Bearcats Hockey loses first two games, defeats Crookston, ties with TRF

By Editor | January 30, 2021 |

By Dylan Johnson
KCC 2 vs. Detroit Lakes 3
The Bearcats Varsity Hockey Team started off their 2021 season with a road trip to Detroit Lakes on Thursday, Jan. 14 to play the Lakers. Kittson County Central started off the game with a power-play goal scored by Tyler Hennen assisted by Hayden Hennen and Hayden Olsonawski. KCC continued the first period with an Adam Gustafson goal (T. Hennen.) Detroit Lakes soon answered back with a goal in the second period at 2:51 scored by Beau Behne on a power-play goal, assisted by Jordan Fields and Braeden Wimmer. The Lakers added another goal to tie up the game.
Going into the third period tied, Detroit Lakes scored a goal with 30 seconds left, leading the Bearcats to a defeat, 2-3. Kittson County Central’s goalie, Wyatt Olsonawski, had 29 saves and Detroit Lakes goalie Jack Hines had 31 saves.
“We started out the season in Detroit Lakes with a 3 to 2 loss. We got out to a quick start and a 2-0 lead. In the second, DL came out strong and tied the game quickly,” said Coach Robert Carr. “An injury to Hayden Hennen in the third and a bad bounce in the last minute of the game saw KCC fall in their first game of the year.”
Stats
1st period_1, KCC, Tyler Hennen, Power Play, (Hayden Hennen, Hayden Olsonawski); 2, KCC – Adam Gustafson (T. Hennen)
2nd period_3, DL, Beau Boehne, Power Play, (Jordan Fields, Braeden Wimmer); 4, DL, Jayden Gerdes, (Carter Bellefeuille, Lukas Justesen)
3rd period_5, DL, Jacob McAllister, (Jacob Thomas, Jake Green)
Shots_KCC, 32; DL, 33
Penalties_KCC, 2, (4 min.); DL, 4 (11 min.)
Saves_KCC, Wyatt Olsonawski-29; DL, Jack Hines-31

KCC 4 vs. Intn’l Falls 6
Kittson County Central’s varsity hockey team played International Falls on Saturday, Jan. 16, losing 4-6. I-Falls started off the game with the only two goals in the first period, ending the first period with the Bearcats losing 0-2. KCC soon answered back in the second period with two goals scored by Landon Sugden, assisted by Tyler Hennen, and T. Hennen, assisted by Adam Gustafson. I-Falls added another two goals to the mix, both scored by Brady Wicklund.
To end the second period, T. Hennen added another goal assisted by Sugden, leaving the Bearcats down 3-4.
Going into a fast-paced third period, International Falls scored two more goals. To end the third period, KCC scored one more goal from Luke Misson assisted by Izyk Strege, ending the game with a Bearcats loss, 4-6. Wyatt Olsonawkski ended the game with 35 saves.
“In International Falls we started out slow and were chasing the entire game,” said Coach Robert Carr. “We finished the second half of the game playing better but in the end, couldn’t come all the way back.”
Stats
1st period_1, IF, Myles Mason (Parker Sivonen, Braden Skifstad); 2, IF, Brady Wicklund, Unassisted.
2nd period_3, KCC, Landon Sugden, Power Play, (Tyler Hennen); 4, KCC, T. Hennen (Adam Gustafson); 5, IF, Wicklund (Matt Wherley); 6, KCC, T. Hennen (Sugden); 7, IF, Wicklund, Unassisted.
3rd period_8, IF, Colin Kostiuk (Owen Sether, Sivonen); 9, IF, Mason (Wicklund, Skifstad); 10, KCC, Luke Misson (Izyk Strege)
Shots_KCC, 42; IF, 41
Penalties_KCC, 1 (2 min.); IF, 3 (6 min.)
Saves_KCC, Wyatt Olsonawski, 35; IF, Mitchell Nemec, 38.

KCC 7 vs. Crookston 5
Kittson County Central defeated the Crookston Pirates 7-5 on Tuesday, Jan. 19 in Hallock. Tyler Hennen led the Bearcats with 4 goals and 1 assist. The game had a slow start with only one goal in the first period for KCC, scored by Adam Gustafson, assisted by Hayden Olsonawski.
The second period started up quickly with a short-handed goal for the Bearcats scored by T. Hennen, unassisted. T. Hennen soon after had 2 more goals, both assisted by Gustafson and one assisted by H. Olsonawski. Landon Sugden added another goal for KCC, assisted by T. Hennen. Toward the end of the second period, Crookston got its first goal, scored by Carter Trudeau, assisted by Kaleb Thingelstad, ending the second period 5-1, the Bearcats winning.
Starting off the third period, Crookston had 2 more goals, with the score now being 5-3. Soon after T. Hennen added another goal to the board for his fourth of the night. Crookston added yet again 2 more goals to the mix. With an empty net in a tense scramble of the last minute, Landon Sudgen scored the last goal of the night for the Bearcats, assisted by H. Olsonawski and Tyler Bakken. Both teams spent 12 minutes in the penalty box. Wyatt Olsonawski had 29 saves leaving the Bearcats with a 7-5 win over the Crookston Pirates.
“In our first home contest of the year, we took on Crookston. We started the game strong with multiple good chances to score,” said Coach Robert Carr. “The first period ended with KCC up 2-0. The second period was more of the same and KCC extended the lead to 5-1. In the third Crookston found some success and pushed the pace until the end scoring 4 unanswered goals to get within one. A solid defensive play by Tyler Bakken in the last minute broke up Crookston’s last good chance and an open net goal sealed the win 7 to 5.”
Stats
1st period_1, KCC, Adam Gustafson (Hayden Olsonawski)
2nd period_2, KCC, Tyler Hennen, Short Handed, Unassisted; 3, KCC, T. Hennen (Gustafson); 4, KCC, T. Hennen (H. Olsonawski, Gustafson); 5, KCC, Landon Sugden (T. Hennen); 6, C – Carter Trudeau (Kaleb Thingelstad)
3rd period_7, C, C. Thingelstad (Jackson Demaris); 8, C, Noah Kiel (Thingelstad); 9, KCC, T. Hennen, Power Play, Unassisted; 10, C, Thingelstad, Unassisted; 11, C, Alex Longoria (Thingelstad); 12, KCC, L. Sugden (Tyler Bakken, H. Olsonawski)
Shots_KCC, 34; C, 44
Penalties_KCC, 6 (12 min.); C, 6 (12 min.)
Saves_KCC, Wyatt Olsonawski, 29; C, Noah Dragseth, 37

KCC 3 vs. TRF 3
On Friday, Jan. 22, KCC went to Thief River Falls to take on the Prowlers, with an exciting game that ended with a tie, 3-3. Hayden Olsonawski lead the Bearcats with 2 goals for the night. With a slow first period, TRF scored the only goal for the period by Tysen Loeffler assisted by Isaiah Villarreal and Zach Dalzell. Starting up the second period, TRF had 2 more goals, leaving the Bearcats down 0-3. KCC soon answered back with an unassisted goal scored by Tyler Hennen, which also ended the second period. Starting the third period, KCC quickly added another goal to the mix scored by Hayden Olsonawski, assisted by Adam Gustafson. With a tense game going on, KCC ended the third period with a power-play goal scored by H. Olsonawski assisted by Gustafson and Hayden Hennen. The game continued into an exciting 8 minute overtime period, with no one scoring, leaving the game with a tie 3-3. Wyatt Olsonawski had a game total of 43 saves for the Bearcats and Brett Holmer had a total of 18 saves for Thief River Falls.
Stats
1st period_1, TRF, Tysen Loeffler (Isaiah Villarreal, Zach Dalzell)
2nd period_2, TRF, Loeffler (Villarreal); 3, TRF, Morgan Rude, Unassisted; 4, KCC, Tyler Hennen, Unassisted
3rd period_5, KCC, Hayden Olsonawski (Gustafson); 6, KCC, H. Olsonawski (Gustafson, Hayden Hennen)
Shots_KCC, 21; TRF, 46
Penalties_KCC, 3 (9 min.); TRF, 5 (10 min.)
Saves_KCC, Wyatt Olsonawski, 43; TRF, Brett Holmer, 18