West Fargo's biggest questions may have been answered Tuesday night, as Ross Richards' hockey squad rode its defense to a 2-1 win over Fargo Shanley in one last conference tilt before the holiday break.

The win was a big one for the Packers, who moved to 6-1 on the season and 4-1 in East Region action, good for second place overall in the EDC and one of Richards' best starts in 15 years as the head coach of the West Fargo program.

The star of the game went to senior netminder Brady Houkom, who stopped 38 of 39 Deacons shots and was perfect in the final two periods of play.

Junior forward Jake miller scored the game winners with a little more than four minutes left in the second period, and the Packer defense held on tin the third period, limiting Shanley to just 11 shots on goal, their lowest on the game.

Jeff Vance scored the first goal of the game for the Packers on a powerplay opportunity, his first of the year. It couldn't have come at a better time, as Adam Crist earned the assist. The Packers moved the puck well early on with the man advantage, and broke open the game in the ninth minute.

But Shanley responded about five minutes later, just before the first period horn, as Marc Harrie beat Brady Houkom for what would be the Deacons' only goal on the night.

It was an even match, as it figured to be. Both teams have posted wins over Jamestown and Grand Forks Central this season, while both fell short against Grand Forks Red River. With about a quarter of the regular season gone, the conference race is shaping up where these two teams could battle for the third or fourth state tournament spot awarded to the East Region.

";You have Fargo South who is going to be a very solid team, and Grafton, which returns a lot of talent. But after that, it's really anyone's guess,"; Richards said. ";We'd like to think that we have the talent this year to get back to the state tournament.";

But the questions on defense were pretty obvious heading into the season. Suffering a couple of losses due to injury and transfers, Richards shuffled a couple of players who could have started on offense back to the defensive corps. The move has paid off, as the Packers have allowed two goals or less in five of their games this season. They've won all of those games.

What has also helped is the experience between the pipes. Goalies Colin Guidinger and Houkom are both seniors, and are playing well. Houkom has given up three goals in two-and-a-third periods, good for a 94 percent save rate. Guidinger, meanwhile, has stopped 95 of 105 shots so far this season in nearly three games, good for a save percentage of 90 percent.

";It's nice to have that depth and that experience back there,"; Richards said. ";We can put either of those guys, and throw Kirby (Keller) into that mix, who is just a sophomore, and feel good about who is in net for us.";

West Fargo will face some stiff competition this weekend, when it travels to Minnesota for the Fergus Falls Holiday Tournament. The Pack will square off with perennial power Fergus Falls and Austin during the course of the three-day tournament.

After the New Year, the Packers will kick off 2006 with a pair of huge road games. They'll visit Fargo North on Tuesday, Jan. 3, and then visit Fargo South, the No. 1 team in the state, on Friday, Jan. 6.

The Pack's next home game will be on Tuesday, Jan. 10, when they host Wahpeton.