Reder's hat trick lifts Spartans past Delano

Beau Reder may have finally settled into a position on the Superior High School boys hockey team.

The freshman has played forward throughout his hockey career but was moved to a defensive position at the start of the season to help with the Spartans’ shortage on the blue line.

Now with the team struggling to score goals, Reder was moved back to a forward position, and the move paid off as he notched a hat trick to lead the Spartans to a 4-3 win over the Delano (Minn.) Tigers in the opening game of the Duluth Marshall Hilltopper Holiday Classic Thursday afternoon at Mars Lakeview Arena.

“I feel amazing right now,” said Reder after scoring the first three goals of his high school career. “It doesn’t matter where I play, I just like playing. If I get to play I’ll do the best I can.”

The Spartans found themselves in a hole early as Delano turned a couple of turnovers into goals by Eric Ylitalo. The second goal came shorthanded and gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead 11:20 into the first period.

Aaron Miller’s power-play goal during the same penalty was assisted by Tyler Nystrom and Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate and cut the Tigers’ lead in half.

Reder tied the game at 2-2 when he took a nifty pass from Miller and deked out the goalie before slipping a back-hander past Aaron Grangroth. Reder’s first varsity goal came with 1:01 left in the first period.

“Miller made a great pass through his legs, I deked out his goalie, went back-hand and had a nice open net to shoot at,” Reder said.

Reder scored the only goal of the second period when he deflected a shot by Trent Olson past Grangroth during a Spartan power play. Dane Sislo picked up his third assist on the goal at the 8:22 mark.

“I got a piece of it, but didn’t know it went in,” Reder said. “I was actually looking for the rebound before I realized I scored.”

The Tigers tied the game at 3-3 with 12:32 remaining in the third period when Chet Halonen shoveled a rebound over Superior goaltender Paxton Paine, who made the initial save on a shot by Jack Nelson.

The Spartans took the lead for good with 7:16 remaining when Reder poked home a loose puck after Daniel Mikel’s wrap-around attempt hit the right post.

“After Daniel hit the post, it was right by his (Grangroth’s) leg,” Reder said. “We were both swinging at it, but I was able to bury it home.”

It was actually announced that Mikel scored the goal, but the junior was quick to give credit where credit was due.

“I don’t think I can actually take credit for that one,” Mikel said. “All I know is that I was on the ground, threw the puck toward the net, heard it hit the pipe and Beau buried it. He’s the real star of the game.”

Paine picked up the win in goal for Superior with 18 saves. Grangroth finished with 17 saves for Delano.

“Beau had one heck of a game,” SHS coach Jason Kalin said. “He’s played forward his whole life, but we’ve just been short on defense and he’s been helping out there. We just wanted to get him into it again (at forward) and see what we can get out of it.”

Superior’s win came after a 7-2 loss last weekend at Eau Claire Memorial.

“The way we played today was huge, especially after the shellacking we took over the weekend at Eau Claire,” Kalin said. “Their first two goals were because of turnovers in our own zone. If we eliminate those kind of mistakes, we’re a pretty good hockey team.

“I really thought our No. 1 line really played well, but to be honest No. 2 and No. 3 really stepped up, so I’m pretty happy. We played well all around, from our goaltender on out.”

Superior (8-2) plays again at 5:45 p.m. Friday against Green Bay Notre Dame, a 2-1 winner over Mankato West.

SPARTAN SPIN: The Superior junior varsity team lost its opening game in the tournament, 4-1 to Delano. The Spartans now play Mankato West at 1:30 p.m. today at Proctor. … GBND (8-0) is ranked No. 1 in Wisconsin and already owns a 10-3 victory over Superior in the ECM Tournament. … Delano falls to 7-3 on the year with Thursday’s loss.

Delano (Minn.) 2-0-1—3

Superior 2-1-1—4

First Period: 1. Delano, Eric Ylitalo (Justin Oja), 9:01. 2. Delano, Ylitalo, 11:20 (sh). 3. SHS, Aaron Miller 11 (Tyler Nystrom 8, Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate 15), 11:50 (pp). 4. SHS, Beau Reder 1 (Miller 17), 15:59.

Second Period: 5. SHS, Reder 2 (Trent Olson 5, Dane Sislo 3), 8:22 (pp).

Third Period: 6. Delano, Chet Halonen (Jack Nelson), 4:28. 7. SHS, Reder 3 (Daniel Mikel 1), 9:44 (pp).

Saves: Aaron Grangroth, Delano 3-11-3—17. Paxton Paine, SHS 5-6-7—18. Penalties: Delano, 2-for-6:00. SHS, 4-for-8:00.

Duluth Marshall Hilltopper Holiday Classic

Boys Hockey Tournament

Thursday, Dec. 27

Superior 4, Delano (Minn.) 3

Green Bay Notre Dame vs. Mankato West, 3:15 p.m.

Duluth Marshall 7, Madison Edgewood 1

Appleton 12, Proctor 2

Friday, Dec. 28

Consolation Semifinals

Delano vs. Mankato West, 1 p.m.

Madison Edgewood vs. Proctor, 3:15 p.m.

Semifinals

Superior vs. G.B. Notre Dame, 5:45 p.m.

Duluth Marshall vs. Appleton, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 28

Seventh-place: 8:30 a.m.

Cons. Championship: 10:45 a.m.

Third-place: 1 p.m.

Championship: 3:15 p.m.

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