Prep report: Denfeld rallies to force tie with Hermantown

Dec. 19—Cory Backstrom scored for Duluth Denfeld on the power play with just 36 seconds remaining as the Hunters rallied from 2-0 own at the midway point to hold Hermantown to a 2-2 tie on Thursday night at Essentia Duluth Heritage Center.

Denfeld's other goal also came on the power play, from Brady Wick with just under seven minutes to play in the second period.

Hermantown built a 2-0 lead when Jack Slattengren scored in the first period, followed by Bradford Skytta at 4:11 of the second frame.

Connor Doyle's 38 saves helped the Hunters (5-3-1) mitigate a 40-27 shot deficit. Dane Callaway stopped 25 shots for Hermantown (4-0-2).

Wyatt Mineheine doubled his season scoring total with a hat trick on Tuesday night at St. Luke's Sports and Event Center, the first of the senior's varsity career.

The Rails controlled traffic, holding the Raiders to seven shots, none in the second period and all of them stopped by goaltender A.J. Reyelts. Proctor had 38 on the other end.

Tanner Ross had three assists and Cooper Annala two for the Rails (5-4).

The defending section champions controlled play against the Greyhounds on Tuesday night in Andover.

Andover scored two goals in each of the first two periods and held East off the board until Luke Anderson's power play goal six minutes into the third period. Noah Teng added a consolation just before the final buzzer for East, which was outshot 27-25 in falling to 2-7 on the season.

Goals 74 seconds apart from Max Berrisford and Pacey Adduono late in the first period proved enough for the Hilltoppers to hold off Brainerd on the road on Tuesday night.

The Hilltoppers were outshot 41-20 for the game but Kaenan Smith stopped 40 of them, allowing just a second-period goal from Kalvin Stengrim.

Brant Tiedeman finished with a goal and two assists as the Wolverines won going away at Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia.

Levi Flatley of Rock Ridge and Hunter Hanson for Superior exchanged goals in the first period, but Tiedeman, Caz Carlson (power play) and Grady Dimberio (shorthanded) pushed Rock Ridge in front.

Grand Rapids/Greenway sophomore Kylie DeBay scored a shorthanded goal late in the first period and picked up a backbreaking goal in the third period to lead the Lightning to a win over the Duluth Northern Stars Tuesday.

Cali Madsen opened up the scoring about four minutes into the game and the GRG scored four in the first period to take command.

Duluth's Kacie Romano scored her first varsity goal when she got the Northern Stars on the board in the first period.

The Northern Stars generated plenty of chances in the first period, with 11 shots on goal. After the first period, the Lightning defense tightened and allowed just seven shots over the final 34 minutes of play.

Mirage goaltender Neelah McLeod blanked the Lumberjacks on 14 shots on Tuesday night, Dec. 19 at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet.

Hannah Graves and Izy Fairchild handled the offense for Proctor/Hermantown (7-5-1), scoring two goals apiece. Fairchild assisted both of Graves' goals for a four-point game.

Izabella Strang made 22 saves for CEC (4-7-1).

Boden Teal scored 24 as the Tigers cruised past their Highway 2 rivals on Tuesday night in Maple.

Northwestern racked up 55 points in the first half for a 24-point edge at the break before cruising home to get to 6-1 on the season.

Gavin Williams added 17 for the Tigers, while Bryce Priem and Tysen Teal scored 10 apiece. Michael Zunker scored 19 for Ashland.

The Rebels scored 56 points in the first half to take control on Tuesday night in Aurora.

Four MLWR players finished in double figures, with Nolan Nelson scoring a game-high 24. Layne Radzak added 17, Eli Youngs 15 and Adam Neumann 14.

Hayden Sampson and DaJuan Edstrom scored 11 points apiece for the Giants.

The Bombers did just that, finishing with a game total of 14 3-pointers.

Bryce Ferguson made four and scored 22 points, leading his team in both categories.

Lily Kuettel's 20-point night helped the Greyhounds win in their first game on the road all season and get a third victory in four games.

Maggie Winesett added 12 points for the Greyhounds (3-5), who led 25-17 at halftime.

The Lumberjacks made it 7-0 on the season with their second big Lake Superior Conference win over the Hawks this season, this time in Cloquet.

Quinn Danielson drained four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points, while Leilani Fonoti scored 11 for Cloquet, which led 47-25 at halftime.

Olivia Johnson scored 17 points for the Hawks.

Three Tigers players in double figures were enough to counteract a 25-point game from the Agates' Rachel Bopp on Tuesday night in Two Harbors.

Cherry, which held on after taking a 24-19 lead into the half, got 14 points from Aunika Helms, 12 from Anna Serna and 10 from Aimeelee Grotberg.

The Raptors defense took over the game in the second half, allowing the Mariners only 10 points after the break and earning their first win of the season.

Carlton/Wrenshall was down 21-9 in the early going, turned it around with a 30-7 run to complete the period and kept it going

Brielle Simula handled the offensive end, scoring 30 for Carlton/Wrenshall with Lizzy Johnson pitching in 16. Simula also added 10 rebounds for the double-double and posted six steals. Johnson was one rebound short of a double-double herself.

For Silver Bay, Kinley Nelson had a team-high 15 points.

Tori Oehrlein's 35 points led the Rangers to a dominant home victory over the Rebels.

Shannon Granquist led MLWR with 12 points.

Duluth came out on top of both sides of a double dual swim meet at home against Superior and Hibbing on Tuesday, defeating the Spartans 119-65 and the Bluejackets 127-55. Superior won the other matchup with Hibbing 117.5-62.5.

Landon West was a double winner for Duluth, taking the 100-yard backstroke by a wide margin in 58.70 after a narrower win in the 50 free (23.29) just ahead of teammate Seiji Sudoh, who went on to prevail in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.59.