DULUTH — It was tough sledding early on for Rock Ridge against Duluth Marshall Tuesday at Mars Lakeview Arena.
The Hilltoppers came out and took the fight to Rock Ridge in the first period, with Benson Peterson firing a shot to the back of the net less than four minutes into the game. Marshall kept pressure on the Wolverines throughout the first 17 minutes.
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“They have skill and they battle,” Rock Ridge coach Matt Niskanen said. “There wasn’t a lot of free ice out there in the first.”
The Wolverines tilted the ice in their favor in the second period, with senior Grady Dimberio tying the game with a power play goal just more than 2 minutes into the second.
“They definitely surprised us a little bit,” Dimberio said. “After the first period, we stuck to our systems, got pucks deep, battled hard and then we got the job done.”
Dimberio scored a second goal in the third period, leading Rock Ridge to a 4-1 win and giving him 100 points for his high school career.
The Wolverines have had “flat” periods earlier this season or where the team comes out ready to play.
“Tonight, they just battled really hard and it wasn’t easy to get things going,” Niskanen said. “They didn’t panic and they gradually got their game going in the second and took it over.”
Marshall coach Shawn Barlette said the plan coming in — with top scorer Bennett Scissons unavailable Tuesday — was to keep the game “as simple as possible.”
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“In the early part of the game, we did a really good job getting the puck behind their defensemen and competing in difficult areas on the ice,” he said. “The game, like many games, came down to special teams and we took a couple too many penalties.”
The Hilltoppers expected to be competitive, according to Bartlette, but the penalties took their toll Tuesday. Marshall players spent 10 minutes on the penalty kill, something that made it difficult for a short-staffed Hilltopper squad.
“When it comes down to a special teams game where we have a lot of our top guys out killing big penalty minutes, we run short,” he said.
It was Rock Ridge’s top scorers doing much of the damage, with Dimberio scoring twice and junior Caz Carlson picking up an assist on both.
“(Dimberio’s) so strong and fast for the high school kid that when he decides he’s going to take over and he gets some ice — he’s a lot to handle,” Niskanen said. “And Caz, his motor never stops. They’re two high end kids around here and they’re a joy to coach.”
The Wolverines (11-3-1) have won eight of 10 games and haven’t lost since Dec. 13 (to Little Falls). During that stretch, they blew out reigning Class A champion St. Cloud Cathedral on Dec. 14, tied Class AA No. 5 Rogers Dec. 21 and beat AA No. 2 Hermantown in their own rink on Thursday.
“I like where our team is at,” Niskanen said. “We’ve had a tougher schedule than we’ve ever had and the kids have done really well with it. I think they’ve played better in games where they know they’ve got to play well. That’s a good trait to have.”
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Duluth Marshall (8-3-2) has been one of the surprises of the early season, but goalie Landon Wheeler has been fantastic. His .919 save percentage gives the Hilltoppers “a chance to win every single night,” according to Bartlette.
What’s more, while the Hilltoppers are very young, they have a couple of seniors that are great influences on the underclassmen. Max Berrisford and Owen Marsolek are among the best baseball players in the area and both are committed to NCAA Division I programs.
“With Owen and Max, they’re mindset when it comes to preparation and commitment to the sport, it rubs off on the rest of the guys,” Bartlett said. “They guys see them putting in the extra workouts. They’re on a different track — they already know what their college plan is — but it shows the rest of our guys what it takes to be a Division I athlete. I think just having those guys around, not only for that, but from a leadership perspective is very valuable to our group.”
Rock Ridge will next play Sartell-St. Stephen at 7 p.m. Friday at Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia.
Marshall will play at Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at 7 p.m. Thursday.
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