SUPERIOR — Sharing the same city as a North American Hockey League franchise has its perks — something that Cloquet-Esko-Carlton senior captain Karson Young can certainly attest to.
The 6-foot, left-shot defenseman had a short commute to his home rink at Northwoods Credit Union Arena to skate in 12 games for the Cloquet-based Minnesota Wilderness leading up to the high school season.
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The experience competing against older, faster and stronger players has led him to reach new heights thus far in his senior season with 17 points (5-12—17) in 12 games for the third-ranked Lumberjacks.
“You can tell he played juniors prior to coming into this season,” said head coach Shea Walters. “He just has a different ability to control the game …He can shut down plays and he can also push the pace, so we kind of revolve our team around him and base a lot of our game and our structure around him.”
Since first cracking the varsity lineup as a freshman during the 2021-2022 season, Young has remained a top-pairing, mobile defenseman for CEC who's made an impact in all areas of the ice and on special teams, manning the the top power play and penalty kill units.
Defensive partner Hudson Snesrud pointed to his composure with the puck on his stick as one of his biggest strengths.
“He’s just so calm with the puck,” he said. “I mean everybody in the rink is confident that he’s gonna make a good play and everyone knows that something good’s going to happen when he has the puck.”
Young was offered the chance to stick with the NAHL club for the remainder of the season, but elected to come back for his senior year with the ‘Jacks in hopes of leading his team to the state tournament.
Young will re-join the Wilderness at the end of the season, but not before what he hopes will be a long postseason run.
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“I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said of his decision to come back. “I think I made the right decision and I’m having a blast so far.”
CEC rolls past Superior in 6-1 win
The Lumberjacks found the back of the net twice in all three periods on their way to a 6-1 road victory over Superior on Thursday, Jan. 2 at Wessman Arena.
Superior head coach Rob Downs tipped his cap to CEC, but admitted it wasn't his team's best showing.
"We had guys maybe one-offing and trying to do too much on their own," he said. "We weren’t playing as one so I think that that hurt us a bit.”
The first period got off to a highly physical start with a combined seven penalties assessed between the two teams. The Spartans were the beneficiaries of the chippy play with two man-advantage opportunities leading to one promising scoring chance on CEC goaltender Jacob Iallonardo, who stood tall with four saves in the opening 17 minutes.
Iallonardo, who entered the game with state-best marks in goals against (1.00 and save percentage (.961), finished with 13 saves in the win.
“He gives us so much confidence in the back and no matter how the game is going he understands how to control it as far as if he’s getting a lot of shots he knows to shut plays down and freeze the puck a lot and if we are pushing the pace or trying to push the pace he can play the puck as well,” said Walters.
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At even strength, the Lumberjacks dominated offensive zone time and ultimately were rewarded with a goal by Conor Sullivan at the 10:35 mark of the first period. Sullivan collected a backhand pass from Niko Gentilini and wired a shot past Hunter Sidorowicz from the slot.
Late in the period, CEC extended its lead with a power play marker by Niko Gentilini off a nifty backdoor feed by Grady Knutson.
Offense ramped up for both teams early in the middle frame, beginning with a varsity career-first marker by CEC senior Alessandro Johnson at the 3:02 mark of the period.
Superior answered just 50 seconds later with a rebound goal by Tyler Olson created by a shot off the pads of Iallonardo by Hunter Haugen, briefly cutting the deficit back to two.
On the very next shift, Bobby Thornton pushed the ‘Jacks lead back to three with a quick wrister from the high slot with assists by Sullivan and Cole Painovich at 4:45 of the period.
Young added a power play goal, while Thornton added his second of the night to seal the victory in the final period.
Both teams will be on the road for their next matchups on Saturday, Jan. 4, as the Lumberjacks (11-1) take on No. 10 Mahtomedi at 3 p.m., while the Spartans (4-9) face Eau Claire Memorial at 6 p.m.
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