by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor

Defending Section 8A champion Thief River Falls needed overtime to survive its section quarterfinal match-up against Kittson Central Thursday night.

The Prowlers, seeded second in the Section 8A bracket, trailed 1-0 after one period of hockey against the seventh-seeded Bearcats. They tied the game in the second period on a Grant Hartmann power play goal, and won the game 32 seconds into the overtime period on a Tucker Skime rebound shot.

“It was the story of our season. Playing tight games and winning in overtime,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Tim Bergland.

This is the Prowlers’ seventh overtime game of the season and their record in overtime improved to 2-2-3.

Thief River Falls dominated the shots on goal early in the first period but couldn’t take advantage of a power play opportunity from 10:22-12:22.

Less than two minutes after they returned to full strength, the Bearcats got on the board on just their fourth official shot on goal of the game. Sophomore Adam Gustafson scored the go-ahead goal, with sophomore Calvin Hanson getting the assist.

Thief River Falls was outshot 6-4 for the remainder of the period and went into the locker room for the first intermission trailing 1-0.

A hooking penalty on Kittson Central’s Trent Peterson set Thief River Falls up with another power play chance 1:49 into the second period. Forty-one seconds into the power play, Keaden Kempert slid the puck to Grant Hartmann, who fired a shot from the right-hand side of the net that deflected off of Kittson Central goalie Wyatt Olsonawski to make the score 1-1.

Thief River Falls outshot Kittson Central 10-4 in the third period, but Olsonawski continued his dazzling performance to keep the Bearcats’ upset bid alive.

A high-sticking penalty on Kittson Central’s Hayden Hennen gave the Prowlers an extra-man advantage for the final 1:40 of regulation, but once again the Bearcats held their ground.

Thief River Falls began the overtime frame with a five on four advantage for the first 20 seconds. Twelve seconds after the Bearcats returned to full strength, the Prowlers scored the game-winner on a play that initially looked like a stop by Olsonawski.

Evan Bushy passed to Hunter Larson, with Larson firing a shot that appeared to be corralled by Olsonawski. However, the play was never blown dead because Olsonawski didn’t have the puck.

Thief River Falls junior Tucker Skime spotted the loose puck behind Olsonawski and tapped it into the net for the game winner. Bergland credited Kittson Central for playing a tough, physical game. He expected as much from a young and steadily-improving Bearcat squad.

“They have a good core group of sophomores,” Bergland said. “They are going to be in the mix. We played hard, but I thought we played nervous. We forced passes and forced plays.”

Bergland praised the work of goaltender Noah Rupprecht, who finished with 21 saves on the night. “Noah played a strong game,” Bergland said. “They had some nice opportunities one on one and he played well.”

With the win, Thief River Falls advances to tomorrow night’s Section 8A semifinals where it will play Warroad for the third time this year. The Prowlers won both regular season meetings, beating the Warriors 3-1 at home in December and 2-1 in overtime in Warroad Jan. 17.

“Both teams know each other very well. There won’t be any secrets,” Bergland said. “You just go out and try to execute your game plan.”

Scoring                     1  2  3 OT  T
Kittson Central……1  0  0  0   1
Thief River Falls….0  1  0  1   2
First period – KCC, Adam Gustafson (Calvin Hanson) 14:03.
Second period – TRF, Grant Hartmann (PP) (Keaden Kempert, Evan Bushy) 2:30;
Third period – No Score
Overtime – TRF, Tucker Skime (Hunter Larson, Bushy) 0:32
Shots – KCC 10-8-4 – 22; TRF 14-9-10-2 – 35. Power plays – KCC 0/3; TRF 1/4. Penalties – KCC 4/8; TRF 3/6. Goalie saves – KCC, Wyatt Olsonawski 33; TRF, Noah Rupprecht 21.