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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“Right Back Where We Started From” by Maxine Nightingale, which was released in the 1970s.

Whether coincidence or part of a set playlist, the song seems fitting for a deep Minnetonka Skippers team that returned a bunch of key players from last winter’s dominant Class 2A state championship team.

Only two games in, Minnetonka turned in a couple of dominating efforts on its home ice, outscoring Rosemount and Andover by a combined 18-3 margin. The Skippers put up a 10-3 victory over Rosemount to open the season Friday before an 8-0 shutout of Andover, a program it met in last year’s state semifinals (though this time without the since-graduated line featuring Cooper Conway, Gavyn Thorsen and Cayden Casey).

With so many state champions – and multiple Division I commits – returning to Minnetonka’s squad this season, Skippers coach Sean Goldsworthy acknowledged that his team isn’t starting from square one.

“First off, they’re committed to each other,” Goldsworthy said. “So, when they all come back, it makes things easier on each other. We have a lot of returning kids from a team that had great success last year. So that matters.”

Minnetonka comes into the season as a top-ranked team, according to the preseason rankings from Let’s Play Hockey magazine, while Andover is ranked No. 10. And the Skippers shut out the Huskies while outshooting them 42-5 on Saturday evening.

Minnetonka and Andover boys hockey shake hands after the Skippers won 8-0 on Nov. 25, 2023 at Pagel Ice Arena as part of the Tonka Thanksgiving Preview tournament. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

Senior Javon Moore had hat tricks both days, giving him a team-leading six goals and 10 points through just two games. His effort against Andover was highlighted by a breakaway, shorthanded goal in the first period. His second hat trick in as many games came with just more than 10 minutes left in regulation, sending the game to running time with a 6-0 lead.

Moore is followed by the senior Garry brothers; Luke with two goals and five assists and Gavin with three goals and four assists. Against Rosemount, the Garry brothers scored goals 50 seconds apart for a 2-1 lead. Gavin recorded a hat trick, and senior Hagen Burrows added five assists on Friday.

Depth? They have that, too. A dozen players have at least a point on those 18 goals over two games.

The goal right now, Goldsworthy said, is to “get the fall hockey out of them,” which usually takes eight to 10 games, he added.

“I think what you’re seeing is these kids are committed to getting it out of their system in about four or five games,” Goldsworthy said.

Minnetonka lost only twice last season, to Chanhassen and Wayzata, on the way to a state championship. Even though it’s cliché, staying in the moment throughout the season helped drive that successful title run, Goldsworthy said.

“You’ve got to stay in the week,” Goldsworthy said. “That’s what we did last year. These kids know when they do that, our success came from living in the moment.”

Despite the shutout loss, Andover split its games in the Tonka tourney, defeating No. 3-ranked Chanhassen 3-2 on Friday behind a pair of Casey Rodgers goals. The Huskies came into the season looking to replace the production of its top line from 2022-23; Conway-Thoreson-Casey scored 65% of the team’s 167 goals last season.

Chanhassen, which fell an overtime-goal short of the state tournament with a loss to Minnetonka last year, starts the season 0-2 with a one-goal loss to Andover and a 2-1 loss to Rosemount on Saturday. The Storm, who hit the ice just before the school’s football team took the field at U.S. Bank Stadium on the way to a thrilling Prep Bowl championship, trailed the entire game before getting a goal in the final minute of regulation.

Thanksgiving means puck drop on boys hockey
Most of the boys hockey teams got started with their seasons over the weekend. After the turkey coma ends, hockey players and fans head to various rinks on Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend for regular-season hockey and various holiday tournaments.

On the same night that Edina’s football team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Centennial in the Class 6A Prep Bowl, the No. 2-ranked Edina Hornets – last season’s runner-up in hockey – shut out No. 8-ranked Maple Grove 3-0 in the Wayzata Turkey Trot at Plymouth Ice Center. Wayzata started its season off with a pair of victories against No. 7-ranked Moorhead (6-1) and Maple Grove (6-4) in its home Turkey Trot.

White Bear Lake opened its season with a 4-3 overtime victory over Duluth East at home. Nolan Roed scored a pair of goals, including the winner at 2:37 of the extra session.

In Class 1A, last year’s runner-up Warroad lost 3-2 in overtime to St. Cloud Cathedral. Griffin Sturm scored the winner just before the final horn in overtime. Murray Marvin-Cordes scored both Warroad goals.

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