Hunter Aubol made 33 saves as East Grand Forks ended the season for the Park Rapids-Menahga boys hockey team with a 5-1 win in a Section 8A quarterfinal game Friday night at East Grand Forks.
East Grand Forks, the No. 3 seed, opened the scoring on Casey Ristau's goal just 1:59 into the game. The Panthers tied it at the 7:02 mark when Tucker Coborn set up Levi Erickson. Park Rapids held a 13-9 edge in shots in the opening period.
The No. 6-seeded Panthers continued to attack the net in the second period by holding a 10-4 edge in shots. However, Aubol stopped all 10 shots and Ristau's power-play goal at the 16:30 mark gave the Green Wave a 2-1 advantage.
East Grand Forks sealed the win by scoring three times in the final period. Jake Useldinger's goal 35 seconds into the period was followed by goals by Alex Robertson at the 9:26 mark and Jeremy Wikoff at the 13:46 mark as the Green Wave advanced to the semifinals.
Ryan O'Mara finished with 16 saves for the Panthers, who lost to EGF 8-3 early in the season and ended the year with a 16-8-2 record.
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East Grand Forks advanced with a 12-13-1 record.
FIRST PERIOD: 1, East Grand Forks, Ristau (Useldinger, Poolman), 1:59. 1, Park Rapids, Erickson (T. Coborn), 7:02.
SECOND PERIOD: 2, East Grand Forks, Ristau (Gregoire), 16:30.
THIRD PERIOD: 3, East Grand Forks, Useldinger (unassisted), :35. 4, East Grand Forks, Robertson (Peabody, Greenwood), 9:26. 5, East Grand Forks, Wikoff (Moser, Gregoire), 13:46.
GOALIE SAVES: Park Rapids (O'Mara) 8-3-5-16. East Grand Forks (Aubol) 12-10-11-33.
