Spartan skaters drop LSC opener at Hermantown

The Superior High School boys hockey team came up short Thursday night at Hermantown, losing to the Hawks 3-2.

The loss drops the Spartans to 3-2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Lake Superior Conference.

Hermantown took a 2-1 lead in the first period as Jared Thomas scored shorthanded 2:49 into the game and Andrew Mattson scored on a power play at 15:39.

In between, Steven Mikel scored for Superior with assists from Luke Darwin and Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate.

Hermantown took a 3-1 lead thanks to Neal Pionk's goal with 17 seconds remaining in the second period.

Superior got within 3-2 when freshman Tyler Nystrom scored his first high school goal midway through the third period.

Things got interesting with two minutes remaining when Superior failed to score on a power play.

Paxton Paine made 29 saves for Superior and Matt Mensinger had 21 for Hermantown.

The Spartans host Wisconsin Rapids at 4 p.m. Saturday at Wessman Arena.

Superior 1-0-1—2

Hermantown 3-0-0—3

First period — 1. H, Jared Thomas (Jake Zeleznikar), 2:49 (sh); 2. S, Steven Mikel (Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate, Luke Darwin); 3. H, Andrew Mattson, 15:44 (pp); 4. H, Neal Pionk (Mattson, Thomas), 16:43.

Second period — No scoring.

Third period — 5. S, Tyler Nystrom, 6:07.

Goalies — Paxton Paine, S; Matt Mensinger, H.

Spartans 5, Tigers 4

The Spartans improved to 3-0-1 against Wisconsin opponents with a 5-4 win over the New Richmond Tigers Saturday afternoon at the New Richmond Sports Center.

Superior also owns wins over Menomonie and Rice Lake and a tie against Eau Claire Memorial.

Scott Crawford was the winning goaltender for Superior, finishing with 17 saves. Jacob Hilby had 31 saves for New Richmond.

Superior took a 1-0 lead 5:47 into the game on Nolan Holcombe’s power-play goal with assists from Brett Bukowski and Daniel Litchke.

New Richmond tied it up on Nate Jones’ goal 33 seconds later.

Gerald Mikel gave Superior a 2-1 lead with an unassisted goal but Parker Olson tied it up with an assist from Max Skatrud.

The first of two goals from Caleb Dushkin gave Superior a 3-2 lead 8:08 into the second period, but New Richmond answered with goals from Skatrud and Ben Norman.

Superior tied it up again at 4-4 on Dushkin’s second goal 4:54 into the third period then took the lead for good on Bukowski’s game-winning goal with 6:38 remaining.

Superior 2 1 2 — 5

New Richmond 2 2 0 — 4

First Period: 1. SHS, Nolan Holcombe (Brett Bukowski, Daniel Litchke), 5:47 (pp). 2. NR, Nate Jones (Max Skatrud), 6:20. 3. SHS, Gerald Mikel, 12:52. 4. NR, Parker Olson (Skatrud), 13:46.

Second Period: 5. SHS, Caleb Dushkin (Aaron Miller), 8:08 (pp). 6. NR, Skatrud, 8:31. 7. NR, Ben Norman, 13:50.

Third Period: 8. SHS Duskin (Holcombe, Litchke), 4:56. 9. SHS, Bukowski, 10:22.

Saves: Scott Crawford, SHS 17. Jacob Hilby, NR 31.

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