Thunder battles to OT

Published 8:36 am Monday, December 1, 2008

It wasn’t a win for the Albert Lea Thunder, but the team displayed some character in a 2-1 overtime loss to Owatonna Sunday at the City Arena.

The Thunder (1-18-3) was coming off the heels of two losses on the road to Bismarck where it was outscored 12-1, but displayed some resiliency against the Express.

“We put three periods together,” Albert Lea head coach Brad Zangs said. “Playing three games like this I was pretty impressed.”

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Owatonna’s Nick Carson scored the game winner at 3 minutes, 21 seconds into overtime when he fired a rocket shot from just outside the right circle that Thunder goaltender Tom Lescovich had no chance on saving.

Getting to overtime was impressive for Albert Lea. Cory Thorson scored a power play goal on a blast from the right circle in the third period to give the Express a 1-0 lead at the 2:30 mark. But the Thunder didn’t letdown after the goal. Ryan Johnson tied the game at 1-1 just 18 seconds later when he banged the puck home off a rebound from a Dusan Kobela shot from the point.

“These boys don’t give up,” Zangs said. “I think their attitude, tenacity … everything was perfect. This is where we need to be at all the time. If we play like this all the time we will knock teams off.”

The team knew this weekend was going to be a rough stretch with a long trip to Bismarck. The Thunder returned to Albert Lea at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, but came out with energy from the start of the game. The goals, however, didn’t come as easily.

Albert Lea outshot Owatonna in the first period 12-8, and dominated play throughout the second period, but couldn’t get on the board.

“We didn’t have this up in Bismarck,” Zangs said. “We were all over them.”

In the second period the Thunder had opportunities as well. B.J. McClellan had a chance in front of the Express net and Matt Sempeck had a breakaway, but Owatonna goalie Adam Buegler was up to the task. He turned away 19 shots on the night.

Albert Lea’s goaltender was just as tough. Lescovich was tested throughout the third period with the game tied, but he continued to play very strong.

“Lesky stood on his head again,” Thunder forward Jake Armijo said. “He held us in there in the third period.”

Albert Lea wanted to come away with some points this weekend, which it did, with the overtime loss. It’s the second point in four games for the Thunder – a sign that things are improving.

“If we can keep up this tempo and get the right mindset, things will start going right,” Albert Lea defenseman Josh Botimer said.

The Thunder will play Alexandria this weekend in Alexandria. It will be another important road test for the team.

“This gives us a lot of momentum heading into Alexandria,” Armijo said.

Owatonna 2, Albert Lea 1 OT

1st 2nd 3rd OT

Owatonna 0 0 1 1 —2

Albert Lea 0 0 1 0 — 1

GOAL SCORING:

1st period: no scoring

2nd period: no scoring

3rd period: Owatonna — Cory Thorson (power play) (Chris Bournazos, Jacob Sloat) 2:30

Albert Lea — Ryan Johnson (Dusan Kobela) 2:48

Overtime: Owatonna — Nick Carson (Zach Vierling) 3:21

POWER PLAY CONVERSION: Owatonna 1-for-8, Albert Lea 0-for-5.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1st 2nd 3rd OT Total

Owatonna 8 7 1 13 29

Albert Lea 12 3 1 3 19