THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. – The top two teams in the Superior International Junior Hockey League standings took to the ice Sunday at Ralph Engelstad Arena where the front-running Thief River Falls Norskies rallied from a two-goal deficit against the second place Dryden GM Ice Dogs and prevailed 3-2 in overtime.
After a scoreless first period, Dryden tallied twice in the opening half of the second stanza on goals from Brendan Jay and Jacen Bracko.
However a two-man advantage late in the session saw Thief River Falls get on the board at 19:03 when recently acquired blueliner Alec Severson picked up his first SIJHL marker.
Still up a man, the Norskies then drew level with just 15 seconds left in the stanza thanks to defenceman Connor Bowey’s fourth of the season.
Neither side would connect in the third, but Thief River Falls made the most of another power play opportunity that carried over into extra time where Severson won it with his second of the contest as he collected the game-winner 39 seconds into OT.
Jared Pedersen dished out two assists to aid the Norskies’ offensive cause.
Bailey Schmitz made 20 saves to help Thief River Falls improve to 26-1 on the year.
Jacob Gnidziejko was busy seeing 41 shots fired his way helping Dryden pick-up a point in defeat as they fell to 17-3-4-1 overall.
Photo credit: Allison Garrigan