 |
Second straight RRC hockey titleBy Luther Dorr After not winning a Rum River Conference championship since 1991, the Princeton boys hockey team now has two in a row. Encountering stiffer opposition than expected, the team won at St. Michael-Albertville last Thursday, 4-2, to claim another undisputed title. Princeton had beaten the Knights earlier this season, 10-0. The Tigers, 15-7 for the season, finished the Rum River schedule at 9-1 and second-place Chisago Lakes is 6-2-1 with one game remaining after a tie with Mora later last week. The Wildcats temporarily delayed an outright title when they beat Princeton here on Tuesday of last week, 3-2. Coach Todd Frederick said he was proud of his seniors for their leadership last week as the team won the title. "You need that senior leadership," he said, "and we're starting to see that. We had some ups and downs [in the St. Michael game], like a goal going in off a skate, but we didn't panic. "We're taking care of our own end of the ice. We don't need any high-scoring games when the playoffs come." He said he was happy for the team accomplishing the goal of winning the championship. "We've pretty much revamped the system in five years [that he has been coach]," Frederick said. "I'm proud of our coaching staff. They and the players have worked their butts off, wanting this." Frederick, saying he didn't agree that the team hasn't been playing as well as it had been, did say the team is not where it should be. "From a coach's standpoint, we need to have more of that playoff mentality and we saw it at St. Michael," he said. Friday's game at Marshall, a team that tied St. Cloud Cathedral (Princeton's opponent next Tuesday), 3-3, is "a big one," Frederick said. "We need to establish a good winning record here at the end." St. Michael Defensemen Kyle Jorgenson and Derrick Brown scored goals in the last minute of the first period, Brown on a power play, to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. But the Knights got a power-play goal in the second period and another early in the final period to tie the game. "They attempted to be more physical with us and there were a lot of penalties," Frederick said. "Two things were noticeable: They brought everybody back in front of the net and blocked 11 or 12 shots, and they were more physical in front of the net. And to an extent, it worked, even though we had 42 shots and they had 15." Goalie Jared Culver made a save on a semi-breakaway in the final period and Princeton finally got the go-ahead goal with 8:09 remaining. Kevin Englund, who scored the two goals against Chisago Lakes, scored on a wrist shot from the top of the circle. And only 36 seconds later Cass Bowen faked out a player at the Knight blue line and beat the goalie with a wrist shot. "We played well," said Frederick. "We didn't give them much. And we got goals from our second power-play unit and one from each line." Princeton 4, SMA 2 First period: P - Jorgenson, 14:10 (pp). P - Brown (Dufner, Miron), 14:53. Second period: SMA - 3:54 (pp). SMA - 12:45. Third period: P - Englund (Jorgenson), 6:51. P - Bowen (Brown), 7:27. Shots on goal: P - 18-12-12ó42, SMA - 7-2-6ó15. Penalties: P - 10 for 20 minutes, SMA - 11 for 22 minutes. Chisago Lakes The Wildcats scored goals in each of the first two periods to lead 2-0. Then Englund scored twice in the final period, the second on a power play with 8:53 to go, to tie the game. But, with only nine seconds remaining, a turnover by Princeton led to a Chisago Lakes goal with only 49 seconds left. Princeton outshot Chisago 32-26 after being outshot 14-4 in the initial period. C. Lakes 3, Princeton 2 First period: CL - 7:30. Second period: CL - 14:29 (pp). Third period: P - Englund (Schneider), 1:55. P - Englund (Ross), 6:07 (pp). CL - 14:11. Shots on goal: CL - 14-4-8ó32, P - 4-14-13ó32. Penalties: CL - 2 for 4 minutes, P - 2 for 4 minutes. Princeton Union-Eagle |