Superior Spartans boys’ hockey matched up against the Cloquet Lumberjacks yesterday at Wessman Arena with Cloquet taking home a 7-3 win.

Just three short minutes after the game started, junior Gunnar Hansen scored the first goal at 14:22 with an assist from senior Cayden Laurvick.

The Spartans scored again at 12:15. This time Laurvick scored. Right after the second goal scored by Superior, Cloquet pulled junior goaltender Owen Carlson out and replaced him with junior Wyatt Senich. Cloquet was down 2-0 only five minutes into the game with the Spartans taking the lead.

At 11:26 in the first period, senior Ian Johnson scored the Spartans third and final goal of the night. Senior Taylor Burger had the assist on Johnson’s shot. Junior Aaron Moore from Cloquet scored the first goal for the Lumberjacks. Shortly after this shot, the first period ended leaving the Spartans up 3-1 with eight shots on goal for the Spartans and 12 for Cloquet.

The sound of the Spartan fan section screaming for their team welcomed them into the third period of the game. Only 38 seconds into the third, Cloquet senior Gavin Rasmussen scored on Superior. Rasmussen’s was assisted by senior Landon Langenbrunner. And then the game quickly tied after Cloquet scored another goal. The teams were now tied 3-3.

Two minutes and 46 seconds was all it took for the Lumberjacks to score again on Superior. The Spartans called a timeout after the Lumberjacks fourth goal. When the Spartans skated back on the ice from the timeout, they played much more aggressively than before, but to no avail, as the Lumberjacks slammed in another pair approximately 4 minutes into the period. At 44 seconds left, Cloquet capitalized on an open net, bringing the game to 7-3.

“This game taught us that we can’t take a team lightly, no matter how good we do in the beginning of the game, we always have to play the full three periods and not take a shift off,” senior defenseman Derrick Mattson said. 

The next boys’ hockey game will be held at Wessman Arena on Tuesday, Jan 29, against New Richmond.