Following a 6-5 win over the co-op trio of Cloquet/Esko/Carlton on Tuesday, Jan. 30, the Forest Lake boys hockey team remained in the win column by picking up an impressive 7-1 win on Senior Nightagainst East Ridge at home on Thursday, Feb. 1. The Rangers had six different players record a goal in the matchup versus the Raptors as the offense put on one of their best performances of the season. Head coach Jay Ekman noted that it was a result of the lineup “finally gathering valuable chemistry with one another.”
“I think we gained a little bit of momentum coming from the Cloquet game – but really establishing our special teams,” Ekman said, regarding the game plan versus East Ridge. “I thought we did a good job with capitalizing on the power play finally and then making sure we were attacking downhill with a strong F1 and F2 – and we were able to score on our chances, finally.”
Forest Lake would indeed score on almost every opportunity that came its way, beginning with sophomore Ryder Siedow’s goal at the 8:04 mark of the first period. Senior right-hander Gunnar Bright gave the Rangers a larger advantage at 2-0 just 41 seconds into the start of the second off an assist from senior Caden Speidel before Speidel himself would get on the board just 2:18 later to make it a 3-0 game in heavy favor of Forest Lake. Lefty junior Lucas Kiel recorded a goal by way of junior Landen Roberts’ assist 4:31 into the period – a 4-0 game that seemingly fell out of East Ridge’s control. Ekman gave insight into the message he told his team prior to the game that resulted in such a high scoring output.
“It was a stretch of games for us where we thought we had a good chance of winning, we had a couple good days of practice, and where we were able to put a lot of things together,” Ekman said.
The Rangers kept the pedal to the metal in the closing minutes of the second period, as senior Riley Middendorf scored his first goal of the night from an assist from Speidel, who served as a key contributor for the Rangers in the win. Speidel would total two goals and two assists each in a 4-point performance. Junior lefty and trusty forward Cole Rivard scored the final goal for Forest Lake in the period – a five goal outing. Speidel capped off his stellar night with a goal in the waning minutes of the third, further cementing the dominating 7-1 conference win.
Two days later, Forest Lake faced a road matchup against Anoka. The Rangers once again put on one of their best scoring performances of the year, as Forest Lake would comfortably cruise to a 7-0 shutout win – their largest win of the season. Ekman provided comments on the recent scoring surge from his Rangers and the key to being recently consistent on the offensive end.
“Ryder Siedow – one of our sophomores – has really stepped up for us big time in the last three games or so,” Ekman said.
Just 1:04 into the contest, Siedow got the Rangers up on the board at 1-0 off an assist from Rivard – before Bright recorded a goal in back-to-back matchups to then make it a 2-0 game. Junior Blake Jacobsen tallied his first of the week 10:27 into the first as Forest Lake led 3-0 after the first period. Jacobsen would arguably have his best game of the season, recording two goals and two assists each in the win. Siedow continued his hot-streak by tallying three goals and an assist.
To open up the second, the Rangers would accumulate four total goals in the period,proving the team can be a dangerous one once on a roll. Bright got on the board just 16 seconds into the start of the period, before Siedow recorded back-to-back goals to put the Rangers up 6-0 over Anoka. Jacobsen capped off Forest Lake’s win with his second goal of the night to finalize the 7-0 victory.
With the squad in the midst of a three-game winning streak, Ekman said these wins are “critical.”
“We’ve been preaching all year that we want to try and get into a groove here the last quarter of the season so we can get ready for sections,” Ekman said. “Obviously, taking care of business this last week will help us gain some more confidence as we come into a fun conference week
With three-straight wins, the Rangers moved to an 8-12-1 record on the year. The Rangers faced off against Stillwater on Wednesday, Feb. 7 – a game not completed by press time – and will then take on Mounds View Saturday, Feb. 10.
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