2011-01-10, Hopkins, MN: The D2 Northern Horde overcame the fatigue of the an indescribably long drive out to Hopkins to beat the Maroons in one of the best games of the seasons. Both teams rose to the occasion and played with ferocity with sixth place in the D2 standings on the line. The game was a defensive battle all the way, which looked scary for the Horde with Jon Zimmerman subbing for Stan Kruglikov. However, Zimmerman shocked everyone by not giving up a goal on the night. Said captian Kline, "We are always nervous when Zimmerman is back there, but with the speed of Joe Lee, we thought he wouldn't hurt us too badly." Through the first period, the Maroons controlled the play, but Richard "Big Stick" Dargis got his second goal of the season with a 140 foot shot from the Horde's defensive blue line as he was getting off the ice for a change. The puck slipped past a stunned Maroons goalie to put the Horde into the lead. The game remained scoreless as both goalies turned away shot after shot. In the third period, the Maroons put a deflected puck past Pete Morrow to tie things up, but the Horde were not through. Jonny "Clutch" Nygren made sure the Horde would go home winners when he stole the puck at the blue line, made a great move at the left boards to create some space and blasted (sort of) the puck past a stunned Maroons goalie to put the Horde up for good. After the game, Ryan Dolan expressed his surprise, "I never expected to see Nygren get a goal in that situation. Usually, he makes a play and then gives the puck back to the other team so they won't be embarassed he just stole it from them. For some reason, he decided to do something with it tonight." Despite being outshot 31-17, Pete Morrow was solid all night in picking up another win between the pipes. The Horde are looking forward to the return of Will Schultz next week to make ensure that no goals get scored from the third line.
