Vikings rally late, top Northland in OT

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University scored two goals in the final 1:27 to tie it and then netted the game-winner in overtime for a 5-4 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Northland College on Saturday at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

The Vikings (4-2-0, 4-2-0 NCHA) put together a stunning rally to sweep the weekend series from the Lumberjacks (1-5-0, 1-5-0).

Lawrence trailed 4-2 when the Vikings pulled goaltender Mattias Soderqvist with 1:45 left in the third period. With an extra attacker on the ice, Lawrence’s Jake Kreutzer scored just 12 seconds later to trim the lead to 4-3.

The Vikings put Soderqvist back in the game, got control of the puck and pulled their goaltender again. With the extra attacker back on the ice, Brendan Vetter scored with just 33 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 4-4.

The Vikings then got the game-winning goal from Renato Engler just 2:15 into the extra period off passes from Kreutzer and Patrick Coyne.

Engler, Kreutzer and Matt Montemurro all had a goal and an assist for the Vikings. Soderqvist made 26 saves to pick up the win, and Northland goaltender Tyler Ampe made 28 saves and took the loss.

After a scoreless first period, Darius Cole gave Northland a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the second period. Montemurro scored at the 15:32 mark to tie it at 1-1 for the Vikings. Lawrence’s Mikkel Johnk then scored his first career goal, a power-play tally, 56 seconds later to give the Vikings a 2-1 edge.

Northland came back with another goal by Cole to tie it at 2-2 heading into the third period. Michael Berens and Anthony Stempin scored in the first 10:04 of the final period to give the Lumberjacks a 4-2 advantage before Lawrence rallied.

Box score