Boys' hockey team drops close games, record moves to 8-9

The Luverne boys’ hockey team moved its record to 8-9 after a series of road games over the past week.
The Cardinals came out on top of a close match with the Trojans in Worthington Jan. 25, but they lost to New Ulm 6-0 in New Ulm Jan. 27 and came out on the losing end of an overtime contest with Morris Benson Area in Benson 6-5 Friday.
The Cardinals were scheduled to travel to Marshal Tuesday and will host Morris Benson Area Thursday in the Blue Mound Ice Arena. 
 
Luverne 5, Worthington 4
The Luverne boys traveled to Worthington Ice Arena Tuesday night, Jan. 25, for a big southwest Minnesota tilt.
The first period saw a lot of back-and-forth action between the Cardinals and Trojans.
Brock Behrend got the Cardinals on the board midway through the period with assists going to Owen Sudenga.
Luverne took a 1-0 lead into intermission. Shots on goal were in favor of the Cardinals 14-11.
Luverne goalie Tyler Arends made 11 big saves to keep the Trojans off the board.
Worthington evened the score just 11 seconds into Period 2. Luverne responded with two goals in the following two minutes.
Senior Jack Schlosser made the game 2-1 with assists going to Henry Hartquist and Behrend. Not even a minute later it was Behrend giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead with assists going to Hartquist and Will Serie.
Worthington scored another goal in the second to cut Luverne’s lead to 3-2 after two periods.
Shots on goal were 11-8 in favor of Luverne.
 The final period saw a lot of action. Worthington tied the game at three just over two minutes in.
Luverne sophomore Elliot Domagala scored a big shorthanded goal a minute later to make it 4-3 Cardinals.
Worthington wouldn’t go away, taking advantage of a Luverne penalty to even the score 4-4 with 10 minutes left in regulation.
Like a heavyweight fight with both competitors trading blows, Luverne battled back and took a 5-4 lead just 49 seconds later on a Brady Bork goal with assists going to Domagala and Patrick Kroski.
That’s how the bout would end with the Cardinals holding on to a 5-4 win. Shots on goal for the period were in favor of Luverne 13-8 and for the game 38-27 in favor of Luverne.
Arends finished with 23 saves for Luverne.
 
New Ulm 6, LHS 0
The Cardinal boys continued their road trip in New Ulm for a Section 3 battle Thursday night, Jan. 27. 
The hometown Eagles were able to get on the board just 19 seconds into the game and added two more first-period goals to take a 3-0 lead.
Luverne didn’t have an answer and the period would end with the Eagles holding a 3-0 lead. Shots on goal for the period were 15-6 in favor of the Eagles. 
In the second period the Cardinals were able to get some shots on goal and tried to cut into the Eagles’ lead.
Just over five minutes into the period the hometown Eagles got three goals in a 46-second time frame to take a 6-0 lead after two periods. Shots on goal for the period were 13-12 in favor of the Cardinals. 
The final period was scoreless for both teams with back and forth action, but the Cardinals couldn’t get on the board.
Shots on goal for the final period were in favor of New Ulm 8-5. Total shots on goal were 35-24 New Ulm.
Luverne goalie Tyler Arends had 29 saves on the contest 
 
MBA 6, LHS 5
The Cardinals wrapped up their week-long road trip in Benson where they lost a hard-fought overtime battle to Morris Benson Area. 
Luverne shot out like a cannon in the first period, scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game to take a 3-0 lead.
Henry Hartquist got the first goal with the assist to Brock Behrend. Behrend scored the next two with assists going to Owen Sudenga and Jack Schlosser.  
MBA responded with a couple of late-period goals to cut the lead to 3-2 Luverne. Shots on goal for the period were 14-6 in favor of the Cardinals.
The second period saw both teams trading goals. MBA would even the score at 3-3 just 1:46 into the period. Luverne answered back just over six minutes later with Behrend scoring his third of the game with assist going to Hartquist.
MBA knotted things up with a goal with just over a minute in the period to tie the game at 4-4. Shots on goal for the period were 12-10 MBA.
In the final period MBA took a 5-4 lead 5:07 into the period. With just 18 seconds left in the game, Luverne’s Owen Sudenga scored a huge goal to send the game into overtime.  Shots on goal for period 3 were 10-7 in favor of the home team.
In a game of two teams trading goals, someone had to come out on top, and in the end, MBA scored in sudden death overtime to get the win 6-5.
Final shots on goal for the game were 36-31 in favor of the Cardinals. Luverne goalie Tyler Arends made 26 saves in the loss.