a tie.
Marc Howe put the Vikings up early in the first period. Nick Jennette dumped the puck into the corner and an odd bounce brought the puck out to Howe who put it under the cross bar and into the net at 3:54 of the first period. Goaltender Evan Johnson got the second assist on the goal.The Vikings kept the lead until 18:01 of the first period, when Chris Wilson of the Foresters got the puck past Johnson. The period ended with the score knotted at 1.
The second period was back and forth, but neither team could get the puck past the other team’s netminder.
In the third period the Vikings outshot the Foresters 11-5. The Vikings had a nice chance near the end of the period; but the puck stayed out of the net and the teams would head to overtime.
The five-minute overtime period saw the Foresters out shoot the Viking five to one, but the Foresters could not score. Ultimately, the teams skated to a 1-1 tie.
The game became was a goaltenders’ duel. Viking goalie Johnson kept 31 shots out of the net, while Scott Campbell turned away 28 for the Foresters. Johnson received Midwest Conference Hockey Association Player of the Week for his efforts.
Both teams were hurt by their inability to score on the man advantage as the Vikings went 0 for 3 and the Foresters went 0 for 7. Riley Stank commented after the game, “We struggled offensively, but this shows us we can be effective playing as a defensive-minded team and rely on Evan for solid goaltending.”
The Vikings will head to Crookston, Minn. to take on the University of Minnesota-Crookston Golden Eagles this weekend. The conference games will take place on December 1 and 2 at 2 p.m.