Moorhead surges past Bemidji
by Tim Kolehmainen
MOORHEAD — Sporting a near-spotless hard hat signifying his selection as player of the game, Moorhead’s Cole O’Connell emerged from the Spuds’ locker room Thursday night with a smile as white as his trophy headgear. The junior forward had just scored twice in the final two minutes to propel Moorhead (2-0-0) to a 4-1 victory over Bemidji (1-1-0) in a key Section 8AA rivalry at the Moorhead Sports Center.
But it was really the Spuds’ top line that all should have earned hard hats. It could have been sort of a modern version of 1970s rock band Devo — only in gleaming white.
The line of O’Connell, Carter Randklev, and Jack Stetz combined for all four Spuds’ goals — all scored in the last nine minutes of regulation — with each player netting at least one.
“Last year as sophomores, they really established themselves as some of the best players in the section. Now as juniors, it’s time for them to establish themselves as some of the best players in the state,” said Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman.
All three first played together on a line as sophomores, exhibiting skills beyond their years. Randklev led the Spuds in scoring with 32 points, while both he and O’Connell were double-digit goal scorers. Prior to that, Randklev had played with Stetz as first-year Bantams and with O’Connell in his second year.
“(We have) speed, yes, but we all have a pretty good chemistry,” said Randklev. “We’re all the same age, so it really helps us. We work on a lot of different things in practice to communicate and get on the same page.”
“Our whole line, obviously since we’re a bit older, we have to lead our team,” said Randklev.
Yet through two periods, the Lumberjacks tight defense and goaltender Matt Fitzgerald kept the Spuds off the scoreboard. Despite outshooting Bemidji 21-11 through two, the game was scoreless entering the third.
Randklev finally broke the scoreless duel with 8:44 left in the third, but Bemidji’s Nick Mannausau tied it up five minutes later. A series that has seen more than its fair share of overtime games in the last six years appeared headed for another.
Less than two minutes after Mannausau’s goal, however, the speed and chemistry between Randklev and O’Connell captured the lead right back.
O’Connell’s goal with 1:59 remaining broke a 1-all tie, coming on a nifty give-and-go play. Randklev broke down the left wall against the Lumberjacks’ defense, then deftly saucered a pass at the blue line to the trailing O’Connell. He took three strides to the high slot and fired a low wrister past Bemidji goaltender Matthew Fitzgerald.
“We work on that all the time in practice,” explained O’Connell. “The defenseman slid over to Carter and he put it right through his stick and it was wide open.”
A year ago, the first collision between section rivals went to the Lumberjacks in resounding fashion, a 5-0 blitz up in Bemidji. This year, the Spuds returned the favor, although the game was much closer than the final score. After Moorhead gained a 2-1 lead with under two minutes to play, the Spuds netted a pair of late empty-net goals from Stetz and O’Connell for the final margin.
“For what it’s worth, it was a 1-1 game with about two or three minutes left,” admitted Ammerman. “It’s a game that we’re happy about winning, but it’s also just December 1.”
Both O’Connell (two goals, one assist) and Randklev (one goal, two assists) had three points for the Spuds. Fitzgerald stopped 26 of 28 shots before being pulled with 1:14 left, while junior Lance Leonard had 22 saves for Moorhead.
“It’s good to beat them, but we still have to work hard,” agreed Randklev. “It’s just one section game and it’s early in the year yet. We still have a lot to progress.”
NEWS and NOTES
Sophomore sensations: For the second straight year, Moorhead has an excellent sophomore group entering high school hockey. Following in the footsteps of the Stetz-O’Connell-Randklev class is another good class of Bantam graduates that includes a pair of players who played in the Upper Midwest Elite Fall League before playing a minute of varsity hockey: defenseman Ethan Frisch and forward Isaac Henkmeyer-Howe.
Frisch was named the Youth Hockey Hub’s Bantam of the Year last winter and both he and Howe earned spots at the USA National Select 16 camp in New York, so they’re well decorated.
Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman also singled out the play of forward Kyler Kleven, who played a regular shift against the Lumberjacks, and Nolan Westra, who actually played varsity as a freshman last winter. The Spuds varsity roster also includes sophomore forwards Alec Thingvold and Tommy Horan.
Speaking of sophomores, Bemidji started Hunter Olson as a first-line wing. The sophomore tallied seven goals and 13 points as a freshman last winter and is a “high energy player” according to coach Wade Chiodo.
Section 8AA favorites: Moorhead and Bemidji are expected to compete for the section title again this winter after meeting in the finals each of the last two years, both Bemidji victories. Last winter, the teams split two regular season games before Bemidji earned a 4-3 overtime win in the section final. Over the last four years, the teams are 5-5-1 against each other, with five of those games going to overtime.
