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Maple Grove boys take down Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids

By Luke Hanlon, SportsEngine, 04/27/22, 6:00PM CDT

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A steady flow of scoring led the Crimson over the Panthers on Wednesday.


Josh Steinkopf (22) of Maple Grove scored 5 goals Wednesday night as the Crimson went on to defeat conference foe Panther’s 15-7 at Spring Lake Park high school. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

Maple Grove put 15 goals past Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids on Wednesday night, but the biggest play of the game won’t show up on the scoresheet. 

With just over two minutes left in the first quarter, the Crimson were down 1-0 after a sloppy start. The entire game changed when two Crimson forwards pressed a Panther defender and forced him to pass it back to his goalie. The pass went out of bounds, and Josh Steinkopf scored about 20 seconds after play restarted to tie the game 1-1. 

“I feel like we finally realized we were playing a game,” Steinkopf said about the forced turnover. “We weren’t mentally prepared, definitely after that we were ready to go.” The Crimson scored two goals in the opening 71 seconds of the second quarter and they wouldn’t lose the lead from there. 

It was an easy decision for Maple Grove head coach Joe Weichert to give Steinkopf the game ball after the 15-7 win. Steinkopf scored a game-high five goals.


Maple Grove’s Charlie Rausch (7) intercepted a pass and quickly turned it in to a goal in the second quarter as the Crimson defeated the Panther’s 15-7. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

First Report

Maple Grove defeated Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids 15-7 on the road on Wednesday night to improve to 4-0 this season. 

The game started a bit slow as each team was feeling the other out. Blake Leuck opened the scoring, as he netted a power play goal a little over eight minutes into the game. That was the last time the Panthers (2-2, 2-2) had the lead. 

Josh Steinkopf scored his first of five goals in the game with 1:40 left in the first quarter. The Crimson (4-0, 4-0) scored two goals in the opening 71 seconds of the second quarter — one apiece from Tyler and Josh Steinkopf — and they were in control from there. Those were the first of five goals the Crimson would score in the quarter, leading to a 6-3 advantage heading into halftime. Both second-quarter goals for the Panthers were scored by Owen Spencer. 

The Panthers were never able to get their deficit below three goals in the second half. A goal by Harry Covel with 59 seconds left in the third cut it to a 9-5 lead for the Crimson, and it appeared the Panthers had momentum. But Ben Schaffler scored with nine seconds left in the quarter and the Crimson cruised from there.


Owen Spencer (1) of the Panther’s scored two goals Wednesday night as the Panther’s ending up losing to conference rival Crimson at home 15-7. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

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