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Lund scored the game-winning goal quickly after a faceoff against Mahtomedi in overtime for a 7-6 victory on Dec. 2, at the St. Croix Valley Recreation Center in Stillwater. It flipped the script of the teams’ last meeting on March 11 in the Class 1A state championship game when Mahtomedi won 6-5 in double overtime off of a faceoff with a play known as “lava cake.”

“I wanted it so bad. The rest of the team [did too] … there’s quite a few guys [here] who know how it feels to lose in the state championship,” Lund said. “We just did everything right off of the faceoff, ran play, and did everything right. Just amazing for the team and everybody.”

Senior forward Murray Marvin-Cordes set up Lund with the assist for the winning goal 3:38 into overtime. Warriors players crowded in celebration at the face-off circle as if they won much more than a regular season game.

Warroad (3-1), ranked No. 5 in Class 1A according to Let’s Play Hockey, and No. 3 Mahtomedi (1-3) came out flying as if it wasn’t a December game, too. The Zephyrs and Warriors traded goals in the first period amid three lead changes, but Mahtomedi came away with a 5-3 edge headed into the locker room.

Warroad senior Ryan Lund winds up for a shot. (MHM Photo / Jonathan Watkins)

“Especially that first period was just wide open. Not a lot of defense either way,” said Warroad coach Jay Hardwick. “I didn’t know if the whole game was going to be like that or if it was going to settle down because sometimes it does.

“But it was mostly wide open the whole game. Drives you nuts a little bit, but if you can play that way and come out on top, it’s alright.”

Lund led the rally with two goals in the second period on assists from Carson Pilgrim and Marvin-Cordes to tie things up at 5-5. Sophomore forward Dominic Anthony put the Warriors ahead 6-5, with the first assist to Lund. 

While Mahtomedi knotted it up 6-6 on senior forward Patrick Egan’s goal, the Zephyrs made a significant adjustment down the stretch. Junior goaltender Wes Strub subbed in for senior goalie Charlie Brandt, who saw 30 shots in less than two periods. Strub stopped 15 shots in 30 minutes, six seconds on the ice before Lund spoiled his outing.

“He gave up the goal at the end, but he made several key saves,” Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl said about Strub. “It’s tough to come in, in the middle of a game. He made a lot of real good saves to keep us in it.”

Warroad and Mahtomedi piled on the shots with 91 combined, which didn’t quite match their output at the Xcel Energy Center last season. The skaters went wild at the “X” with 109 combined shots on goal in that game.

“We always have a good battle with Warroad whether it’s in the regular season or in a state tournament game,” Poeschl said.

Hardwick concurred about the seasoned Class 1A powerhouse rivalry.

“Every game we play Mahtomedi for the last three to four years, we’ve played very good hockey games, so they knew what they were getting into,” he said.

Warroad locked down the latest matchup with Mahtomedi with defense in the third period and a big penalty kill in overtime. Pilgrim’s late slashing minor in the third period didn’t stymie the Warriors going into the extra period on the road.

“It was an opportunity missed,” Poeschl said.

Mahtomedi goaltender Charlie Brandt faces a shot on goal. (MHM Photo / Jonathan Watkins)

Mahtomedi only got off two shots in the extra period while the Warriors took five shots on goal. That’s after the Zephyrs outshot the Warriors 12-5 in the third but to no avail.

“I told them before the third [period] that we need to go out and focus and … taking care of our end and eliminating their chances, and the offense will take care of itself,” Hardwick said. “And it’s kind of what happened.”

Warroad didn’t make a goalie change as senior Ben Norris stopped 39 shots with an .867 save percentage. He staved off 12 Mahtomedi shots in the third period alone.

“I didn’t think any of the goals he let in were bad goals,” Hardwick said about Norris. “It was more of the chances and opportunities for getting in. I hadn’t really thought about that because he made some really big saves for us, and I wasn’t about to pull him out. I thought he got better as the game went on and gave us a chance to win.”

Gallery: Warroad vs. Mahtomedi, Dec. 2, 2023.

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The result? Just a hat trick on Hockey Day. No biggie.

“He looked like himself today,” said Hermantown coach Patrick Andrews. “I think he’s back.”

Kohanski’s first goal in the second period against Mahtomedi, ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, put the Hawks up 3-1. He scored early in the third period for another two-goal lead before registering the hat trick with a power-play goal for a 5-3 lead.

Each time the Zephyrs got close, Kohanski made it that much tougher for the opponent in the battle of Class 1A powerhouses. In one afternoon, Kohanski doubled his season goal total.  

“Obviously a difference maker, and we haven’t had him,” Andrews said. “Your whole senior year, you’re watching 90% of it, and then you get to come out on a day like this and have a day. I was really happy for him.”

Being out injured was tough, Kohanski said, adding that you can’t get the time back and he’s trying to make up for it these past few games. Playing without the wrist brace, which Andrews said limited Kohanski’s mobility, came at the right time.

“It felt really good, and I could finally shoot a little bit,” Kohanski said. “Scored a couple goals, so it felt good.”

Kade Kohanski (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Something else that felt really good for Kohanski and his Hawks teammates, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A? Recording a 6-3 victory over Mahtomedi at Polar Lakes Park. Besides the hat trick from Kohanski, Hermantown’s line of the Kauppinen brothers and Wyatt Carlson scored the other three goals. Joshua Kauppinen put the Hawks up 1-0 only 3 minutes, 13 seconds into the game. Carlson added a late empty-netter, and Matthew Kauppinen scored his second goal of the season (to go with his 15 assists) for a 2-1 lead in the second period.

Since the 2015-16 season, Hermantown is now 8-1 against Mahtomedi, including 7-0 in the regular season. The one loss for the Hawks? The 2020 Class 1A state championship game for Mahtomedi’s first state title.

“They’re obviously a big rival for us,” Matthew Kauppinen said. “Especially when we lost to them in state 2020. It’s always a battle, and they’re a good team, so it’s always fun.”

It was pretty fun for the Kauppinen brothers to play together during such a fun, outdoor event like Hockey Day Minnesota. Both Matthew Kauppinen and coach Andrews talked about the honor of Hermantown being included in the festivities.

This is Hermantown’s second time participating in Hockey Day Minnesota. The town hosted the event in 2010, on a day with freezing rain and snow, a contrast to this year’s event with single-digit temperatures that felt below zero. Andrews was coaching bantams in Hermantown at the time, a group that became the shovel crew for Hockey Day, Andrews said.

The coach used the words “gratifying” and “humbled” to describe Hermantown being chosen to play on Hockey Day this year in White Bear Lake.

“It’s really cool to see how it’s grown in 13 years,” Andrews said. “This is pretty amazing. It’s super special to be a part of. We’re just so honored that they asked us to be a part of it, and to play Mahtomedi is a great treat, too.”

The current roster of Hermantown players were pretty young, though some remember that 2010 Hockey Day. Kohanski was only 5 in 2010 but remembers watching many Hockey Days on TV since then. Matthew Kauppinen recalls skating outside before the big high school game.

“It was an honor to be a part of it,” Matthew Kauppinen said, of the 2023 Hockey Day Minnesota. “And then yesterday, we had practice. We all had a lot of fun. And then to bring it today and win, it was super awesome.

“I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”

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His 11th goal will likely go down as perhaps the biggest of his career.

He buried a shot 2 minutes, 44 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 victory over Hermantown to give the Zephyrs their first boys’ hockey state title.

“I just got the pass from Metzie, and I cut to the middle,” Hagstrom said. “I shot it, and it went in.

“It still doesn’t feel real.”

Mahtomedi grabbed an early 2-0 lead with a power-play goal from junior JD Metz in the first period and another 1 minute, 47 seconds into the second period from junior Ethan Peterson, with a Metz feed from behind the net.

But from early on in the second period, the ice tilted toward Hermantown’s favor. While Mahtomedi played defense and only registered one more shot on goal the entire period, Hermantown pressured to get on the board. Senior Drew Sams made it 2-1 at the 11:41 mark of the second on a shot that got through traffic and appeared to go in off Metz in front.

“We came to play in the second half of the game,” said Mr. Hockey finalist, Hermantown senior Blake Biondi.

The play was similar in the third period, as Hermantown outshot Mahtomedi 23-3. They peppered Mahtomedi sophomore goaltender Ben Dardis with shots without getting rewarded for their efforts.

Hermantown’s Aaron Pionk watches his shot sail over the glove of Mahtomedi goaltender Ben Dardis with 21.2 seconds left to send the game to overtime. MHM (Photo / Rick Olson)

It looked like the game would end there. But with 21.2 seconds left in regulation, junior Aaron Pionk tied the game. It was confirmed to be a good goal after video review, as players were crashing the net and a Hermantown player ended up in the crease.

The explanation Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl received from officials on the goal was that the player in the crease did not significantly interfere with the goaltender.

“I lost my mind,” Pionk said, when the goal was confirmed. “I think I knew it was in right away.”

Giving up the tying goal so close to the title in regulation might be enough to frustrate or deflate a team like Mahtomedi. Metz said they “were definitely a little stunned,” but Poeschl said his players weren’t down in the brief break before overtime.

“I’ve coached for 27 years, and there have been a lot of highs and lows,” Poeschl said. “You can read a team. And there was never that feeling of, ‘Oh man. Now we don’t have a chance.’ There was never that sense on the bench.”

Mahtomedi went back out and put two shots on goal in less than three minutes of overtime – the same number of shots it had in the second period – it just so happened that one of them found the back of the net.

Dardis finished the game with 40 saves and a state championship. Andrews didn’t know what more his team could have done against him.

“It was a clinic on how to play goalie,” said Hermantown coach Patrick Andrews. “Hats off to the Dardis kid.

“To tie that thing up when I didn’t know if we’d ever get another goal on that kid. He played out of his mind.”

Poeschl said his team executed its game plan, knowing it wasn’t “going to be able to go toe-to-toe with Hermantown” and win a track meet type of game.

“Even though the puck was in our end an awful lot tonight, we knew that that was the kind of game that we were going to have to play,” Poeschl said.

Mahtomedi goaltender Ben Dardis made 40 saves in hi team’s 3-2 Class 1A state championship game win over Hermantown on Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Hagstrom and teammate Nikolai Dulak, who had two assists in the game and five for the tournament, were the only two seniors this year who’ve played on the varsity squad all four years of high school. Their teams went to four state hockey tournaments, always coming up empty except for this final time.

This year’s title didn’t come without a setback for Hagstrom, however. He missed six-to-seven weeks in the middle of the season with a broken fibula, returning Jan. 28. He scored 11 goals and 19 points in 18 games this season, with the championship game-winner no doubt ranking at the top.

At first, the doctors didn’t know if he’d be back on the ice this season.

“I had to support my team,” Hagstrom said. “I told myself there was no way that I wouldn’t come back.”

Hagstrom also received the Herb Brooks Award following the game, one presented to him on the ice by his former Mahtomedi teammates, Tom and Joe Paradise, who graduated last year.

“The Herb Brooks Award is a snapshot of Colin,” Poeschl said. “He persevered. He was at every single practice. Every team meeting. He was on the bench filling water bottles. When he had a boot on, he’s shooting pucks.”

Hagstrom scored eight of his 11 goals this season since his return, including a goal in each state tournament game, adding a pair of assists as well.

He was part of the effort that helped Mahtomedi make the most of its opportunities in its final two games of the year. In the semifinal in which it knocked off top-seeded Warroad, Mahtomedi scored five goals on 12 shots. Saturday, the Zephyrs had their two goals on only six shots.

Hermantown, with three state titles, holds the Class 1A tournament record for most runner-up finishes with eight. On the other hand, Mahtomedi came into the tournament having some poor history on its side. The Zephyrs hold the Class 1A tournament record for most losses in the tournament with 17. They also hadn’t made a championship game until this year, and now they’re 1-0.

With the Zephyrs winning, it also marks the first time since 2004-07 that there have been four different Class 1A champions in a row. From 2017-20, it’s been Hermantown, Orono, St. Cloud Cathedral and now Mahtomedi.

Poeschl has led plenty of teams to the tournament in his 23 years coaching at Mahtomedi, but a title was worth the wait.

“I’m just happy for these guys that they can make history in Mahtomedi hockey,” Poeschl said.

MHM Photo / Rick Olson

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For the first time in its history, Mahtomedi will play for a boys’ state hockey championship.

“We’ve been here more than a few times and have not been able to break through that threshold,” said Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl. “And so, it feels great.”

The 4-seed Zephyrs got there by bouncing top-seeded Warroad by a 5-1 score in Friday’s second Class 1A semifinal. Saturday will mark Mahtomedi’s first appearance in the title game in 12 state tournament trips.

Mahtomedi’s Adam Johnson was all smiles after his two goals helped lift the Zephyrs into the Class 1A state title game with a 5-1 win over top-seeded Warroad on Friday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

Yes, the Zephyrs are no strangers to the state semifinal game, which has provided a couple of heartbreaking results the past couple of years. They lost in overtime in each of the past two seasons in that game, last year getting upset as the No. 1 seed to Greenway and the year before to eventual champion Orono.

The state history for Mahtomedi includes third-place finishes in 1994, 2015 and 2019.

The difference this year was “naming the elephant in the room at the beginning of the season,” Poeschl said, at their first team meeting.

Friday, they came out prepared and shut down one of the best teams in the state, holding Warroad to a single goal.

“They did a great job of making it hard on us,” said Warroad coach Jay Hardwick. “We spent a lot of time in their zone. They had guys draped all over us. They were blocking shots.”

Hardwick added that Mahtomedi made the most of its opportunities. That’s for sure. The Zephyrs scored five goals on 12 shots; Warroad finished the game outshooting its opponent 30-18.

Senior Billy Buttermore gave the Zephyrs a 1-0 lead in the first period before senior Colin Hagstrom scored on the power play in the final minute of the period. Junior Adam Johnson bookended the scoring for Mahtomedi in their three-goal second period, putting them ahead 3-0 at the 2:37 mark and then the 5-1 lead with 28.8 seconds to play in the period.

The goals looked identical, with snipes in the top, right corner. Johnson said it was fun to joke about those goals and that particular move on the bench, because “our JV coach actually doesn’t like it very much,” Johnson said.

Going for a state title Saturday should help.

“It feels great,” Johnson said. “And after losing to Greenway last year, it’s just been a drive, like a different type of mentality going into it.”

Hermantown ousts champs

There was one player St. Cloud Cathedral coach Derrick Brown couldn’t stop raving about in the postgame press conference after his team was upset in the first Class 1A semifinal. And it wasn’t one of his own players.

“It’s (Joey) Pierce,” Brown said, of the Hermantown defenseman. “Numerous times he killed us in the neutral zone. He stepped up, made plays.

“It’s Joey Pierce that does everything for them. I thought he was the difference. We could not generate offense when he was out there.”

Pierce, a junior defenseman, had a goal and two assists in the 6-2 Hermantown win to send the Hawks back to the Class 1A championship game. As the 3-seed, Hermantown upset 2-seed and defending champion Cathedral.

Hermantown defenseman Joey Pierce fires a shot past a diving C.J. Zins of St. Cloud Cathedral during their Class 1A state semifinal contest won by the Hawks 6-2 on Friday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

Hermantown took a 3-0 lead in the second period on what turned out to be the game-winning goal from senior Cayden Sunde. His sharp-angle shot from near the goal line found its way to the back of the net for his sixth of the season. Sunde had jumped up to the second line after another player went down with an injury.

Sunde was “kind of the ‘last guy,’ if you will” when the team was chosen back in November, said Hermantown coach Patrick Andrews. The coach talked to Sunde back in the fall, telling him he wasn’t sure how much he was going to play.

“Wow. Did that decision work out, eh Sunde?” Andrews said.

Cathedral got a goal from senior Nate Warner a few minutes later and trailed 3-1 headed into the final period, but the Crusaders were not deterred.

“I don’t think we had a doubt in our mind coming into the whole third period, being down two,” Warner said. “We’ve been down a lot more than that the whole year.

“Everyone had it in the back of their mind that we were going to come back and take this one.”

Whenever Cathedral seemed to grab a little momentum, Hermantown made the hill a little bit more of a steeper climb. Blake Biondi’s goal to make it 2-0 with 1 minute, 40 seconds left in the first period came shortly after Cathedral generated some offensive-zone pressure.

It was a similar situation when Hermantown made it 4-2 on Pierce’s goal. On the play, Pierce took the puck up ice from his own zone, passed the puck to a teammate for the shot on goal, then picked up the loose puck and scored into a wide-open net with the goalie down having made a spectacular save on the initial shot.

“Joey’s unbelievable,” Andrews said. “He showed today why he’s the best defenseman in the state. Joey was the X factor.”

He’s a guy you want on your team, Biondi said.

“He’s got everything,” Biondi said. “He’s a heart-and-soul type of guy, and that’s why I think we’ve been winning games right now.”

The Hawks had six goal scorers in the game, including Cole Antcliff, Biondi, Sunde, Pierce, Ethan Lund and Zach Kilen with a short-handed empty-netter.

The game included a physical scrum at the buzzer to end the first period which resulted in full penalty boxes at the start of the second period. Ten penalties were assessed, including a pair of 10-minute misconducts to a player each from Hermantown and Cathedral.

Hermantown heads back to the title game. It won back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017. They’ll face a pretty familiar foe in Mahtomedi. Hermantown won the other meeting between the two this season, 9-2 at home on Dec. 21, a game in which it outshot Mahtomedi 40-15. Pierce had a four-point game.

Poeschl said he’d like to believe that game result was an anomaly.

“They pounded us,” Poeschl said. “We’re a different team.

“But it’s also a kick in the pants. Make sure that our guys are going to be ready to go tomorrow night.”

Mahtomedi lost 4-0 to Hermantown in the 2018 third-place game as well.

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And he wasn’t even the No. 1 star.

No, that honor would probably have to go to his senior teammate Grant Slukynsky, who scored a natural hat trick at the 6 minutes, 22 seconds mark of the first period to give the top-seeded Warriors (27-2-0) an early 3-0 lead on their way to a 9-3 victory over Hutchinson in the first Class 1A quarterfinal of the evening session at Xcel Energy Center.

“Couldn’t even dream of a better start than that,” Slukynsky said.

Slukynsky tied a nearly 70-year-old tournament record for points in a period. He had five points in the first after assisting on a pair of goals. John Mayasich, whose name is all over the state tournament record books, also scored five points in a period for Eveleth in 1951.

Slukynsky is no stranger to putting points on the scoresheet. He had a nine-point game in a 10-1 win at Detroit Lakes on Jan. 4, with four goals and five assists. Shaugabay threw a little joking sarcasm his teammate’s way during the postgame press conference.

“He scored three before two commercials,” Shaugabay said. “Why don’t you get nine while you’re at it, Grant?

“Yeah, we knew it was his night.”

The Mr. Hockey finalist Slukynsky nearly reached another record. His three goals and four assists for seven points just missed Mayasich’s record of most points in a single tournament game with eight.

“Usually not too many of his records are going to ever get touched,” said Warroad coach Jay Hardwick. “So, to do that is something special that I’ll never forget, he’ll never forget.

“It’s not every day that you witness something like that.”

Warroad freshman Jayson Shaugabay is all smiles after one of his three goals in the Warriors Class 1A state quarterfinal win over Hutchinson Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

Shaugabay scored a pair of goals later in the first period before completing his hat trick with about 7:30 left in the game during the mostly-running-time third period. The freshman has 30 goals and 67 points this season.

Hutchinson got a pair of goals 1:02 apart from sophomore Brady Knorr to briefly stop the running time in the third period, but the deficit was still 8-3 at that point. Telecky said his team played uncharacteristic defense, especially early in the game. The Tigers (19-9-1) also used all three goaltenders during the game, Jacob Huls, Austin Hagen and Griffin Telecky.

It was a tough task to contain Warroad’s top line, specifically Slukynsky.

“That kid can shoot,” said Hutchinson coach Matt Telecky. “Even when we had guys close to him, he got rid of the puck so quick. He’s probably one of the fastest guys we’ve seen this year.”

Warroad is making its first trip to state since Brock Nelson led the squad to a third-place finish in 2010. Hardwick said he wasn’t happy with the two quick goals his team allowed in the third period, adding that he didn’t think the Warriors were very sharp, with the exception of Shaugabay and Slukynsky.

“We’ve got to be better on Friday for sure,” Hardwick said. “Because whoever we play is going to be a very good hockey team, and we’re going to have to bring our best effort.”

Mahtomedi storms back

It was the tightest game of the day, a one-goal difference headed into the final period between 5-seed Delano and 4-seed Mahtomedi. The Zephyrs already hold the tournament record for most losses with 17, and No. 18 looked wasn’t out of the question.

But then the last five minutes of the game happened and Mahtomedi scored three times in a 3:32 span and added an empty netter for good measure to capture a comeback, 5-2 victory.

Mahtomedi put shots on net and hovered around the crease for much of the game, with only one goal to show for it through two periods.

“We’ve been throwing pucks at the crease for a month and with not as much to show for it as we’d like,” said Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl.

With the minutes ticking away, junior Ethan Peterson made a solid pass through the neutral zone up to Adam Johnson to spring him for a breakaway. Johnson went five-hole to tie the game with 4:22 on the clock.

“Obviously the thought of scoring is going through your mind,” Johnson said. “But for the most part, you’re just like, ‘alright, get some momentum, at least. If it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn’t, there’s hopefully a rebound that a teammate could bang in.

“Fortunate enough that it found the net the first time.”

Mahtomedi’s JD Metz celebrates his third-period goal which turned out to be the game winner in the Zephyrs stunning come-from-behind 5-2 Class 1A state quarterfinal win over Delano on Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center. (Photo: Tim Kolehmainen / Breakdown Sports USA)

One minute, 8 seconds later, the Zephyrs had the lead. Playmaker Nikolai Dulak passed over to JD Metz who finished the play with a backhand move in front of the net to go up 3-2 with a little more than three minutes remaining in regulation. Dulak put the game away with his 27th goal of the season with 1 minutes, 50 seconds left before the empty-netter with 7.7 ticks left.

Delano grabbed a 2-0 lead in the game with a power-play goal from Jesse Peterson and another tally from Gunnar Paulson less than two minutes later in the first period.

Delano (22-7-0) held the 2-1 lead despite getting outshot 15-5 in the second period alone. Mahtomedi’s power-play goal form Billy Buttermore to get on the board in the second period was not ideal for the Tigers, said coach Gerrit van Bergen, even if they didn’t feel out of the game and still had the lead.

“Truthfully, I didn’t feel it slipping away until they tied it,” van Bergen said. “I didn’t feel like it got away until it was already away.”

Not only the victory but how the Zephyrs (21-8-0) won their quarterfinal is a huge momentum boost for the team, according to Poeschl.

“When you win in the manner that we were able to tonight, it gives us some momentum,” Poeschl said. “And we’re going to need it. Warroad is a heck of a hockey team. We’re going to need to be firing on all cylinders to compete with them and to put ourselves in a position to win.”

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