Photo by Noah Clooten
The Devils Lake boys’ hockey team’s run came to an end Saturday.
The No. 6-seeded Firebirds (9-15) fell 4-2 to Fargo Davies (12-12) in a state qualifier game at Purpur Arena. They lost 9-0 to West Fargo in the first round of the EDC tournament on Tuesday, then beat May-Port Area 4-3 in overtime on Friday to stay alive and advance to Saturday’s contest.
The Davies Eagles were originally seeded No. 4. They beat No. 5-seeded Fargo North 5-3 before falling 9-0 to No. 1-seeded Grand Forks Central. Davies beat the Firebirds twice during the regular season, 5-3 and 4-3.
Devils Lake trailed Davies 2-0 after the first period on Saturday. Caleb Christianson scored two goals just 14 seconds apart, at 12:07 and 12:21.
The Firebirds clawed back into it. Thomas Connor scored at 3:43 in the second period, and Weston Stromme scored at 2:04 in the third period to tie it up at two goals apiece.
Stromme ended up with 15 goals this season to lead the team. Connor’s goal was just his third of the season.
At 3:09 in the third period, Davies’ Logan Spiewak scored to put the Eagles ahead 3-2.
The Firebirds had a power play at 8:59 but saw four shots saved by Davies goalie Breckun Metcalf. Metcalf had 23 saves in 25 attempts overall on the day.
At 15:15, with less than two minutes to go, Devils Lake went with an empty net to maximize its offense. But the Eagles took advantage, scoring at 15:57 off the stick of Karen Currence.
Starting goalie Brody Forsberg reentered the game at 15:57 to play the final minute and three seconds of his high school career.
Forsberg had 26 saves in 29 attempts (89.7%). In three postseason games, he saved 80 shots and allowed 13 goals (86%). His regular-season save percentage was 91.3%. With the regular season and postseason combined, he had 806 saves in 888 attempts (90.8%).
With that, the 2024-25 Devils Lake hockey season is over.
