Boys take 4th at South St. Paul
The New Prague Trojan boys hockey team won one, lost one and tied one in three games at the South St. Paul Premier Tournament last week. The Trojans took fourth place in the tournament.
The Trojans (4-4-1) will resume their schedule Thursday, Jan. 3, when they host Shakopee. New Prague hosts Cloquet/Esko/Carlton Saturday, Jan. 5, at 4 p.m. and travel to Holy Angels on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
Trojans 5, Packers 4 New Prague opened the tournament Wednesday, Dec. 26, taking on host South St. Paul, and scored a 5-4 win over the Packers.
The Trojans never trailed, but South St. Paul never went away in a tightly played contest. Kain Wagner got things going for New Prague, assisted by Cole Rolland at 4:21 of the first period.
The Packers tied it a few minutes later, but the Trojans took the lead into the intermission on a Seth Kriha goal at 15:16, with assists from Ben Witt and Cullen Smith. The Packers tied things midway through the second, but Cody Meyer put the Trojans back on top at 10:46, with assists to Witt and Alex Gregor.
That lead lasted just 31 seconds, as the Packers tied it, but the Trojans scored at 13:43, with Austin Isaacson getting the short-handed goal, assisted by Meyer and goaltender Evan Bisek.
Nick Sampson gave the Trojans an insurance goal at 1:21 of the third, with Wagner getting an assist. That goal came in useful when the Packers scored at 15:48, to pull to within a goal.
New Prague outshot the Packers 32-30. Evan Bisek made 26 saves for the win.
Wildcats 4, Trojans 0 In the semifinals New Prague was out-gunned by Eagan (No. 7, Class AA), losing 4-0.
The Wildcats scored two quick goals in the first period as they outshot the Trojans 17-2. They kept the pressure on the team throughout the game, holding a 39-19 advantage in shots.
Bisek had 35 saves for the Trojans.
Raiders 2, Trojans 2 Bisek made 45 saves, many of them on difficult shots, to keep the Trojans in the game in what officially was a 2-2 tie against Hastings in the third place game of the tournament Friday. The teams went to a shootout to determine the third-place winner, with Hastings getting the edge.
New Prague got a quick goal, with Isaacson scoring on an Austin Kilian assist at 2:12 of the first period. That nearly held up into the intermission, but the Raiders tied it with just five seconds left.
New Prague again took a one-goal lead, with Witt scoring from Isaacson and Sampson at 7:41 of the second period. However a pair of Trojan penalties gave the Raiders a 5-on-3 advantage, and they capitalized with a power play goal to tie it at 2- 2 after two.
Both teams killed off fiveminute major penalties. First the Trojans survived an extended power play without giving up a goal, then just 13 seconds after that penalty expired, they had a five-minute power play of their own and had several good chances to regain the lead, only to be denied.
Bisek continued to shine in the overtime, stopping all nine shots he faced in the extra session. Hastings outshot the Trojans 47-16 for the game.
