Boys Hockey: Wingers fall to No. 3 Hermantown

Red Wing welcomed third-ranked (Class 1A) Hermantown to Prairie Island Arena Saturday and kept with the Hawks for nearly two periods before falling 7-2.

Hermantown led just 1-0 at the end of the opening period on a goal by Bo Gronseth due mostly to 19 saves by Wingers’ goaltender Preston Blaney. Red Wing (3-18-2) was outshot 20-4 in the first period and 58-18 for the game as Blaney finished with 51 saves.

Chris Benson put the Hawks up 2-0 on a goal at 2 minutes, 58 seconds of the second period but the Wingers’ Dylan Goggin responded with a goal for the Wingers 14 seconds later with assists to Alex Rezansoff and Taylor Hanson.

At 8:43 of the second period, Benson tallied a shorthanded goal to go up 3-1 and it was all Hermantown from that point on. Neal Pionk gave the Hawks a 4-1 lead into the second intermission with a goal at 12:29.

In the third, Luke Jacques scored at 6:55, Scott Wasbotten tallied an unassisted goal to go up 6-1 at 12:28 and Jared Zeleznikar scored to make it 7-1 less than a minute later.

Hanson netted a power-play goal at the 15:21 mark for Red Wing to make it a 7-2 game. The assists went to Michael Bigelbach and Rezansoff.

The Wingers are back on the ice Tuesday at home against 20th-ranked (1A) New Prague.

Tags: boys hockey, red wing, sports, prep