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Hockey team begins upward trend
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Wednesday, 16 January 2008
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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
If all goes according to plan, trends and history, the boys hockey team will be victorious on Thursday, when Forest Lake travels to Park.
The Rangers enter the Jan. 17 contest enjoying two consecutive wins, and this season has been all about streaks. And never less than two straight in either direction. Four up, then three down, followed by three wins and three losses.
With last week’s victories over Stillwater and Mounds View, the boys are right on schedule toward finding their third consecutive win.
On Saturday, Jan. 12, the Rangers hosted the same Mounds View squad that started the most recent three-game losing skid, which was a 3-2 overtime defeat in the finals of the Lake Area Holiday Hockey Tournament.
In the rematch, Forest Lake scored first, and then topped off a 2-1 lead with a third period goal to make it a 3-1 final.
Behind the energy of Kyle Young and Kyle Morgan, head coach Aaron Forsythe was happy with the team’s overall effort.
“Saturday was another good night,” Forsythe said. “They both worked hard all night and it paid off on the score sheet.”
It was Young and Brad Ristow who set up Morgan for the game’s first goal, midway through the opening period. The Mustangs’ Tony Civello made the initial save, but Morgan scooped up his own rebound and stuffed it in.
After Mounds View evened the score in the second, Forest Lake’s 6’5” Cory Capra cleared space in front of the net and knocked in the game-winner.
In the early stages of the third, Morgan and Ristow would set up Young, and his goal would finish the scoring.
Rangers 2, Ponies 0
Forest Lake (9-6, 5-4) re-entered the win column on Jan. 8, when they picked up a 2-0 victory at Stillwater.
Jake Kogler and Sam Pfenning would collect the two goals, with assists coming from Derek Harrison, Matt Wethammer, Young and Morgan.
“We put together a complete game against Stillwater,” Forsythe noted. “Everyone played well that night.”
One of the keys was the defensemen’s ability to clear the shooting lanes. This enabled goalie Paul Moberg to see the puck better on his way to a 22-save shutout.
“Guys like Derek Harrison, Corey Radtke, and Corey Capra played a good physical game, which is contagious and gets the rest of the team rolling,” Forsythe shared.
“If we can come focused and play with the same intensity we did the last two games, we should have a strong second half.”
The second half begins at Park, and continues on Saturday with a road game against Hastings.
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