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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Zephyrs’ Becker pots three goals in win over Eagles

St. PAUL — The Mahtomedi Zephyrs used a hat trick from junior Jack Becker to propel them to a 6-3 win over New Ulm in Wednesday’s Class 1A quarterfinals at the Xcel Energy center. The Zephyrs scored first and never let the Eagles get ahead, outshooting them 37-25.

Though both coaches agreed the game was tighter than the final score indicated.

“We advanced,” said Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl. “Right now, it’s about surviving.

“The guys in the locker room know that we’re a good hockey team. Much better than we were today.”

The No. 2-seeded Mahtomedi team (25-2-2) had all it could handle from New Ulm (18-9-2), especially early in the third period when just 40 seconds in, New Ulm senior Colin Huffman closed the gap to 4-3. New Ulm seemed to have the better of the play because of Mahtomedi’s turnovers, Poeschl said, adding that his team struggled while New Ulm battled hard.

“I actually thought we settled down a little bit,” Poeschl said, referring to when the score reached 4-3. “The feeling on the bench was not ‘oh no.’”

In a 1-1 tie after the first period, it took Becker nine seconds into the middle frame to get his first goal of the game. He capitalized on a defender fanning on a pass in the New Ulm zone. Becker intercepted in front and scored.

“I was just pressing the D man,” Becker said. “I just kind of got lucky.”

About four minutes later, the Eagles found themselves on the receiving end of another unlucky play. Mahtomedi senior Kellen Campbell drove to the net for a shot, which was initially saved by New Ulm senior goaltender Matt Berkner. But the puck went over the line when a defender crashing the net slid into his goalkeeper.

Then came Becker’s second goal, a shorthanded tally on a play where he jammed the puck behind the goalie. He tried to bank it in and said that, again, he got lucky.

“The puck kind of jumped out to me,” Becker said.

Mahtomedi’s Jack Gunderson also had a pair of goals, scoring in the first and then giving his team breathing room in the third, going up 5-3.

Becker’s final goal, bringing his season total to 28, came late in the third on the power play. Special teams were a factor in the game, as New Ulm went 1-for-4 with the man advantage, and Mahtomedi went 1-for-2.

It was “by far” the best showing at state from the New Ulm players, their coach Erik Setterholm said.

“They don’t quit,” he said. “They haven’t quit all year. It was a really good showing.”

An example?

Senior Jon Kopacek’s effort on New Ulm’s second goal with 1:20 left in the second. He got the rebound and, down on the ice near the goal line, reached his stick out for a sharp-angle shot.

“It was pretty cool scoring here,” Kopacek said. “Just dove for it trying to make a play. When you’re playing here, you have a little extra step.”

Looking ahead to Friday’s semifinals, Mahtomedi will go to work in practice Thursday and have some team and individual meetings, coach said. This state tournament marks Mahtomedi’s eighth overall appearance but first since 2010. The Zephyrs are looking for their first state title.

“I think it’s really more of a head and a heart issue,” Poeschl said.

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Featured Image:
New Ulm’s Erika Ries (10) and Sam Guggisberg (11) converge on Red Wing’s Hailee Johnson in the Wingers’ 7-2 quarterfinal victory over the Eagles.
(MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The second quarterfinal of the girls Class A state high school hockey championship pitted the #3 seed Red Wing Wingers and New Ulm Eagles.  The Wingers rode the crest of senior Nicole Schammel’s natural hat trick in the first period and cruised to a 7-2 quarterfinal round victory over the Eagles.

Schammel, a Ms. Hockey finalist, added to her impressive totals as the senior as she finished with three goals and three asists for the game giving her 61 on the season.  The Wingers led 5-0 after one and 7-0 after two periods and never looked back.

Schammel’s offensive effort on Wednesday afternoon lifted her totals to (269g-186a-455pts) for her incredibly productive high school career.  Along with senior Emily Stegora, who had (2g-1a-3pts) on the game, the duo signed national letters of intent to attend Minnesota State Mankato to play Division I women’s college hockey.

The Eagles notched a pair of goals, both by one in the second period b Brittany Denn at 5:08 and then scored the game’s final goal at 8:51 of the third period.  The goals were the 34th and 35th of the season for Denn.

The Wingers (23-6-0) finished third in the 2013 State Tournament last season and are looking to improve on that standing this season.  If the performance against the Eagles was any indication, the Wingers will give the defending state champion Blake Bears all they can handle and the semifinal which is a rematch from earlier in the year that the Bears won 5-2.  It also is a rematch of last year’s semifinal game that Blake captured by a 6-3 score.  The two teams  face off on Friday for the first semifinal at 11am.

This season marks the fifth appearance for the Wingers and fourth in the last five years. The Eagles (18-8-0) are in the midst of their sixth State Tournament appearance and fell out of last season’s tournament after a consolation round loss. The will look to keep the season alive with a win against the Alexandria Cardinals at Ritter Arena at 10am Thursday morning.

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