ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. -- The Benilde-St. Margaret's junior varsity went 1-2 in its three games during the Holiday Hockey Classic, held on the East Rink at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center.
The Red Knights suffered back-to-back 4-1 losses to Elk River and Stillwater before finishing with a 7-5 win over Moorhead.
Elk River 4, Benilde-St. Margaret's 1
Benilde-St. Margaret's took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission but Elk River scored four times on nine shots over the final 30 minutes to claim a 4-1 win.
Cole Anderson scored the only goal of the opening period, and the Red Knights, with a 13-5 advantage in shots on goal, took momentum and the lead into the locker room.
The game changed quickly when the Elks' Mitch Maass scored 48 seconds into the second period and put his team ahead to stay less than three minutes later.
BSM, despite an 11-5 advantage in shots in the second period, couldn't get on the scoreboard again and Elk River, with a 2-1 lead, put the clamps on the Red Knights' offense, allowing just two shots on goal while adding two more goals.
Cole Anderson got things going for the Red Knights by scoring the game's first goal.
Lukas Metcalfe accounted for the Red Knights' lone goal versus Stillwater.
Stillwater 4, Benilde-St. Margaret's 1
Stillwater scored three times in the second period and held off a third-period rally by Benilde-St. Margaret's to claim a 4-1 victory.
After a scoreless opening 15 minutes, the Ponies scored three times in the second period and appeared on their way to victory.
Lukas Metcalfe got the Red Knights going in the third period when he scored just before the three-minute mark of the final frame but it would be the only goal BSM would garner, despite dominating the period, outshooting Stillwater, 16-4.
With goalie Jesse Brown holding the Red Knights at bay, the Ponies tacked on one final goal when Evan Tomaro scored his second goal of the game, a short-handed marker, with 7:33 to play.
Benilde-St. Margaret's 7, Moorhead 5
Benilde-St. Margaret's found itself trailing 4-0, called a timeout and made a goaltending change with five minutes, 57 seconds remaining in the second period.
Barely a minute later, the Red Knights got on the scoreboard with a Carlton Cronin power-play goal and would scored seven of the game's final eight goals en route to a 7-5 win over Moorhead.
After Cronin's goal, BSM would make it a 4-2 game when Joe Collins scored with two seconds remaining in the period.
The goal gave the Red Knights momentum heading into the second intermission and Caelan Woog scored just 92 seconds into the third period to cut the Spuds' lead to one.
Moorhead got that goal back with 9:52 to play and, momentarily, halt the BSM rally.
The Red Knights' final surge began with 7:37 to play when Cole Anderson's shot from the right point found its way through traffic and into the back of the net to, once again, make it a one-goal game.
Less than three minutes after Anderson scored his second goal of the tournament, Lukas Metcalf did likewise, picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone before weaving through the Spuds' defense before tying the game with 4:40 to play.
Collins, playing with the junior varsity after missing three weeks of action due to illness, scored with 1:40 to play in the game giving BSM its first lead of the game and then completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 20 seconds remaining.
Jonathan Vitelli, who came on after Moorhead had taken a 4-0 lead, stopped 12 of the Spuds' final 13 shots to earn the victory.
Joe Collins scored the game winner and finished his hat trick by sealing the win with an empty-net goal.
