Boys notch 2 comefrom- behind wins
The New Prague Trojan boys hockey team evened its season’s record at 3-3 and got off to a 2-0 start in the Missota Conference with a pair of wins last week.
The Trojans overcame a slow start to beat defending conference champion Chanhassen 4-3, then came from behind to beat Farmington, also by a 4-3 score.
New Prague competes in the South St. Paul Premier Invitational this week. The eight-team tournament started Wednesday, Dec. 26, with New Prague playing host South St. Paul at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday evening. Other first round games had Woodbury vs. Hastings at 1 p.m., Anoka vs. Hermantown (No. 2, Class A) at 3:15 p.m. and North St. Paul vs. Eagan (No. 7, Class AA) at 6 p.m. The tournament continues with games Thursday and Friday.
The Trojans will return to action Thursday, Jan. 3, when they host Shakopee in a Missota Conference contest.
Trojans 4, Storm 3 Chanhassen came out of the blocks hard Tuesday, Dec. 18, at New Prague, taking a 2-0 lead just five minutes into the game. But New Prague turned the tables and tied the score with two goals later in the period, then added two more in the third to take a 4-2 lead. The Storm closed to within a goal with a little more than a minute remaining, but couldn’t get the equalizer.
The Storm put in a rebound for a goal at 3:39 and added a power play goal a little more than a minute later to take the early lead.
The Trojans’ Ben Witt scored unassisted to make it a 2-1 game at 12:04, then at 13:40 Austin Kilian scored, on assists by Jack Pexa and goaltender Evan Bisek, to make it 2-2.
New Prague skated hard in the second, outshooting the Storm 15-6, but couldn’t get the puck in the net.
Cole Rolland put the Trojans on top at 6:17 of the third, with assists from Cody Shimota and Jordan Lein. New Prague got an insurance goal by Lucas Binger, assisted by Nick Sampson and Kain Wagner, at 9:56.
The Trojans outshot Chanhassen 31-23, with Bisek stopping 20 of 23 shots for the win.
Trojans 4, Tigers 3 For the second time in four nights, New Prague came back from a two-goal deficit to take a 4-3 Missota Conference win.
This time the Trojans grabbed an early lead with an unassisted goal by Sampson in the first period. They carried that lead into the third.
It disappeared quickly, though, as a five-minute major penalty against the Trojans resulted in two power play goals early in the third. The first came just 13 seconds into the period, and was followed by another at 3:06.
But the Trojans righted their ship as Kilian pulled New Prague to within a goal with an assist from Austin Isaacson. A little more than a minute later, Sampson tied the game at 13:38, with assists to Jake Klein and Wagner. That goal came just seconds after the Tigers had killed off a five-minute Trojan power play.
The game appeared headed for overtime, but Binger netted the game-winner with just 35 seconds left in regulation, on an assist from Cody Meyer.
Bisek stopped 18 of 21 shots. The Tigers outshot New Prague 21-18.
