YOUTH HOCKEY: Pee Wees take down Windom Area Eagles

WINDOM — The Worthington Trojans defeated the Windom Eagles 5-3 with a gritty effort in a Pee Wee B hockey game Sunday at the Windom City Arena.

Bouncing back from a frustrating tournament at the Winona Invitational on Jan. 12-13, the Trojans won a key District 4 game on the road against the Eagles, who had rallied to force a 6-6 tie four weeks ago in Worthington.

The Trojans scored the only goal of the first period on a shot by Eric Heidebrink, who was stationed in front of the goal with 6 minutes left. The assist went to Max Carlson.

Play in the first period was primarily defensive and occurred between the blue lines with few good shots on-goal by either team.

The teams picked up the pace of play in the second period. Although they were outshot, the Trojans took advantage of their opportunities with goals from Heidebrink, on another Carlson pass, and a one-timer from Karter Honius, who scored in front of the net on a pass from Heidebrink.

But with 2 minutes left in the period, the Eagles got onto the scoreboard with an unassisted goal by Tylan Porath. Windom had some other good scoring chances stymied by Trojans goaltender Carter Ponto.

In the third period, the Trojans came out of the locker room strong and scored first. The Worthington defense advanced a pass out of the Trojans’ zone to Anthony Fogelman, whose pass to Ryan Newman resulted in an assist after Newman netted in the Trojans’ fourth goal.

After a shot off the goal pipe missed the net a few minutes later, the Trojans appeared to have put the game out of reach with about 4 minutes left when Carlson converted a pass from Heidebrink to give Worthington 5-1 lead.

But the Eagles fought back by using their first line for the remainder of the game.

Windom scored goals at the 2-minute mark by Porath (assist Ethan Becker) and at the one minute mark (Becker).

The Eagles pulled goaltender Josiah Quintero after a timeout, but the Trojans were able to hold off six Windom skaters for the final minute of the game without allowing a good shot on-goal to preserve the 5-3 win.

The Trojans played their best team defense in weeks, led by defensemen Bryce Olsen, Lance Hibma, Davis Moore and Parker Valen; along with forwards Tom Bauman, Seth Voss, Heidebrink, Fogelman, Newman, Gage Anderson, Brian Dykstra and Emilio Matias, who pestered the high-powered Windom forwards and limited breakaway chances for the Eagles.

Ponto played a stellar game in goal, making 18 saves on 21 shots. Quintero made 13 saves on 18 shots.

The Trojans are 11-5-2 overall and 5-2-2 in District 4. Worthington, which remained in first place with one league game left, plays Fairmont in two weeks.

This weekend, Trojans have a road trip against District 5 foes Sauk Rapids and Willmar.

Tags: pee wee, sports, youth, hockey, trojans