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Five-goal second period vaults Blaine back to St. Paul

MAPLEWOOD – Blaine’s three year state-tournament drought is over.

The Bengals (22-5-1) got off to a fast start and poured it on from there to rout neighboring rival Centennial 8-1 in Section 5AA final on Thursday night at Aldrich Arena.

Riley Tufte led the way for Blaine with five points on a goal and four assists while Luke Notermann added three points of his own (1g, 3a). Alex Penn and Easton Brodzinski each scored twice for the Bengals and defenseman Jordan Turnquist picked up a goal and a pair of assists.

Blaine goaltender Jon Kallestad made 18 save to pick up the victory. The win breaks the Cougars’ two-year hold on the section title and earns Blaine its 11th state tournament berth.

Not a bad inaugural season for Blaine first year coach Chris Carroll whose team got off to a 4-3 start.

“We’ve come a long way and I glad they give you 28 games to sort it out because, I tell you, [after] our first game against Roseau I don’t know if I’d have predicted this,” Carroll said. “But that’s an unbelievable ride.”

Carroll replaced long-time Bengals’ coach Dave Aus who stepped down after the 2013-14 season to take the head coaching position at Brainerd. Aus guided Blaine to six straight Class 2A tournament appearances (2006-2011) in 14 seasons at the helm but last season’s senior-laden team was the third consecutive to come up short in section play, falling to the Cougars 2-1.

“I don’t think anybody at the start of the year — when you lose 15 seniors — thought we were that good and I don’t think we got a lot of credit, which was fine because I don’t think we deserved it,” Carroll said. “But those guys in that room wanted to be classified as elite and they had to earn it.”

Blaine swept season series from the Cougars (17-10-1) winning a pair of one-goal games, 5-4 at Fogerty Arena and 3-2 at Centennial so more of the same was expected with so much on the line. But the Bengals had no interest in another nail biter.

A 2-0 Blaine lead after one period turned into a 5-0 lead in than three minutes into the second when Alex Penn, Tanner Vescio and Brodzinski scored just 1:55 apart. Centennial starting goaltender Jonathan Albers was replaced at that point by Nathan Fellows, although Albers returned to play the final period.

“We just kept on battling, we just got pucks to the net,” Tufte said of the second-period barrage. “That was the key message tonight was get pucks to the net and forecheck them hard and I think we did that and things went our way.”

The lead was extended to 7-0 before Centennial’s Colton Berg got the Cougars on the board at 11:28 of the second period. Brodzinski closed out the scoring at 1:34 of the third.

After two years of suffering through friendly gloating from their familiar foes, the Bengals are thrilled for the chance to return the favor.

“It’s everything to us,” Brodzinski said. “Now we can brag a little bit to them. They got a few years but we came back this year and took it to Centennial.”

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SAINT PAUL—In a thoroughly entertaining contest worthy of the spotlight on the State Fairgrounds Coliseum’s final night as a hockey facility, third seeded Centennial took out top-seeded Blaine 2-1 in the Section 5AA final. Despite a heavy 39-18 shots-on-goal advantage, the Bengals found Cougars’ goaltender Blake Miller to be a riddle too tough to solve throughout the night.

“It was nuts but I have to give props to my [defense],” Miller said on his 18th birthday. “I had to make a couple bigger saves but they kept most of the shots to the outside.”

“Millsy played great and kind of bailed us out when we needed him to but 19 other guys played great too,” Centennial coach Ritch Menne said.

Colin Hughes’ wrister from the right faceoff dot at 15:57 of the second period was the difference as Hughes’ shot off a cross-ice feed from Will Schwartz whistled past Blaine goaltender Andrew Houle for a 2-0 Centennial lead.

“I don’t know what went through my mind, I just saw it go in the net,” Hughes said. “I went and hugged my best friend who happens to be the guy who passed it to me and it was probably the best memory I’ll ever have.”

After Schwartz went off for holding at 1:27 of the third, Blaine’s Dallas Gerads tucked a shot between Miller’s pads 1:18 into the power play to pull the Bengals within one. But the Cougars withstood Blaine’s furious attempt to complete the third-period rally, much to the credit of Miller who finished with 38 saves.

“He always brings it every day,” Centennial forward Adam Anderson said of Miller. “He’s a gamer, he’s mentally tough all the time and he brought it physically.”

Miller was on the receiving end physically all night too as Bengals’ players were consistently inside, not only the Centennial crease, but also the net, generally on top of Miller.

“I expected it because it’s Blaine and they’re our biggest rivals,” Miller said.

Centennial advances to make its second straight state tournament appearance while Blaine exits in the section playoffs for the third straight season after six consecutive trips to St. Paul.

“It’s like a bad nightmare,” Blaine coach Dave Aus said. “I give them credit but I’m not sure the better team won here and that’s what’s hard about the last two years. I’ve felt like we’ve been the best team and we just didn’t get the job done.”

Hughes was asked to compare the two section titles.

“It is so much sweeter than last year,” Hughes said definitively. “Back-to back section champions and it’s versus our biggest rival; you can’t beat that.”

True to their predatory namesakes, the Bengals and Cougars ferociously attacked one another right from the opening draw. Bodies were flying in every direction in a fast, physical first period mostly dominated by Blaine which rattled off 19 of the game’s next 22 shots after Rynar Gorowsky scored the period’s lone goal just 15 seconds in.

Menne said the volume of body play was typical of the Centennial/Blaine rivalry which extends to the youth ranks.

“It’s a rough, physical game and they don’t like us and we don’t like them when we’re out on the ice,” Menne said. “It wasn’t disappointing for anybody that paid the money to get in.”

The Cougars were not without opportunities, however, as Gorowsky threatened twice more in the game’s opening 17 minutes.  A shorthanded two-on-one between Gorowsky and Adam Anderson was thwarted by Bengals’ defenseman Alex Copa while Gorowsky’s breakaway effort at 13:20 was denied by Houle.

The celebration was on for Colin Hughes after Centennial’s section title win. (MHM Photo / Jordan Doffing)

Blaine swept the regular-season series between the two north-metro rivals, beating the Cougars 3-1 in December and 3-2 on Feb. 1 on Easton Brodzinski’s overtime winner. But when it mattered most, the Cougars found a way to win.

“We didn’t play bad, it’s not like we played poorly,” Aus said. “We just got outscored and, unfortunately, that’s what’s most important.”

“Blaine is an unbelievably talented team and they’re so deep and balanced,” Menne said. “But the guys diving and scratching and clawing to do whatever it takes, it was great to watch.

“To be an alumni of Centennial, I’m just really proud of these guys.”

In the chaos of the post-game celebration, Hughes could be seen wandering as if searching for someone to rejoice with.

“I was just looking for my coach to hug,” Hughes said. “He’s done so much for me and I just wanted to thank him for all the opportunities he’s given us as a coach.”

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SAINT PAUL—Following three straight wins to close out the month of January, the turn of the calendar was not kind to the Centennial Cougars boys’ hockey team. Centennial was just 1-3-2 start in February heading into its Feb. 15 regular season finale against Mounds View with the Section 5AA playoffs looming just ahead.

The Cougars trampled the Mustangs 8-1 that day at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum and returned to the iconic building for Friday night’s Section 5AA section semifinals a more confident and dangerous team than the one that entered it just 11 days prior. Third-seeded Centennial dominated No. 2 Maple Grove from start to finish, advancing them to Friday’s 6:00 pm section final against Blaine with a 4-0 win over the Crimson.

“We feel like we’ve got the swagger back a little bit,” Centennial coach Ritch Menne said. “This is the team we thought we’d have all year long so, to see this, it feels good.

“Everybody is blocking shots and doing whatever it takes to make the team successful.”

Cougar forward Ryner Gorowsky scored his 22nd, 23rd and 24th goal of the season and assisted on a Connor Lovick goal to boost Centennial to within a win of a second-straight state tournament appearance.

“Ryner is a gamer,” Menne said. “Say what you want about him, he plays hard, he produces; he’s huge in big games.

“He can play on my team any day of the week.”

Centennial goalie Blake Miller, who scored twice to beat Blaine 2-1 in a section 7AA semifinal soccer match in October, blanked Maple Grove with 18 saves.

“Millsy’s been great all year,” Centennial coach Ritch Menne said. “He’s kind of flown under the radar, but he played great tonight.”

Centennial outshot Maple Grove 31-18, including 11-5 in a first period in which the Cougars grabbed a two-goal lead on Gorowsky’s first two goals of the game. Gorowsky, a right-handed shot, fired the puck from a sharp angle along the goal line to Brady Goodman’s right and somehow squeezed it past the Crimson goaltender, who finished with 27 saves, at 7:54.

Ryner Gorowsky takes a shot. (Photo/ Rich Moll Photography)

Gorowsky struck again five minutes later when he picked off a Maple Grove defenseman’s pass, made a couple of moves on Goodman and put a backhander under the crossbar from just outside the crease.

“Their defenseman threw it up the middle of the ice and he didn’t see me,” Gorowsky said. “So I picked it off and faked the shot and went to my backhand and managed to bury it.”

After setting up Lovick’s second-period snipe from the left circle, Gorowsky completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net at 14:49 of the third.

“We are just playing really well right now,” Menne said of his team’s timely three-game winning streak. “We’re pretty happy right now. We’re excited to see the Bengals on Friday.”

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Perennial north-metro adversaries, Blaine and Anoka, took their rivalry on the road to the State Fairgrounds Coliseum on Wednesday in a Section 5AA section semifinal matchup. It appeared to have the makings of a close contest early on, but the top-seeded Bengals pulled away over the final two periods for a 3-0 victory to advance to Friday’s title game against No. 3 Centennial, 4-0 winners over Maple Grove.

Second-period goals by Blaine’s Notermann brothers, Luke and Brandon, broke open a tight game while Bengals goaltender Andrew Houle pitched a shutout with 14 saves. Robbie Goor stood out in the Tornadoes’ crease with 30 saves in a losing cause.

The Bengals entered the Coliseum for the first time since their quarterfinal exit at the hands of Champlin Park a year ago. But Blaine coach Dave Aus said there were no demons for his team to exorcise in their return.

“Everybody talks about that even though they have nothing to do with each other and we’re a much better team, I think, than we were a year ago,” Aus said.

After Anoka trade punches with the Bengals throughout a fairly even and scoreless first period, Blaine began to exert its will over the contest in the second by exploiting its speed advantage over the Tornadoes. The Bengals rattled off the period’s first six shots en route outshooting Anoka 13-2 and taking a 2-0 lead.

Aus said he thought his team tired the Tornadoes out noting that Anoka’s Adam Orn and Gavin Putt received significant ice time.

“It’s hard to chase guys around the rink a lot and we’ve got guys really on every line that can move,” Aus said. “That’s what we said before the game, we’ve got to use our speed and just try to wear them out and we said it’s not going to be easy.”

Blaine sophomore Luke Notermann broke the scoreless tie with a pretty wraparound goal beating Goor to the left post for his 14th of the season at 10:48.

“That was big because you could just feel on the bench there was some relief,” Aus said. “When that happened then everybody kind of just seemed to settle in and I felt pretty good.”

Not to be outdone, Notermann’s brother, Brandon, pounced on a loose puck in the crease just over two minutes later for the senior’s 13th on the year.

The score could easily have been 4-0 had it not been for Goor’s strong play in the period. The senior netminder made a pair of point-blank saves, first with his left pad on Joey Lau at the 5:10 mark and next with a glove stop on Easton Brodzinski at 16:43.

“We knew that Goor would play well and we didn’t do a great job in the first period, but I thought as the game went on we got better,” Aus said. “He was tough, I mean, he robbed a couple of sure goals.”

As happy as Aus was about the Bengals getting three pucks past Goor, he was most proud of Blaine’s play in its own zone.

“Defensively we get a bad rap but we’ve been very good defense lately,” Aus said. “After the first period we said we want play better in the [defensive] zone and we did that.”

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