 |
News Articles [View All]
Tonka Has Great Week Beating Stillwater, Holy Angels and Moorhead  Thomas Schutt Scored the Game Winner in Tonka's Upset of Holy Angels
Any lingering effects of the Benilde loss were quickly erased this week, as the Skippers bounced back and swept all three games against quality opponents. Tonka beat #17 Stillwater 6-1 on Tuesday night, #8 Holy Angels 3-2 on Thursday night, and finished off the week with a tough win against #15 Moorhead, 3-1 on Saturday night.
Tonka dominated play from the start against Stillwater, out shooting the Ponies 22-8 over the first two periods, and cruising to a solid 6-1 victory. With Max Gardiner and Nick Helmer digging the puck out of the corner, Andrew Prochno got Tonka on the board early in the first period with a shot coming from the just inside the circle. Helmer came right back with a goal of his own a few minutes later, with assists from Gardiner and Troy Hesketh. Sam Coatta finished off Tonka's first period scoring with an unassisted goal. Hesketh opened up the second period with a goal at 1:24 of the period, with assists going to Thomas Schutt and Prochno. Erik Baskin added another second period goal with assists from Gardiner and Jake Rossman. Capping a very solid night, was Conner Ryan, who picked up his first goal of the season late in the third, with an assist from Prochno. Nik Job was outstanding in goal, turning away 16 of the 17 shots he faced to pick up the win.
The Skippers second game of the week was against highly ranked #8 Holy Angels. Holy Angels got on the board late in the first period, with a short handed goal, however Minnetonka came right back with a Max Gardiner score, with help from Sam Coatta and Tommy Lundquist. Gardiners goal came with just 16 seconds left in the opening period to tie the game. With some nice passing from Andrew Prochno and Derek Frawley, Nick Helmer put Tonka ahead in the second period, only to have Holy Angels tie the game just 55 seconds later. The Skippers went on the power play and Thomas Schutt scored the game winning goal, with a laser from the top of the circle, beating the Holy Angels goalie over his shoulder. Schutt was assisted by Prochno and Troy Hesketh. The story of this game however, was the play of Skippers goalie Jim Kruger. Kruger challenged the Holy Angels forwards all night, coming out of the net repeatedly, and stopping 22 of the 24 shots he faced.
Tonka finished the week with a hard fought win against an aggressive Moorhead squad, 3-1 on Saturday night. Derek Frawley scored first with a very strong move to the net. With a Moorhead defender draped all over him, Frawley was able to put a back handed goal over the goalie's shoulder for the first goal of the game. Frawley was assisted by Joey Fisher and Ned Wolff, who both picked up their first assists this season. In the second period, Sam Coatta, with a nice pass from Justin Holl, scored the Skippers second goal, to go up 2-0. Moorhead scored on a power play goal minutes later, and Tonka went into the locker room up 2-1 after 2. Max Gardiner put the game out of reach, with a third period goal, assisted by Andrew Prochno. Tonka goalie Nik Job, made several key leg saves in route to his 5th win of the season. Job stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced, and did not let in an even strength goal all night.
The Skippers now begin their conference play this week with a home game against Hopkins on Thursday night, and then travel to Armstrong for a Saturday afternoon game Click On the Ads... Support Our Sponsors
        |
 |
 |
||
