VIRGINIA—Heading into Tuesday’s season opener with Greenway, the Rock Ridge boys’ hockey team expected a tough fight from the Raiders and that’s exactly what they got.
Tied 2-2 after two periods, the Wolverines used an explosive third to pull away, downing Greenway 4-2 to grab an Iron Range Conference win on opening night at the Iron Trail Motors Event Center.
Four different Wolverines found the back of the net in the win while Greenway was led by a pair of first period goals from Thomas Vekich.
The two teams looked about even going into the first period, with the Raiders having the slight edge on shots and in overall hustle. Despite that, it was Rock Ridge that lit the lamp first with Brant Tiedeman firing one past Greenway goalie Ethan Ambuehl at the 9:02 mark to get the scoring started.
Tiedeman was assisted by Kasey Lamppa and Ian Mikulich.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as Rock Ridge picked up their second penalty of the night 48 seconds later, giving the Raiders their best opportunity thus far. Vekich used the man advantage to knot things up at one, getting past Wolverines netminder Wade Harsila for the score. The goal at 10:23 was assisted by Carter Cline and Aden Springer.
“The first period was a little rough,” Rock Ridge head coach Ben Johnson said after the game. Greenway is a hard working team. They were beating us to every loose puck in that first period. They were tough on us.”
Vekich and the Raiders didn’t stop there. Three and a half minutes later, Vekich lit the lamp for the second time, this time on a goal assisted by Jacques Villenueve to give Greenway their first lead of the game, 2-1.
Special teams continued to play a big part in the game, with the Wolverines playing a man down for six minutes in the first period. Despite that, Rock Ridge managed to even things up while killing off a penalty.
Harsila got a hold of a loose puck and the net and fired it off to Isaac Flatley down the ice. Flatley beat his only defender on the way down and then beat Ambuehl for the shorthanded goal, tying things up at two apiece.
“There’s some discipline things we’ll have to look at,” Johnson said on the penalties. “We have to stay out of the box. They grabbed that power play goal and that gave them the momentum they needed to take the lead. It’s nice we were still able to score despite that but it gives us something to work on and look into.”
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period but the Raiders did have another two power play opportunities that the Wolverines killed decisively. After trailing in shots 15-11 after one period, Rock Ridge outshot the Raiders 20-10 the rest of the way, signaling a strong effort by Rock Ridge’s young defensive core.
“Those guys haven’t seen as much time on the ice so we were wondering how they were going to do and overall they did great. The first period you could tell they needed some time on the ice but they really picked it up in the second and third and it was great to see.”
Heading into the third all tied up, Johnson said the message to his team was clear going into the final 17 minutes.
“We had our chances in the second to score but their goalie was good so we just had to stay positive and keep working. Defensively, we had to stay solid and from there we figured the offense would be able to work itself out.”
The Rock Ridge offense did just that, needing less than three minutes to take a lead they wouldn’t surrender. Ryan Manninen got one past Ambuehl off the pass from Ethan Jacobson and Aidan Rabideaux to make it a 3-2 game.
Keeping the Raiders from getting many of their own opportunities in the third, the Wolverines put things away later in the period when Dylan Hedley collected a shorthanded goal of his own. The goal at 9:53 was assisted by Flatley and Carson Mast.
In the net, Harsila finished with 23 saves while Ambuehl tallied 27 in the loss.
On his team’s performance, Johnson said he couldn’t ask for much more to open the season.
“It’s always nice to start off with a win. We had some struggles in both the first two periods but we have to be happy with the way we finished. Greenway always comes and competes so we knew we had to play good hockey. We came in expecting a good game and we got it. If you’re not ready to play, they’re going to get you.”
Rock Ridge (1-0) returns to action on Saturday when they host Albert Lea at the Hippodrome in Eveleth. Preparing to face the Tigers, Johnson knows his team will need to put in plenty of work at practice in the coming days.
“They’re another good team. They return a lot of guys that scored a lot of points for them last year. It’s early in the season and we can’t be taking anyone lightly at this point so we expect another good game.”
Puck drop for Saturday’s game is set for 3 p.m.
GHS 2 0 0—2
RR 2 0 2—4
First Period
1, R, Brant Tiedeman (Kasey Lamppa, Ian Mikulich), 9:02; 2, G, Thomas Vekich (Carter Cline, Aden Springer), PP, 10:23; 3, G, Vekich (Jacques Villeneuve), 14:00; 4, R, Isaac Flatley (Wade Harsila), SH, 14:59.
Second Period
No scoring.
Third Period
5, R, Ryan Manninen (Ethan Jacobson, Aidan Rabideaux), 2:57; 6, R, Dylan Hedley (Flatley, Carson Mast), SH, 9:53.
Penalties-Minutes: GHS 3-6; RR 7-14.
Goalie saves: Ethan Ambuehl, G, 9-12-6—27; Wade Harsila, R, 13-6-4—23.
GIRLS’ HOCKEY
Moose Lake Area 3,
Rock Ridge 1,
EVELETH—Natalie Bergman found an unassisted goal in the second period, but it wasn’t enough for the Rock Ridge girls’ hockey team as they fell Tuesday 3-1 to Moose Lake Area.
The Wolverines were outshot by the Rebels 29-14 in the loss.
No further information was made available to the Mesabi Tribune.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Rock Ridge 81
Greenway 37
COLERAINE—The Rock Ridge girls’ basketball team earned their first ever program win on Tuesday, downing Greenway 81-37 in their season opener on the road.
The Wolverines provided a balanced offensive attack that was led by Lexi Lamppa’s 20 points. Anna Westby and Maija Lamppa added 16 each for Rock Ridge while Emma Lamppa chipped in with 12.
The Raiders were paced by Alyizzia Roy’s 8 points.
Rock Ridge (1-0) is set to travel to Esko on Thursday.
RR 62 19—81
GHS 19 18—37
Rock Ridge: Chance Colbert 2, Anna Westby 16, Maija Lamppa 16, Emma Lamppa 12, Alex Flannigan 6, Aleksia Tollefson 4, Morgan Marks 5, Lexi Lamppa 20; Three pointers: Westby 2, Marks 1, L. Lamppa 3; Free throws: 3-6; Total fouls: 13; Fouled out: none.
Greenway: Klara Finke 6, Andeja Shand 4, Laya Miskovich 6, Alyizzia Roy 8, Talia Saville 5, Lydia Johannsen 6, Emma Vannet 2; Three pointers: Roy 2; Free throws: 3-9; Total fouls: 5; Fouled out: none.
Chisholm 66,
North Woods 43
COOK—The Chisholm girls’ basketball team picked up a solid win to start the season while Baumgard passed a big milestone as the Bluestreaks downed the North Woods Grizzlies 66-43.
Baumgard poured in 30 points for the Bluestreaks in the win. In the process, she eclipsed 1,000 career rebounds. Continuing their dominance in the paint, Olivia Hutchings added 10 points for the Bluestreaks.
North Woods was led by Brynn Chosa and Kiana LaRoque with nine points each.
CHS 38 28—66
NW 17 26—43
Chisholm: Lola Huhta 4, Destiny Schmitz 6, Hannah Kne 7, Amanda Bjortomt 5, Amya Dobis-Fontaine 4, Olivia Hutchings 10, Tresa Baumgard 30; Three pointers: Kne 1, Bjortomt 1; Free throws: 6-8; Total fouls: 17; Fouled out: Bjortomt.
North Woods: Addison Burckhardt 2, Lauren Burnett 1, Helen Koch 6, Brynn Chosa 9, Sierra Shuster 2, Hannah Kinsey 3, B. Lindgren 1, Kiana LaRoque 9, River Cheney 4, Talise Goodsky 6; Three pointers: Koch 1, Chosa 1, LaRoque 1; Free throws: 9-20; Total fouls: 9; Fouled out: none.
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