Cardinal boys visit Rochester for Kiwanis Hockey Festival

The Cardinals boys’ hockey team traveled to Rochester Dec. 28-30 for the Kiwanis Hockey Festival where Luverne tested its hockey skills against some high caliber Minnesota talent.
The Cardinals played well but were unable to return home with a victory after falling to Rochester Lourdes 2-1, Albert Lea 3-2, and Bloomington Kennedy 7-2.
Luverne, whose record moves to 5-5 on the year, was scheduled to host Fairmont on Tuesday and will be off until Jan. 13 when Redwood Valley comes to Luverne.
 
Rochester Lourdes 2, Luverne 1
The Cardinals opened up their holiday tournament in Rochester taking on the host Rochester Lourdes hockey team. The Cardinals and Rochester traded shots and opportunities the first period but remained scoreless at the end of the period.
In the second period Luverne and Rochester Lourdes traded goals. Luverne’s Brock Behrend put the Cardinals on the board with assists going to Zach Kruse and Patrick Kroski. Rochester Lourdes received a goal from Jack Roe in the second, ending the period with the score at 1-1.
The final period saw only one goal, and it was Rochester Lourdes’ Jack Roe again scoring the game winner to give his hometown team the 2-1 victory over Luverne in the opening game of the Kiwanis Hockey Festival.
Luverne goalie Tyler Arends had 28 saves for the Cardinals in the loss.
 
Albert Lea 3, Luverne 2
The Cardinals lost an overtime heartbreaker in the second game of the Kiwanis Hockey Festival in Rochester.
The first period would see 18 shots on goal, but both goalies kept it a scoreless game after one period of play.
Albert Lea had the edge in shots on goal 10-8 with Arends saving all 10 shots he faced for Luverne.
Luverne sophomore Elliot Domagala put the Cardinals on the board at 6:58 into the second period, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Albert Lea’s Elijah Farris responded 32 seconds later, beating Arends to knot the game at 1.
It was Albert Lea again with just over 2 minutes left in the second period to give the Tigers the 2-1 lead going into the second intermission.
Shots on goal favored Albert Lea 16-7 for the period.
The final period saw only one goal, but it was a big one. Luverne senior Zach Kruse tied the game at 2 at 12:06 of the third.
The period ended 2-2 and sent Luverne and Albert Lea into overtime play.
Albert Lea’s Spencer VanBeek scored at the 3:06 mark of the extra period to give the Tigers the win.
Shots on goal for the game ended in Albert Lea’s favor 41-30.
Arends made 38 saves to keep his team in the game.
 
Bloomington Kennedy 7, Luverne 2
In the final game of the Kiwanis Hockey Classic in Rochester, the Cardinals took on Bloomington Kennedy.
Bloomington Kennedy got the first two goals of the game from Luke Dosan and Logan Dosan to take the 2-0 lead midway through the first.
Luverne answer back with 27 seconds remaining when Brock Behrend beat Bloomington Kennedy’s goalie Luke Skophammer with assists going to Patrick Kroski and Owen Sudenga to cut the lead to 2-1 Bloomington Kennedy.
Shots on goal for the period were 18-6 in favor of Luverne.
In the second period Luverne dominated the shots on goal 21-6, but Bloomington Kennedy got three second-period goals to take a 5-1 lead into the second intermission.
In the final period Luverne got a power play goal from Blaik Bork with assists going to Behrend and Henry Hartquist to cut the lead to 5-2.
Bloomington Kennedy responded with two goals in the final three minutes to win the game 7-2.
Total shots on goal were 50-15 in favor of the Cardinals. Arends made eight saves for the Cardinals.