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After letting big lead slip, Andover rallies with three-goal third period to bury Blake

By Loren Nelson, SportsEngine, 11/21/19, 12:00PM CST

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Wyatt Kaiser, determined to make a lasting impression, took charge of the Huskies in their season opener.


Andover defenseman Wyatt Kaiser (5) fought his way past Blake's Matt Olive to score the first of his two goals in the Huskies' 6-3 victory. Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine

During Andover’s 6-3 win Thursday over Blake, the Huskies' Wyatt Kaiser scored on an improbable one-handed dangle, he scored on a blast from the point, he offered suggestions for a revamped power play, he accepted a challenge from his coach before the third period and he took a faceoff for the first time in his high school career.

Is there anything this kid can’t do?

Well, there’s one thing he hasn’t done — play in the state tournament. And filling that void in his resume is what drives the senior defenseman and likely NHL draft pick who just a few weeks ago was playing high level junior hockey in the USHL for the Dubuque Fighting Saints.

“I came back here (from Dubuque) pretty confident, but more than anything I just want to win the state tournament,” Kaiser said. “I couldn’t care less about anything outside of that. My main goal is for me to be the best I can for the team.”


Blake's Jack Sabre (9) took a shot from near the blue line that got past Andover goalie Will Larson and tied the game at 3-3 late in the second period. Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine

First Report

Senior defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, a Mr. Hockey candidate committed to Minnesota-Duluth, scored twice and added an assist as Andover topped Blake 6-3 on Thursday in one of six games to open the high school boys' hockey season.

Kaiser was at his best in the first and second periods when, not coincidentally, the Huskies, ranked No. 2 in the Class 2A coaches' preseason poll, scored three goals in each stanza.

Andover (1-0-0, 0-0-0) led 3-0 after the first as senior Gunnar Thoreson scored twice, less than two minutes apart, along with the first of Kaiser’s goals.

Blake (0-1-0, 0-0-0) rallied in the second, scoring all three of its goals to tie the score at 3-3. Ben Dexheimer, Brett Witzke and Anderson Blum were the goal scorers for the Bears, who fired 13 shots at Huskies goaltender Will Larson.

Michael Clough put Andover ahead 4-3 just 3:18 into the third period and Kaiser made it 5-3 less than two minutes later. Hunter Jones, playing on the top line with Cough and Thoreson, added the final goal midway through the third.

Blake goaltender Aksel Reid finished with 13 saves while Larson, who sat out all of last season after undergoing double hip surgery, had 23 saves. 

The teams meet again on Saturday in Andover to complete the home-and-home series.

The MN Hockey Hub poll is for entertainment purposes only.

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