Tyler Johnson was the star in Cloquet-Esko-Carlton's 6-2 win over Forest Lake Tuesday night, scoring five of the six goals. Johnson scored two goals in the first period, two in the second, and one in the third.
Last Friday, two of the biggest hockey powers in the state met in Edina as the CEC Lumberjacks faced off against the Hornets in a game that saw No. 3-ranked Edina come away with a 3-2 win over the No. 4-ranked Jacks.
"Give credit where credit is due - that is a great hockey team," said CEC coach Dave Esse. "They are definitely the best team we've seen this season."
The Hornets came out flying in the first period, but Jacks netminder Reid Ellingson was able to shut the door with a number of stunning saves and the first period ended scoreless.
"Reid was, without question, the star of the game in my opinion," commented Esse. "In that first period they beat us to loose pucks, they were shooting from every angle possible on net and they just were better than us."
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Just 47 seconds into the second period Natt Reber scored on a power play for the Hornets, making it 1-0. However, at 8:49 the Jacks returned the favor with a man advantage when Sever Lundquist thumped in a goal as Peter Allen assisted.
"The second period was bizarre," mentioned Esse. "All five goals were special teams goals and that is something I've never seen before."
Tied at 1-1 the Hornets went up 2-1 on a goal by Marshall Everson at 10:24 in a shorthanded effort, but the Jacks picked up a shorthander by Justin Jokinen with Tyler Johnson assisting at 13:14 and it was even at 2-2.
"We did a much better job of moving our feet in the second period, but they still had the better of play," explained Esse. "We started getting a little quicker and they started to slow down a bit."
With things even at 2-2, Zach Budish put the Hornets ahead for good on the power play at 14:01.
"I was really proud of the guys and how we came out and played the third period," stated Esse. "We went down to two lines. We had some player issues with injuries and we sat some guys. I was just so proud of our effort and our guys played an outstanding period."
After pulling Ellingson, the Jacks had a flurry of shots in the last minute of the game only to be stymied by Hornet goalie Derrick Caschetta who kept the Jacks off the board.
For the game Ellingson finished with 32 saves and Caschetta ended with 15 saves.
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Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
