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The St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders have their first state championship, defeating the Greenway Raiders 5-2 in the Class A title game.

St. Paul — In a back and forth affair, the Crusaders finally have their state title. Led by Jackson Savoie, the senior delivered when it mattered most, scoring the game-wining goal at the 1:52 mark of the second period and the Crusaders never looked back.

Savoie, who scored 28 points – 14 goals and 14 assists – in 25 games in the regular season was just as good in the playoffs, with four goals in three sections games and four more goals in the state tournament.

Savoie’s goal was the turning point for the Crusaders.

“That was big momentum changer,” said teammate Jack Smith. “That was a great shot by Savoie and the guys kind of calmed down on the bench and we were like guys, we’re up by one. We just got to calm down and play our game and that was big change.”

The senior finished the game with three points in the win, with two of them being goals.

It’s also the first time the city of St. Cloud has won a state hockey championship. 

“Our region of the state doesn’t get the credit it deserves,” said head coach Derrick Brown. “There’s a lot of good hockey players in central Minnesota and it’s great for the St. Cloud youth hockey program and it’s great for everybody in 6A and it’s great for central Minnesota. This is a big heavy burden off of our area. We’ve come so close and Alexandria was right there last year. But to have a state championship trophy on the bus with us going home to St. Cloud today, I don’t think there’s anything more special than that.”

After an action-packed first period where both teams held the lead, things were tied 2-2 heading into the first intermission.

During the second period, a golden opportunity presented itself for the Raiders as they received a five-minute major power play. Despite scoring two power-play goals earlier in the game, Greenway went silent on the man-advantage and only registered a few shots on goal as the Crusaders killed off the penalty, preserving their 3-2 lead.

With the Raiders not being able to convert the lengthy power play, it was a turning point in the game.

“Yeah, I mean the five minute penalty, not being able to score on that was, was kind of, you know, wind out of the sails,” said head coach Grant Clafton. “But I don’t think we quit the entire game and, you know, I thought, you know given up shorthanded goals, you know, doesn’t help the guys, either.”

Greenway wouldn’t find the net the rest of the way as the Crusaders scored two more goals in route to their win.

Raiders senior, Donte Lawson, who received the Herb Brooks Award for Class A, was well deserving. Lawson put up 20 points – 10 goals, 10 assists – in six games dating back to sections.

“Playing with these group of kids growing up, that’s awesome,” said Lawson after his team’s runner-up finish. “With our families and our parents and our friends always come to the games and seeing from out of town people coming and the whole community really getting together and having a good time it’s awesome to see.”

 Photo Gallery by Tim Kolehmainen of Breakdown Sports USA for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Tim on Twitter at @BreakdownUSA.

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Greenway’s revival rolls on into rematch with Mahtomedi

St. Paul — Trailing Delano 3-1 after the first period of their state quarterfinal, coach Grant Clafton and his Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin Raiders were in familiar territory having spotted Hermantown to a 2-0 lead a week ago in the Section 7A title game. 

“These games in my opinion they have mirrored our whole season. You’re down 2-0, you’re down 3-1, it’s a weird feeling to have and I really believe that our player have it but I just don’t think that we’re out of any game at anytime because they just have a killer instinct that and they just keep going.”

As they did against the top-ranked Hawks last week, the Raiders stormed back to defeat the Tigers 6-4 in a wild see-saw contest in what was by far the most entertaining of the day’s Class 1A quarterfinals.

“Greenway did an excellent job of getting pucks through from the point, utilizing the NHL-size zone and the higher blue line made it difficult for our wings to get in the lanes,” Delano coach Gerrit van Bergen said. “The angles changed compared to what we’re used to.”

Greenway leading scorer Donte Lawson, who notched his 28th and 29th goals of the year on Wednesday and added a pair of assists, said the Raiders maintained a positive attitude in locker room in the first intermission which they brought with them onto the ice.

“Sticking together like we always have throughout the year,” Lawson said. “We’ve battled through enough adversity where we knew what we had to do and that’s what we did.”

“We came in after the first period down 3-1 and there was no doubt,” Clafton added. “We had guys joking in the locker room.”

Second-period goals by Lawson and Ben Troumbly tied the score heading into the final period but Delano’s Kory Dunnigan scored his second of the game 7:23 into the third to lift the Tigers back to a 4-3 lead with under 10 minutes to play. But goals by Mitchell Vekich and Christian Miller 53 seconds apart restored Greenway’s lead and Lawson’s empty netter sealed it with 34.5 seconds to go. 

“Their forwards are relentless around the front of the net to create traffic and get sticks on pucks,” van Bergen said. “We saw it on film, we saw it when we played them.”

The game was a microcosm of a Greenway season which saw the Raiders stumble to a 6-13 start before rattling off what is now 10 straight wins and storm into a state tournament berth which seemed unlikely two months ago. Delano contributed to that tough start on Dec. 28 with a 4-3 win over the Raiders.

“This is a chance to right a wrong,” Clafton said. “We went through some tough times for about six solid weeks and they were part of that group of teams that was taking it out on us.”

“There’s Mahtomedi (5-2 on Dec. 29) that took it out on us, St. Cloud Cathedral (5-3 on Dec. 7) and East Grand Forks (4-2 on Dec. 8) and we want a shot at all of them.”

When the idea was floated that perhaps the Raiders could play four games this week, Clafton responded without hesitation, “Fine by me.”

 Photo Gallery by Tim Kolehmainen of Breakdown Sports USA for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Tim on Twitter at @BreakdownUSA.

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Sophomore JD Metz coming through in the clutch for Mahtomedi

St. Paul — Near the end of  Mahtomedi’s regular season, Zephyrs coach Jeff Poeschl was far from pleased with his team’s offensive production so he made a bold move to give his team the shot in the arm he felt it needed. Poeschl turned to sophomore defenseman JD Metz and asked him to make the in-season conversion from the blue line to forward.

The move paid off and then some for Poeschl and the Zephyrs as Metz has taken off on an impressive run at just the right time. Of Metz’s 10 goals on the season, six have come in his last six games including four in the postseason and two in top-seeded Mahtomedi’s 6-0 state quarterfinal win over New Ulm on Wednesday night. 

“In youth hockey I always kind of struggled in playoffs so, in my mind, I was always like once I get to high school in playoffs it’ll be another gear,” Metz said after his biggest postseason performance.

Late in a scoreless first period against New Ulm, Metz sparked and finished a run of three goals in 2:14 with a Tom Paradise goal sandwiched between for a 3-0 Zephyr lead heading into the second period. With 27 first period shots, Mahtomedi (22-6-1) expended nearly half of its 55 shot onslaught in the opening frame.

New Ulm goaltender Jack Raymond had all he could handle in an impressive 49-save performance.

“At the beginning [of the game] I felt really tense, you know the bright lights and everything,” Metz said. “But after I got that first one I really settled down and started to find my game and I thought the whole team did.”

Paradise and his brother, Joe, would each add second period goals before Kory Pilarski capped off the scoring just nine seconds into third period.

Metz picked up an assist in his second game at forward, a 2-1 loss to Stillwater, which turned out to be the first of nine points in eight games (6-3–9) since the move. 

“I think that Stillwater game was my first game at forward where a I really felt good with my game and I just felt like I could keep it going.”

Poeschl says the success Metz has had was not unexpected.

“We’ve seen this in him, we just utilized him differently the first 20 games of the season and it’s been a good move for JD and for us here at the end.”

 Photo Gallery by Jeff Wegge for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Jeff on Twitter at @JWeggePhoto.

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Notes and quotes from Day 2 of the Class A state tournament

No. 2 Mahtomedi vs. No. 3 Orono

Orono advances to the Class A Championship Game in a thrilling 5-4 overtime win over Mahtomedi.

The Orono Spartans looked as if they had this game wrapped up. After senior Thomas Walker secured a hat trick with four minutes to play in the second period, the Spartans seemed to set their speedometer to cruise control.

Yet the Mahtomedi Zephyrs did not quit and made one of the most memorable comebacks in tourney history, before coming up just short on Dane Korsi’s game winner for Orono just 2:26 into overtime.

Orono’s Thomas Walker scored three times in the Spartans’ 5-4 OT Class A semifinal win over Mahtomedi. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Epic Comeback

Trailing by four goals, the hope of playing in a championship game appeared slim-to-none for Mahtomedi. After failing to score on their first two power plays, the Zephyrs finally capitalized. Five-seconds into the man advantage, senior Sam Ayd rifled a shot from the point to finally get Mahtomedi on the board. Then in the final minute of play in the second period, Kory Pilarksi made it a two-goal game heading into the second intermission. You could feel the tide start to turn Mahtomedi’s way.

“The coaches were great about keeping our spirits up,” Ayd said. “We knew we were going to pop one and we eventually did and it felt great. We all know what we got to do if we wanted to stay in the game, and we showed that we all came together.”

Despite a layover between periods, the Zephyrs came out with the same fire and seniors Aidan Pearson and Jeff Kneale scored two goals over a 2:05 span and, just like that, a four-goal Orono lead had evaporated.

A Home Run Overtime Winner

After neither team could capture the go-ahead goal in regulation, things had to be settled in overtime. Despite skating on their heels for the majority of the third period, Orono woke up and possessed the puck for the majority of overtime. Two minutes into the overtime, there was a scramble behind the net and defenseman Davey Burns threw a puck towards the crease where Korsi, channeled his inner baseball ability, and knocked the puck out of the air and into the back of the net for the winner.

“I played baseball with Dane,” Walker said of Korsi. “I’ll tell you, he’s a natural athlete; he’s got hand-eye. I mean puck in the air? I’d say he knocks it 10 out of 10 times. I’ve watched him crush baseballs. There’s no reason that he can’t crush a puck into the net.”

Nothing to be Ashamed Of

Although it wasn’t the result they were looking for, Zephrys coach Jeff Poeschel had nothing but positives to say about how his team played.

“Don’t know if there’s many other teams in the state and would’ve been down by four and [not] folded up their tents and packed it in,” Poeschl said. “There’s no way to describe how proud I am.”

No. 1 Hermantown vs. No. 4 Alexandria

Alexandria upsets No. 1 Hermantown to advance to the Class A championship game

For the first time since 2009, the Hermantown Hawks will not be playing in a state championship game, as the Alexandria Cardinals spoiled the improbable streak with a 6-1 victory in the semifinal round.

The Cardinals’ timely goals, including a hat trick by Jack Powell, and goaltender Jackson Boline’s 33 save effort have Alexandria in the state championship game for the first time in school history.

Cardinals senior Jack Powell celebrates after scoring one of his three goals that helped Alexandria advance to the championship game. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Grounding the Hawks

Quieting a team like Hermantown is not an easy task but Alexandria made it look easy. Both teams lit the lamp in the first period but the Hawks had just five shots on goal heading into the first intermission. Considering Hermantown averages nearly five goals per game, that’s very impressive.

“We knew we couldn’t turn pucks over in neutral (zone),” Alexandria coach Ian Resch said of trying to slow down Hermantown’s offense. “They’re a quick transition team so we thought if we could get pucks deep, get our forecheck going, stress their D, make their D play in their own zone. They’re a high offensive team, so teams like that typically don’t like to play a lot in their own zone.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice, Hawks coach Patrick Edwards was a bit dumbfounded on why his team couldn’t find the offense that they’re so accustomed to seeing.

“The second period I thought we took the game over,” Edwards proclaimed. “Totally took the game over, they only had like 4-5 shots the whole period, we had like 17 and we couldn’t have played any better. Couldn’t buy a goal tonight I guess.”

Strong’s goal:

With under three minutes to play in the second period, the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead when sophomore forward Caleb Strong took a pass in the slot and fired a puck just about the glove hand of opposing  goaltender Cole Manahan.

“I just heard Caleb yelling,”Powell said who assisted on the goal. “Threw it to an area and Caleb’s so good he could stick handle in a phone booth. He’s got the best hands and he’s so accurate. I knew he’d find the back of the net.”

Strong’s game-winning goal set the table for a third period where Alexandria would net four goals – two of them empty netters – to secure their win.

The community deserves it

When you have players who are about to play in their first state championship game, it’s not just a joy for them, but for the community as a whole. Which is why win or lose the fact of just being in such a big game means so much for the city of Alexandria.

“I love Alexandria,“ Powell added. “born there, raised there. My parents taught me how to play hockey and they’ve been through so much and I really appreciate them. Without them we wouldn’t be here right now and it’s just good for the community. They’ve been behind us, supporting us, the school, the red line club, parents, friends, family. To give this to them, to the community, is awesome.

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Notes and quotes from Day 1 of the Class A state tournament

No. 2 Mahtomedi vs. Mankato East

A descendant of Herb Brooks leaves his mark at The Tourney

Mahtomedi junior Joe Paradise’s trip to the state tournament is likely a self-fulfilling prophecy.

His grandfather, Herb Brooks – you may have heard of him before – helped St. Paul Johnson to a state championship in 1955. And just like grandfather, he left a lasting impression in the Zephyrs’ 4-2 quarterfinal win over the Mankato East/Loyola Cougars.

Paradise knew from a young age that hockey was going to be the sport he excelled at.

“Since, he was like, a big part of my family, so [I] kind of just got right into it right away,” Paradise said.

Paradise scored two goals in the victory and drew attention with his first-period goal celebration in which he and his teammates posed for a mock selfie with Paradise holding the virtual cell phone.

When asked if it was planned, a big grin drew across the junior’s face and replied, “Yeah, we did.” Both he and teammate Charlie Bartholomew couldn’t help but laugh about the celebration.

Mankato East’s Sam Schulz celebrates his second period goal to lift the Cougars to a 2-1 over Mahtomedi after two periods. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

Paradise opened the game’s scoring with a slick wrist shot that beat Mankato East goaltender Jack Cusey and he later tied the game for Mahtomedi just 31 seconds into the third period after the Cougars had taken a 2-1 lead into the second intermission on goals by Adam Megard and Sam Schulz.

Furious Finish

The final 10 minutes of play in regulation was quite chaotic, the referees handed out a barrage of penalties, with the highlight being a five-minute major on Layten Liffrig, giving Mahtomedi a five-minute power play. Eventually, Charlie Bartholomew netted the game-winning power-play goal to give Mahtomedi a 3-2 lead. Fifty-eight second later, Kory Pilarski scored another goal, securing the win for the Zephyrs.

Mahtomedi had had only come back once in the regular season when trailing after two.

“This team has shown grit all season, from day one,” Zephyrs coach Jeff Poeschl said. “And as a coach, it’s just a pleasure to be part of. Because on the bench, there’s no quit, there’s no panic. It’s, ok let’s get to work and let’s get this taken care of.”

No. 3 Orono vs. Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato

Orono continues to have Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato’s number

Both teams are very familiar with one another but it’s been a one-sided rivalry as Orono has not lost to Litchfield since 2001 and that streak continued in the Spartans 6-1 win over the Dragons.

“It came out that we’d beaten them 30-some times in a row and 2001 (I think) it was the last time they beat us,” Orono coach Will Scholz said. “So it’s always going to be in their heads but we just to try preach it’s not who we play it’s how play.”

Orono defenseman Zach Adams fights off a check from LDC’s Blake Johnson in the Spartans 6-1 Class A state quarterfinal win over the Dragons. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen Breakdown Sports USA)

Flood gates open:

After a scoreless first, the Spartans caught fire in the second netting two goals that were 27-second apart. First, it was sophomore Lucas Jorgenson scoring, with senior Davey Burns making it a two-goal lead shortly after. Then the Spartans really poured it on, receiving goals from Daniel Eckerline and Jack Kubitz and just like that it was 4-0 after two.

“It was a fun a game,” Kubitz said. “It was definitely nerve racking in the first period but after we put one in, I think we knew we could beat them. Because the past games, we just had to get past the first one and then the floodgates would open.”

Senior mentality

As regulation winded down, the Dragons would finally get on the board via the power play when senior Orrin Grangroth scored his team’s only goal deficit to 5-1.

Grangroth, a senior who played in his last high school game took pride in making sure his team wouldn’t get blanked at the State Tournament.

“To have our team get on the board was big and not get shutout and it feels good to score on the big stage,” said Grangroth.

No. 1 Hermantown vs. Monticello

Moose give Hawks all they can handle

In a rematch from last year’s Class A championship game, the Monticello Moose faced the defending champions, the No. 1 Hermantown Hawks.

Hermantown jumped out to an early lead but Monticello would not go quietly and thanks to the heroic play of an underclassman, Hermantown will be moving on to the semi-finals.

Hermantown sophomore Blake Biondi (27) led the Hawks to a 4-2 Class A state quarterfinal win over Monticello with a hat trick. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

A Sophomore as the MVP?

Hermantown is no stranger to the state tournament but for a sophomore to register a hat-trick and earn game MVP honors? Now that’s something incredibly. His impressive play this season – and in the quarterfinal win – was something a powerhouse like Hermantown was surprised by.

“The other day, we were looking at old stats and we don’t remember a sophomore with the impact in points that Blake’s had,” Hawks’ first-year coach Blake Andrews said of Biondi. “I don’t know if we’ve ever had a sophomore with the hockey IQ in a total package of a game. So Blake has a lot of attributes to his game that most seniors would love to have.”

A humbled underclassman replied, “Thank you, coach.” after receiving such high praise from his coach.

Knock, knock, knock, guess who?

The Hawks are anchored by their top line of Tyler Watkins, Jacob Herter and Biondi as the trio has combined for 163 points this season. So it’s only natural, that they scored the first three goals. First Biondi snuck a past right under the glove of goaltender Tyler Klatt, with assists going to Watkins and Herter. After Hermantown drew a power play, Herter made it 2-0 with assists going to (guess who?) Biondi and Watkins.

Even when Monticello draped all over Biondi, he somehow outmuscles the opposition and pushed another puck to the back of the net, which gave the Hawks a 3-0 lead.

Miller Time

Monticello’s Matt Miller celebrates one of his two goals against Hermantown in the Moose’s 4-2 Class A state quarterfinal loss to the Hawks. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

It looked grim for Monticello after Hermantown took a 3-0 lead. Yet 28 seconds later, sophomore forward Matt Miller put on his Superman cape, skated into the offensive zone and blasted a puck from the point and Monticello was on the board. Miller continued to play hero just 2:17 later when the forward streaked in on a breakaway, beating goaltender Cole Manahan for a second time and all of the sudden it was a one-goal game.

“They never said quit,” Monticello coach Eric Nelson said. “They kept going, they kept battling and you know testament to Matt and his shot. He’s got a great shot and a great heart. Just kept getting pucks on net and he was fortunate to get a couple in.”

No. 4 Alexandria vs. No. 5 Thief River Falls

The Cardinals achieved a program first with their victory.

The Alexandria Cardinals and Thief River Falls Prowlers finished off quarter-final play.

In a low scoring affair, the Cardinals pulled through for a 1-0 win; giving the program its first ever state tournament victory.

Alexandria’s Jack Westlund celebrates his game-winning goal in the Cardinals’ 1-0 Class A state quarterfinal win over Thief River Falls. (Photo by Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

Tic-tac-toe

Alexandria’s top line of Ben Dohert, Caleb Strong and Jack Westlund we’re creating plenty of chances early on. After nearly lighting the lamp on multiple opportunities, Westlund received a beauty of a pass from defenseman Andrew Revering and Westlund buried the puck in the back of net.

“I got to give some credit to where credit is due to the people who assists me,” Westlune said. “Because without them I never score but it just feels great to be the one who scores, but I mean obviously it’s not just me it’s everyone.”

Westlund came into the tournament with 14 goals, which was tied for second on the team.

Prowlers can’t convert

Thief River Falls drew back-to-back power plays but weren’t able to convert either of them. They had a 5-on-4 for 1:43, followed by a 5-on-3 for 17 seconds, and then another 5-on-4 for 1:43. Yet the Prowlers were not able to convert as Alexandria’s penalty kill stood tall.

“The second period is the period I thought we just didn’t show up,” Thief River Falls coach Tim Bergland said. “Credit them for executing and we didn’t.”

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