by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls picked up wins over Princeton and Sauk Rapids-Rice to sweep two-game a weekend home stand at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The Prowlers opened the two-game home stand with a dominant 9-2 win over the Princeton Tigers. Spencer Anderson recorded a Texas Hat Trick, scoring a goal in the first, two in the second and one more in the third period. Brody Radniecki scored two goals for the Prowlers, with Weston Olson, Hudson Brouse and Jed Kelly scoring one goal apiece.
Recording assists in the win over the Tigers were Ryan Flaagan (2), Ian Winter, Beckem Johnson, Mason Clark, Brouse (2), Tucker Knott (2), Olson and Johnny Rogalla.
Thief River Falls goaltender Cooper Roff faced 15 shots and defended 13 in the win.
Zachary Ennis took the loss for the Tigers after allowing nine goals against 43 Thief River Falls shots on goal.
The Prowlers stayed hot offensively Saturday, scoring four first-period goals en route to a 6-2 win over the Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm.
The Prowlers briefly trailed when the Storm’s Austin Kubasek scored a power play goal 8:05 into the contest.
The Prowlers answered with a goal by Anderson, with assists from Brouse and Winter, with 4:45 remaining in the first.
The Prowlers took their first lead of the game with an unassisted power play goal by Brouse with three minutes remaining in the opening period.
Radniecki scored 55 seconds later, with an assist from Kelly, to make it 3-1 Prowlers with 2:05 left in the first.
The Prowlers stayed on the attack, with Anderson scoring his second goal of the night and sixth of the weekend with 56 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Brouse was credited with the lone assist, his second of the game, and the score was 4-1 heading into the first intermission.
The scoring pace slowed down in the second, with the lone goal coming off the stick of Anderson with 10:54 remaining in the second to record his second hat trick in as many games.
The Storm got their second goal of the afternoon with 3:24 remaining on a goal by Dominic Stucke with assists from Cullen Rock and Reed Krogstad, to make it 5-2.
The Storm pulled goaltender Chase Wheeler with 41 seconds remaining in favor of a sixth skater. Anderson scored his fourth goal of the afternoon on an empty netter with 19 seconds remaining to complete his second consecutive Texas Hat Trick.
Through nine games, Anderson has scored a team-high 14 goals, which ties him for seventh in the state of Minnesota. Anderson is also ranked 39th in points with 20.
Roff picked up 13 saves to record his second consecutive win for the Prowlers.
Scoring
1 2 3 T
Princeton 0 1 1 2
Thief River Falls 2 4 3 9
First period – TRF, Weston Olson (short handed) (Ryan Flaagan) 7:51; TRF, Spencer Anderson (Ian Winter, Beckem Johnson) 16:49.
Second period – TRF, Brody Radniecki (unassisted) 2:36; TRF, Spencer Anderson (short handed) 3:06; TRF, Hudson Brouse (short handed) (Ryan Flaagan) 3:31; Princeton, Carter Nelson (Mason Clark) 5:31; TRF, Spencer Anderson (Hudson Brouse, Tucker Knott) 11:44.
Third period – Princeton, Mason Clark (power play) (Carter Nelson, Luka Miller) 1:55; TRF, Jed Kelly (Weston Olson) 2:36; TRF, Spencer Anderson (Tucker Knott, Hudson Brouse) 4:32; TRF, Brody Radniecki (Johnathan Rogalla) 16:41.
Shots – Princeton 5-6-4 – 15; TRF 13-15-15 – 43.
Power plays – Princeton 1-for-4; TRF 0-for-2.
Penalties – Princeton 2 (4 minutes); TRF 4 (8 minutes).
Goalie saves – Princeton, Zachary Ennis 34; TRF, Cooper Roff 13.
Scoring
1 2 3 T
Sauk Rapids-Rice 1 0 1 2
Thief River Falls 4 1 1 6
First period – Sauk Rapids-Rice, Austin Kubasek (power play) (Sean Swanson, Bryden Prelvitz) 8:05; TRF, Spencer Anderson (Hudson Brouse, Ian Winter) 12:15; TRF, Hudson Brouse (power play) 14:00; TRF, Brody Radniecki (Jed Kelly) 14:55; TRF, Spencer Anderson (Hudson Brouse) 16:04.
Second period – TRF, Spencer Anderson (unassisted) 6:06.
Third period – Sauk Rapids-Rice, Dominic Stucke (Cullen Rock, Reed Krogstad) 13:36; TRF, Spencer Anderson (even strength) (empty net) 16:41.
Shots – Sauk Rapids-Rice 11-7-16 – 34; TRF 12-10-1 – 23.
Power plays – Sauk Rapids-Rice 1-for-5; TRF 1-for-3.
Penalties – Sauk Rapids-Rice 3 (6 minutes); TRF 5 (10 minutes).
Goalie saves – Sauk Rapids-Rice, Chase Wheeler 17; TRF, Cooper Roff 32.
Mariucci Conference
Conf. overall pts
Warroad 3-1-0 8-2-0 6
Moorhead 2-0-0 8-1-0 4
Bemidji 2-1-0 5-2-0 0
Roseau 1-1-0 2-6-0 2
Thief River Falls 0-3-0 3-6-0 0
Crookston 0-0-0 6-0-1 0
East Grand Forks 0-2-0 2-6-1 0
Results
■ Tuesday, Dec. 16 – Bemidji 2, East Grand Forks 0; Warroad 6, Thief River Falls 0.
■ Friday, Dec. 19 – Moorhead 7, Andover 3; Thief River Falls 9, Princeton 2.
■ Saturday, Dec. 20 – Detroit Lakes 3, East Grand Forks 2; Crookston 8, Princeton 1; Thief River Falls 6, Sauk Rapids-Rice 2; Minnetonka 4, Moorhead 2.