Greyhounds punch ticket to St. Paul with 5-4 OT win over Elks

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Duluth East rallies for OT win in thrilling Section 7AA final

By Matt Johnson – Special to Minnesota Hockey Magazine.com

DULUTH – In a game that featured clanked pipes, pucks cleared off the goal-line and plenty of sprawling saves by both goaltenders , it only made sense that the Section 7AA title game would come down to a double-overtime goal.

That’s when Duluth East forward Garret Worth proved his worth to the Greyhounds. The ninth-grader’s ninth tally of the season at 1:49 of the second overtime propelled Duluth East to a come-from-behind, 5-4 win over top-seed Elk River at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

The victory was even more impressive considering Duluth East (14-10-4) fought back from a 3-0 deficit after one period to make their seventh straight trip to the State Tournament and 22^nd appearance overall.

Elk River started fast behind forward Jacob Jaremko, who scored his 24^th goal of the second just 48 seconds into the opening period from Reggie Lutz and Matt Kiersted for a 1-0 advantage.

The Elks went on to add Jax Murray’s 17^th tally of the year at 7:23 from Benton Maass and Peter Jones before Jaremko added his second goal of the evening at 15:52 on helpers from Lutz and Kiersted for a 3-0 Elk River bulge after one.

“We told our guys they were playing just fine” said Duluth East coach Mike Randolph of his first intermission locker room talk. “We knew we weren’t going to shut them out, so we emphasized just sticking to our systems and playing our game.”

The Greyhounds responded in the second period, taking advantage of a five-minute major to score twice in a span of 1:45 and cut the deficit to 3-2.

Ash Altmann got the scoring started for Duluth East, tallying on a nifty forward-to-backhand move for his 10^th goal of the season on assists from Luke Dow and Shay Donovan to make it a 3-1 contest. Nick Altmann then brought the Greyhounds to within 3-2 on a wrist shot that deflected off Elk River goal tender Ben Meyers and underneath the crossbar for his 14^th goal of the year at 7:54.

Duluth East evened matters 3-3 when Nick Funk put home a rebound for his third tally of the year at 13:03 before Elk River struck back with Reggie Lutz’s 40^th goal of the season at 14:42, allowing the Elks to take a 4-3 lead into the second intermission.

The Greyhounds again rallied however, this time getting the tying goal when Ryan Peterson took a puck off the near-side boards before lifting a shot into the upper-right corner for his eighth tally of the year at 12:44 of the third, sending the game to overtime knotted 4-4.

Following a scoreless first overtime, the Greyhounds finally got the game-winner from Worth, who poked home a feed from Nathaniel Benson to send Duluth East back to the State Tournament.

“I saw (Benson) send it towards the goal, so I just went to the net,” said Worth. “I wasn’t sure if it went in, but I saw the red light and everybody started celebrating, so that’s when I knew I had scored. It was an incredible feeling.”

Gunnar Howg picked up the win in goal for Duluth East, stopping 25 of 29 shots for the game.

Meyers meanwhile stopped 27 of 32 shots for Elk River, which finishes the season 22-5-1.

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DULUTH—To say that the ending to Duluth East and Elk River’s Section 7AA final at AMSOIL Arena was exciting is an understatement to say the least.

Just as it seemed like the Elks were on their way to the state tournament for the first time since 2005, Duluth East’s Alex Spencer roofed a shot with 2:10 left to tie the game 2-2 and send it to overtime.

Nick Altmann made sure his team’s late surge was not had in vain as he chipped a puck through Elk River goaltender Mac Berglove’s five hole just over two minutes into extra time to get his team to its sixth straight state tournament.

Duluth East has now reached the Minnesota State Boys Hockey Tournament 21 times since 1958.

“This means a whole lot, it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said head coach Mike Randolph. “It just shows the character of these kids and how far they’ve come. They just have no quit in them. The bench never got down, we struggled for two periods and came out in the third and played great.”

The first period saw mostly conservative play from both sides, with neither team looking to take too big of a risk early.

The second period, however, was a different story.

Elk River split the game wide open with an early goal by Reggie Lutz as he potted a rebound that ricocheted wide off of a Chase Springman shot from the opposite circle. That goal not only served to get Elk River on the board, but also woke up a reserved Greyhounds offense.

After plenty of quality chances by the Duluth East, a shot finally made its way between the pipes for the Greyhounds with less than five minutes to go in period. Berglove made a couple of sprawling saves but could not control the puck and Duluth East’s Bryton Lutzka converted a second rebound to knot the game at 1-1.

The Elks were not prepared to go into the locker room at period’s end without the lead however. It only took Jake Jaremko, the Greyhound’s leading postseason scorer, 14 seconds to snipe a shot from the slot over the shoulder of Duluth East’s Gunnar Howg to regain the one-goal lead.

The third period saw plenty of chances for the Greyhounds, including a couple of quality shots on an odd man rush by Nick Altmann and Jack Kolar, but Elk River’s Berglove stood strong between the pipes.

“Our last two games have given us some confidence that we can score against any goalie because those kids were really good too,” said Randolph. “We had to find a way to beat him. I don’t know where it went, and I don’t care where it went. I’m just glad it went in.”

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