Same teams, same outcome; Warroad rallies for 5-4 win

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Feb. 5, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Same score. Same outcome.

The Lumberjack boys' hockey team had a chance to even their 1998-99 series with Warroad Thursday night, but blew a two-goal lead late in the third period to lost 5-4 for the second time this season.

Although the Jacks skated superbly for much of the first and third periods, they couldn't hold onto 2-1 and 4-2 leads against the Warriors, the state's third-ranked Class A hockey team.

The Jacks lost by the same score earlier this season on Warroad's home ice.

"We lost by the same score up there," a disappointed Bemidji coach John Wangberg said after the game. "You hope not to give up that many goals, but you know (Warroad's) capable of scoring them."

Other than a slow first three minutes, the Jacks dominated the first period coming out with a 2-1 edge.

Both teams managed two goals in a sloppy, end-to-end second period, and Warroad exploded in the final minutes of the third to cap the game with a little over a minute remaining.

Just two minutes into the first period, Warroad broke the ice with an Aaron Pederson wrister from the slot that slipped through goalie Brian Coe's legs.

But Bemidji rebounded, gaining goals on an Eddie Johnson breakaway at the 7:40 mark and a deflected blue line shot by Ryan Ricard with seven seconds left in the period.

Warroad's Pederson added his second goal of the night just 30 seconds into the second when his centering pass bounced off Bemidji's Kelly Reinarz's skate and past Coe on his stick side.

The Jacks again rebounded, getting two more goals from the Ryan Welle line.

Kurt Petrowske guided the first past Warrior's goalie Jered Woldtke off a Welle feed from the slot, while Dan Fallon converted a similar Welle feed just a minute and 45 seconds later.

In the third, Warroad tied the game five minutes into the period when Mitch Thortsen took a pass in the neutral zone, skated cross ice and around several Bemidji defenders before sneaking it past Coe from the top of the face off circle.

For the next 10 minutes, both teams had wonderful scoring opportunities but the goalie held tough -- until the 1:22 mark.

Then the Warriors' Joe Ulwelling collected a loose puck in the Jacks' zone and skated around the back of Bemidji's net before blasting it by Coe on the opposite side of the net for the game winner.

The Jacks pulled the goalie with a minute remaining, but came up empty.