By Tanner Schafer
Spooner, WI – Same story different result on Saturday in Wisconsin as Thunder Bay once again dominated, but an opportunistic Wisconsin squad with timely goaltending was able to steal a win in a shootout 5-4.
Despite being outshot in the 1st 12-7 it was Wisconsin who did all of the scoring. 13 minutes in, Carson Shafor broke the 0-0 tie with an even strength goal assisted by Colin Baker and Koen Burkholder. Late in the period the Lumberjacks would score again with Derrand Wilcox picking up his 1st ever goal in a Wisconsin sweater. The Lumberjacks would take that 2-0 lead into the break.
Less than 5 minutes into the 2nd frame Zach Johson would make it 3-0 on a goal assisted by Nolan Fowler and William McDonnel. As the period hit the halfway mark things started to shift and the North Stars would come roaring back. Tyler Jordan scored back-to-back goals in the period to make it a 1 goal game. His 1st came on the power play with an assist going to Dimitri Trahiotis. The 2nd was with 21 seconds left in the period and had helpers credited to Trahiotis and Connor O’Brien. The North Star outshot the Jacks 16-8 in the period.
7 minutes into the final frame, O’Brien would score the equalizer tying the game at 3. 5 minutes later Thunder Bay would take their 1st lead as Eric Sheriff scored unassisted to make it 4-3. Things looked bleak for the Jacks as Thunder Bay had the lead, a 20-7 shot advantage in the period, and even a power play down the stretch. But it was late period heroics on the penalty kill that sent the game to overtime. Dillon Phillips scored the goal assisted by Ryan Kayser and Josh Gulden.
The two teams battled through overtime but after 5 minutes no goal had been scored and it went to a shootout. Wisconsin being the home team elected to go 2nd and in the 1st 5 attempts there wasn’t a goal. Simon Davidson took the 3rd attempt for the Lumberjacks and buried it giving them a shootout victory. Rylan Freshwater stopped 51 of 55 shots for Wisconsin and secured the wind. Ethan Barron made 21 saves in a losing effort. Thunder Bay’s next game is scheduled for Thursday against Sioux Lookout, while Wisconsin has the next week off.
1st Star – Rylan Freshwater 51 Saves on 55 Shots
2nd Star – Dillon Phillips – 1G, 0A
3rd Star – Tyler Jordan 2G, 0A