White Bear Lake trailed 2-0 after the first and 3-2 headed into the third before it all started to come together. 

Plugged in on the right wing, centered by Roed with Welch on the other side, Borgestad brings an element of grit to the combination that the Bears’ coaches hope will feed his linemates and the team’s top two leading scorers who account for 15 goals and 32 points combined. 

In the corners and along the walls, Borgestad put in the work, and was rewarded with a big third period.

“He grinds down in the corners with Welch, and it helps us get low,” said Chris Anderson, who was filling in as head coach for Tim Sager. “Brady battles on the walls and supports the puck, finds the right spots, is a good leader on the bench. He had an excellent game.”

With Welch, the two create time and space for the Bears’ top playmaking threat in Roed, a St. Cloud State commit who scored 40 points last year as a sophomore, and averaged a point a game with 13 goals in this past fall’s Upper Midwest High School Elite League. This year Roed has nine goals and 17 points through eight games.

Springing him makes the entire Bears’ offense better, but it starts with line one. 

“He’s a complete player with a lot of speed and tenacity,” Anderson said of Roed. “Once those guys got moving and managed the puck a little better, they really know how to make some plays and control the game.”

Improving his goal total to four with 11 points is nice. But Borgestad will embrace the blue-collar mentality that works for him and serves the greater good.

“When the puck is in the corner, that’s where I want to be,” he said. “It’s my job to grind it out to create scoring chances. I feel like if I go in there banging and pushing bodies around, the puck is going to squirt out somewhere.”

White Bear Lake (6-2) will embrace the style of victory Tuesday night as well, and take the lesson delivered with the slow start that did not ultimately end up fatal. The theme remains a focus on grit.

“Even at this point of the year, guys are still trying to figure out what it takes to win high school hockey games,” Anderson said. “Once we consistently got pucks deep, got a little more physical, and crashed the net, then things started turning our way. That’s the style of hockey we need to play.”