Bison, Wings skate to 5-5 tie
Johnson scores twice in see-saw road tilt
The Buffalo girls’ hockey team headed into Thanksgiving break skating to a wild 5-5 tie against the Wings of Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at New Hope Ice Arena.
It was a game that featured four different ties and three different lead changes. Buffalo grabbed the early 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Allie Krueger and Grace Bergstrom. It was the first goal of the season for both players. It was the first-career varsity goal for Krueger, who opened the scoring at 6:29 of the period.
Buffalo’s two-goal lead stood until the 10:35 mark of the opening period, when Avery Johnson scored the first of three unanswered goals over a span of 5:10 to end the period with the Wings leading 3-2.
Buffalo senior captain Kaiya Johnson would tie the score 3-3 just 1:05 into period two but the Wings made it 4-3 on Stellie Lemieux’s goal shortly after. Senja Niemela tied the score for the third time in the game with a power play tally at 12:21 of period two.
Niemela’s goal, along with an assist on Bergstrom’s tally, extended Niemela’s scoring streak to three-straight games.
“Senja is playing well,” said Head Coach Ryan Huddy, who currently has the freshman forward skating on a line with Bergstrom and sophomore Avery Corbin. “It is a good confidence boost for her to continue to have success. She does the little things well, which also leads to production for her.”
The Bison regained the lead 5-4 on Johnson’s second goal of the game 47 seconds into period three. Claire Riestenberg’s unassisted shorthanded goal at the 3:05 mark of the same period turned out to be the equalizer.
The Wings outshot Buffalo 5-3 in the overtime, but Bison goalie Ava Jovan made two huge saves to preserve the tie. Both teams finished with 32 shots on goal.
After an 0-3 start, the Bison headed into Tuesday’s road game at St. Cloud with a 1-3-1 record. The five goals scored were the most scored in a game by a Bison team since a 7-0 victory over Visitation on Jan. 16, 2021. On the flip side, it was the second game out of five Buffalo has allowed five or more this season.
“It was a good game offensively but not great defensively,” Huddy said. “We need to continue to build on rounding out our game. It is always nice though to get pucks in their net.”
Next up is a 7 p.m. home game Thursday, Nov. 30, against Rogers.
Buffalo 5,
Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper 5, OT
(Tuesday, Nov. 21 at New Hope)
Bison 2 2 1 - 5
Wings 3 1 1 - 5
First period: B -- Allie Krueger (Audyn Molesky) 6:29; B -- Grace Bergstrom (Avery Corbin, Senja Niemela) 7:23; AC -- Avery Johnson (Elizabeth Brey, Claire Hanson) 10:35; AC -- Ruby Monogue (Lydia College, Claire Riestenberg) 11:08; AC -- Monogue 2 (C. Hanson, Stellie Lemieux) 15:43, PP.
Second period: B -- Kaiya Johnson (Savana Sabraski) 1:05; AC -- Lemieux (Monogue, Riestenberg) 5:52; B -- Niemela (Molesky, Kaley Ruth) 12:21, PP.
Third period: B -- Johnson 2, 0:47; AC -- Riestenberg, 3:05, SH.
Overtime: No scoring.
Goalies: B – Ava Jovan (tie) 32 shots, 27 saves; AC – Emma Kahl (tie) 32 shots, 27 saves. Shots: B – 6-15-8-3 – 32; AC – 7-13-7-5 –- 32. Power Plays: B – 1-4; AC – 1-3.
