Sydney Gordon had two goals and two assists for the Broncos
With less than one minute of play left in Tuesday’s game, both the International Falls Broncos and the Bemidji Lumberjacks prepared to go into overtime.
Bemidji’s Allie Lapp had a better idea.
With 40 seconds left, Lapp slid the puck past Taylar Nelson for the game winning goal, ending the Lumberjacks’ three-game losing streak and improving the team’s season record to 4-9-1.
“It was a tough loss,” said Bronco head coach Gerald Bolstad.
The loss brought the Broncos to an overall record of 5-4-3.
Throughout the game, both teams fought to stay even, and took turns scoring. Bemidji got the battle rolling with an early goal from Amanda Hunt. Sophomore Jordan Bright put the Broncos on the scoreboard with just under two minutes to go in the first. Lapp gave a preview of what she was capable of that night and scored with 20 seconds left before heading to the locker rooms for the first intermission.
A determined Falls team came out ready in the second period. Sydney Gordon shot the puck passed Lumberjacks goaltender Allie Heifort to score her first of two goals for the night.
A strong Bemidji team came back with a short-handed goal from Chaniel Nelson to one up the Broncos again. A pass from Gordon gave Ashley Bahr a clear shot of the net to tie the score again. Entering the final 17 minutes of play, both teams were even at 3-3.
Going into the third, Gordon gave the Broncos their first lead of the game early on as she tipped in her second goal of the night only 40 seconds into play. But the Lumberjacks countered with a goal from Janie Johnson less than two minutes later.
“We had a hard time matching their quickness” Bolstad said.
The Broncos had many scoring opportunities, but Bolstad said his team had a hard time getting pucks past Heifort, who was making her debut in the net. Both Bemidji’s goalies were out with injury and illness, so Heifort stepped up to post a victory.
Gordon said her team knew Heifort was unfamiliar in the net and hoped that might give the Broncos an advantage.
“We just didn’t put enough shots on her, though,” she said.
Heifort ended the game with 16 saves and Nelson had 22 saves.
