Knights fall in Dixon Cup Championship
The Northstar Knighs traveled to Troy, Michigan over the long weekend to compete for the NAPHL Dixon Cup Championship. After going undefeated through the semifinals, the Knights fell to Meijer AAA in the final game.
Friday morning’s first game had the Knights against the Des Moines Buccaneers, who they remained undefeated against all season. They continued that trend with a 3-1 win, led by Talon Sigurdson’s two goals scored five minutes apart int he first period. Ben Strinden would score in the second for insurance before a Des Moines goal in the third to make it 3-1. Strinden would add an assist, and Camdyn Barber stood tall in net with 10 saves on 11 shots for their first win of pool play.
Friday afternoon would again pit Northstar against a familiar opponent in the Everett Silvertips. The Knights tacked two goals on in the first ten minutes courtesy of Jacob Napier and Kade Peterson, but Everett would cut the lead to one seconds after Peterson’s goal. However, the Knights came roaring out of the gates in the second with five goals. Talon Sigurdson would score two of his three in the second, Brody Lucas added two, and Nate Albers posted one. Ben Oakland, Sigurdson, and Menghini would score in the third for a 10-1 final. Zach Barros and Jens Richards would finish with three assists each on the day, and Collin Soderholm posted the win in net for the Knights.
Saturday’s final pool play game had the Knights facing off against the New Jersey Jr. Titans, a team they had never faced before. The Titans would strike first two and a half minutes into the first period, but the Knights’ Truett Olson would score late in the second to knot the game at one. A scoreless third led to a three on three overtime period, and it was Anthony Menghini who would be the hero and score thirteen seconds into the extra frame for a Knights win. Camdyn Barber would stop 15 of 16 shots to help carry the Knights to the quarterfinals.
Sunday morning began the elimination round of the Dixon Cup, and Northstar faced off against the Sioux Falls Power, who they had previously beaten in all games against them this year. That would continue to be the case as the Knights cruised to a 5-2 win behind Collin Soderholm’s 14 saves on 16 shots. Jakob Stender and Anthony Menghini would each score twice, once in the first and once in the second, and Nate Cox tallied a goal in the third for insurance. Stender would also add an assist in the affair.
The semifinals had the Knights against another unfamiliar opponent in the Esmark Stars. Northstar would open the scoring on Ben Oakland’s first period goal, However, Esmark would score twice to have the Knights trail entering the second period. Zach Barros would tie the game early, before Esmark answered back a minute later to agian go up one. The Stars would score once more in the frame to make it 4-2, but Luke Anderson scored in the latter half of the period to make it a 4-3 game. The Knights would come out and score three times in the third to register the comeback victory, with Talon Sigurdson, Anderson, and Ben Strinden scoring. Strinden would add two assist, Barros an assist as well, and Camdyn Barber stopped 16 of 20 shots in the victory.
Monday’s final against Meijer was almost two months to the day that the two teams had last met, and unfortunately the score would yield the same. Meijer would score midway through the game to go up 1-0, and agian on an empty net to seal the 2-0 victory. Camdyn Barber stopped 13 of 15 shots in the loss.
The Knights stayed in The Mitten State for the week, and will play two more games before hitting the road home. They will play Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 pm eastern against Fox Motors at Southside Ice Arena in Grand Rapids, MI, and again at 5 pm eastern Friday at Culver Academy in Culver, IN against their prep team.