The Devils Lake girls’ hockey team, after losing to the No. 2 seed in the first round of the state tournament, were eliminated from making a championship run.
But the season wasn’t over, and they continued to plug away until the third day of the tournament at Farmers Union Insurance Arena in Fargo. They won their consolation semifinal game 4-3 against No. 6 Legacy/Bismarck before falling 5-4 to West Fargo United in the fifth-place game. Ashlyn Abrahamson finished with seven goals overall in the tournament.
The Firebirds had lost to this same Bismarck team in the penultimate game of the regular season. But after scoring three goals in the third period of Thursday’s loss, they came out with three more goals in the first period on Friday. Ashlyn Abrahamson had the first and third goal of the period, while Siri Olson scored the one in the middle.
Bismarck tied it at 1-1 at the 5:07 mark, just over a minute after Abrahamson had gotten the scoring started. But Olson put the Firebirds ahead at 12:06, and Abrahamson scored her second goal at 13:44. Devils Lake led 3-1.
The teams exchanged goals in the second period. Bismarck cut the lead to 3-2 at the 2:17 mark, but Abrahamson scored again at 6:20 — her third goal of the game.
Each team had three penalties in the second period as well. Neither goal, however, was scored on any of the power plays.
Bismarck got another goal from Ava Krikorian at 3:52 in the third period — her second of the game. But the score held at 4-3 the rest of the way, as Devils Lake was able to fend off a comeback attempt.
Particularly impressive was the fact that Bismarck outpaced Devils Lake in shots on goal: 16-8 in the first period, 13-7 in the second and 11-8 in the third. Delaney Parker had 37 saves, compared to 19 for Bismarck goalie Rylee Otto. Getting outmatched in shots on goal has been one of the Firebirds’ weaknesses all season, but Parker’s strong goaltending skills were a critical reason Devils Lake won this game.
So with the win, the Firebirds advanced to the fifth-place game. Head coach Rob McIvor said after Thursday’s loss that he wanted to make it to Saturday, and that he did.
Their opponent was West Fargo, which went into the tournament as the No. 1 seed but got upset by No. 8 Bismarck Century in the first round.
Considering they were facing the team that had the best record in the state during the regular season, the Firebirds put up a heck of a fight. They narrowly lost 5-4; they scored four of their goals in the second period but were unable to generate any offense in the first or third.
Olson and Abrahamson scored within 23 seconds of each other in the second period to get Devils Lake out to a 2-0 lead. But 15 seconds later, at the 4:38 mark, West Fargo put in a goal of its own. Then a goal at 7:58 tied it at two apiece.
But Abrahamson scored again at the 11:54 mark, shortly following a power play that Devils Lake hadn’t taken advantage of. West Fargo committed another penalty at 12:24, and this time, the Firebirds were able to utilize the power play. Delaney Wagner put one in the net at the 12:59 mark, with assists from Abrahamson and Olson. Devils Lake led 4-2 and was a period away from its second straight tournament victory.
But it couldn’t quite hold onto its lead during regulation. West Fargo scored at 13:19 in the third period to cut the gap to 4-3, then tied it at 15:30.
Thirty-seven seconds into overtime, Reegan Bents scored the game-winning goal to grant West Fargo fifth-place honors. The Firebirds ultimately came just a few minutes away from defeating the No. 1 seed but had to settle for sixth place after a determined effort to get here.
And that’s what it was, really. McIvor said after Thursday’s loss that he was proud of the girls for even getting to this point. They were an underdog through and through, a small-town team facing schools from bigger cities like Fargo and Bismarck. They held their own and gave the local fans a run to remember.
