St. Louis Park junior defenseman Brody Ilstrup and Armstrong/Cooper's Erik Evans battle for the puck in the second period Thursday night in New Hope. Evans scored two goals for the Wings in their 5-4 loss to the Orioles. Photo by Drew Herron

Things were starting to become a bit frustrating for St. Louis Park.

An inability to consistently score goals despite healthy shot production was messing with the team’s confidence, and four one-goal defeats (and one win) didn’t much help.

Morale had taken a hit since the Orioles’ 7-3 start to the season.

“We’ve been snakebitten for weeks,” St. Louis Park coach Terry Keseley said. “This team has been struggling to score goals, and we’ve been on this one-goal-loss kick for too long.”

But Thursday night’s 5-4 overtime victory that left host Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper stunned could help turn all that around for the Orioles, who earned a victory that ought to prove crucial to the Class 2A, Section 6 seeding process.

It’s a confidence boost, no doubt for St. Louis Park, which improves its record to 9-7.

But it was how the victory was earned that could help inject an unquantifiable amount of life into an Orioles team that has already met last season’s win total.

“It was a great team win,” St. Louis Park senior captain Patrick Bordewick said afterward. “(Armstrong/Cooper) is a good team, and to beat a group like that will give our team a lot of confidence.”

Bordewick had a hand in helping turn around the Orioles' fortunes, scoring two goals on the night, including the game-winner 1 minute, 1 second into overtime to cap off an improbable comeback.

St. Louis Park scored four power-play goals, the last three during a five-minute major that stretched into overtime, as the Orioles overcame a 4-1 deficit late in the third period to win the game in the extra stanza.

St. Louis Park put 22 shots on goal in the third alone, and 44 on net for the night, twice as many as the Wings.

But it wasn’t until the Orioles faced a three-goal deficit in the third did their efforts in the offensive zone start paying off.

A little more than two minutes into the final period, Grant Plender finally got the St. Louis Park on the board. Then, after Erik Evans' second goal of the night pushed the Wings' lead to 4-1, the Orioles went on their run of fury over the final few minutes, aided by the fatal five-minute major.

It ultimately killed Armstrong/Cooper on this night.

“The factor in this game was the power plays, and (the Orioles) took advantage of a good opportunity,” Wings coach Danny Charleston said. “That’s what good teams can do to you, (St. Louis Park) is a good team with good players. They could have easily went in the tank, but they chipped away and chipped away.”

Bauer Neudecker's goal brought St. Louis Park once again to within two goals midway through the third. Armstrong/Cooper then drew that fateful five-minute major penalty for checking from behind with a little more that three and a half minutes remaining.

“They were flat,” senior Lexi Robello said of the Wings in the third period. “It’s like they had thought they won the game already. We came out strong and built our momentum.”

With 1:48 to play, Bordewick scored the first of the Orioles’ 6-on-4 power-play goals with senior goalie Conor Klaers pulled and watching from the bench. Then, sophomore Willy Basill scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season with 21 seconds remaining to level the score for the first time all night.

Robello had the single assist on the game-tying goal, as well as the game-winner, and finished with four on the night.

“On the power play, it helps just to throw a lot of pucks on net,” Robello said. “We outnumbered them (in the slot) and felt like if we kept pounding, eventually the puck would go in.” 

As St. Louis Park shifted from perimeter shots to rough-and-tumble play in front of the net, its opportunities increased.

Despite rolling only two lines, the Orioles routinely crashed the net and created traffic high and low. With the 6-on-4 advantage during the final two minutes, St. Louis Park proved to be too heavy for the Wings to keep down.

“We’ve got a young team, and I think they did a really fine job of playing for the moment and not giving up,” Keseley said. “They kept playing, and they kept working hard to create some chances.

“We went to the front of the net in the third period, instead of all this perimeter play," he added. "That’s not always a pleasant place to be, and we’ve got a young team that isn’t used to that. But our guys were willing to come back (in the third) and do it.”

In the overtime session, St. Louis Park put three shots on net before Bordewick got the puck across the goal line in a scrum in the crease. The officials initially signaled it a goal and confirmed it upon conference.

As for Armstrong/Cooper, which falls to 8-7 with the loss, its coaches are expecting their team to learn from such an experience.

“When you lose your cool and it costs you, it becomes a learning experience,” Charleston said. “For the entire locker room…how is this group going to learn from this moving forward?”


Armstrong/Cooper goes ahead 4-1 over St. Louis Park after Erik Evans scored his second goal of the night. Photo by Drew Herron

First Report

St. Louis Park scored twice in the final two minutes, then again 1:02 into overtime to stun Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper and leave New Hope Arena with a 5-4 victory Thursday night.

The Wings held a 4-1 lead with half a period to play before the Orioles' heavy third-period pressure become too much.

Over the final six minutes, St. Louis Park got goals from Bauer Neudecker, Patrick Bordewick, and the game-tying score from Willy Basill with 21 seconds left to turn the game on its side.

In the overtime, Bordewick scored during a scrum in the crease, and after a bit of confusion, the officials deemed it counted.

Bordewick finished with two goals while the Orioles' other senior skater, Lexi Robello, finished with four assists as St. Louis Park (9-7) snapped a four-game losing skid.

Armstrong/Cooper was led by Erik Evans' two goals and Trey Rooney's three assists.

The Wings (8-7) return to action Saturday night at home, where they host Irondale in a Northwest Suburban Conference tilt. 

The Orioles travel to Lakeville South on Jan. 18 for another nonconference game.

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