Where has this kid been all season?

Seth Lang's play Monday night should make his case in solidifying his hold on the starting goaltending position for Central High School. Seth Lang a sophomore until recently had been wafting in the wings for his opportunity to show what he can do. That opportunity finally presented itself on Monday night as Lang and the Central Knights put up blue collar effort to beat the Fargo South Bruins 2-1 in overtime. It would appear that the questions to the goaltending situation at Central High School have been answered!

Central grabs third seed
By Brad Schlossman, Herald Staff Writer

After a 5-19 finish last season, Tony Bina set the lofty goal of a third-place finish for his Grand Forks Central boys hockey team.

It took until the final second of the regular season, but the Knights fulfilled their coach's wish.

Joel Riopelle scored an overtime goal to lift Central to a 2-1 win over Fargo South on Monday in a game that decided the East Region's third seed.

“It's so big for us to get the win, especially going into the playoffs,” said Bina, whose team finished the regular season 12-8-1 overall and 8-5-1 in region play. “We thought that we could finish in the top three in the (East Region), and we did it through hard work.”

The Knights used strong goaltending from sophomore Seth Lang and timely goals by Riopelle and Klockmann to beat the Bruins in overtime for the second time this season.

Lang stopped 24 shots to lead a strong defensive effort by the Knights, who had allowed 17 goals in the last two games.

“We had to bounce back from those games,” said Lang, who made 11 saves in the third period. “It's good to leave the regular season on a good note.”

Central plays sixth-seeded Fargo North on Thursday in the first round of the region tournament, while Fargo South plays fifth-seeded Devils Lake.

The Bruins appeared to be in position to take the third seed on Monday night after Ian Powers tied the game when his wrist shot from the boards went off a Central defenseman's stick and into the net with 4:50 left.

South outshot the Knights 12-3 in the third period and only needed to muster a tie.

But in overtime, Central needed just one scoring chance.

Riopelle carried the puck in the zone on his forehand along the right wing. He fought off a check from a Bruin defenseman and took it to the net hard. At the last second, he moved the puck to his backhand and flipped it past goalie Scott Buchholz on the short side at 1:22.

“On a play like that, you just try to drive to the net and hope to get a rebound or draw a penalty,” Riopelle said. “Once I saw it go in, I just laid there on the ice. I knew that the game was over. That's probably the best feeling I've ever had as a Central hockey player.”

South coach Dean Wilson said he felt his team had chances to win but didn't finish. As for not getting the third seed, he's not overly concerned.

“In order to get to state, we'll need to beat Red River, Grafton(-Park River) and Central anyway,” Wilson said. “And Devils Lake, too, for that matter. We play them first.

“We're looking forward to the challenge.”