Class 1A Semifinal No. 1: Breck 4, Thief River Falls 0

Sophomore goaltender Linden Olness backstopped No. 2 seed Breck to a 4-0 win over No. 3 seed Thief River Falls in the Class 1A semifinals.

“I’m a defenseman, so I love that,” Breck coach Les Larsen said during the post-game media session, referring to the fact that his team has not allowed a goal in two state tournament games. “You have to work hard for good defense,” Larsen added.

The Mustangs’ defense also provided an offensive spark in the win over the Prowlers (23-7-0), with junior Dalton Weigel and senior Justin Paulson handing out two assists each.

Senior forward and captain Tyler Scott scored two goals for the Mustangs (26-3-1), and said that the team scoring twice in the first period helped set the tone for the rest of the game.

“I thought they played us really well, and (our) start was huge, I thought,” Scott said of the Prowlers, who the Mustangs defeated earlier in the year 4-1.

Scott and Mr. Hockey finalist Chase Ellingson scored in the first, followed by Scott’s second goal in the second and junior forward Carter Breitenfeldt’s lone goal in the third.

Thief River Falls senior goaltender Kade Nelson made 39 saves in the loss.

The Mustangs now advance to Saturday’s state title game, where they’ve been crowned champions twice (2009 and 2010) in the last eight seasons.

Class 1A Semifinal No. 2: Hermantown 7, St. Paul Academy/Summit School 1

Even with a 3-1 lead, Hermantown coach Bruce Plante wasn’t sure if his team was flowing as well as they could.

Plante’s Hawks had been out-shot 11-6 at that point, and Plante said during the post-game media session that TV timeouts took some of the momentum from the Hawks.

“The second period, we came out on the attack and got the game rolling,” Plante said. 

The Hawks (26-2-1) scored three more goals in the second and added one in the third en route to a resounding 7-1 win over No. 4 seed St. Paul Academy/Summit School.

“We had a couple mental breakdowns,” Spartans’ coach Matt Funk said after the game. “And against a really good team, you can’t do that.”

Junior forwards Ryan Sandelin and Logan Judnick each scored two goals for the Hawks, and Sandelin added a gorgeous no-look backhand assist on senior forward Cole Koepke’s first period goal.

Sandelin, son of Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin, is a bit of a bench-general himself, according to Plante.

“He likes trying to coach our team from the bench sometimes,” Plante said, adding that he has no qualms about telling Sandelin to leave the coaching to the coaches.

“I’ll slap him on the back of the helmet, tell him to knock that (stuff) off,” Plante laughed.

Junior forward Jesse Jacques and sophomore forward Tyler Watkins each scored one goal for the Hawks.

Junior forward Will Kelly scored the lone goal for the No. 4 seed Spartans (25-5-0).

As for the Hawks’ streak of six consecutive runner-up finishes, senior forward Cole Koepke says that the team is simply focused on tomorrow’s match-up with longtime foe Breck.

“I think we all are kind of aware of it,” Koepke said of the streak. “We’re all excited to play tomorrow and hopefully get (the streak) off our back.”

Class 2A Semifinal No. 1: Wayzata 2, Stillwater 1

Wayzata coach Pat O’Leary wanted a larger lead in games, but he’ll take the close scores just as well.

O’Leary’s Trojans skated to another frantic finish in the Class 2A semifinals, taking a 2-0 lead into the final 1:35 of regulation and weathering a barrage of shots to escape with 2-1 victory over No. 2 seed Stillwater (27-2-1).

“We’re a puck-possession team that tries to play well in all three zones, and if we’re doing that, it’s going to be a low-scoring game,” O’Leary, the John Mariucci Class 2A State Coach of the Year, said in the post-game press conference. “I’d like to be up three-to-nothing the whole time, but it doesn’t always work out that way,” O’Leary added.

The No. 3 seed Trojans (21-8-1) blocked 11 shots in the win, and earned goals from defenseman Logan Lindstrand and sophomore forward Griffin Ness, a member of the Trojans’ fourth line.

Ness’ goal proved to be the winner, as the second-year varsity member raced in all alone and beat Stillwater’s Josh Benson with a laser-beam shot over Benson’s glove.

“There probably were a few people in the stands wondering why we’re putting our fourth line out with five minutes left in the game,” O’Leary said, adding that the Trojans will continue to use their entire bench during games. “That’s what we’ve done all year, and we’re not going to change that.”

Stillwater was missing junior forward Luke Manning, who was scratched from the game with an apparent concussion.

“You can’t replace a kid like that,” Stillwater coach Matt Doman said of Manning, who had scored 44 points this season.

Senior forward Jackson Cates scored Stillwater’s lone goal of the game with one minute to play, pulling the Ponies within one.

“As much as anything, emotionally it was tough for us to maybe come out in that first period,” Doman said.

Senior goaltender Alex Schilling of Wayzata made 22 saves in the win, and said that he and his teammates are raring to go in the school’s first appearance in the state title game.

“With our leadership in the locker room, these guys are incredible,” Schilling said with a grin. “We can’t wait to play tomorrow night.”

Class 2A Semifinal No. 2: Eden Prairie 6, Grand Rapids 2

With the score tied 2-2 early in the second period, Eden Prairie’s Casey Mittelstadt took it upon himself to take over the game.

After falling behind by two goals early, Grand Rapids (22-7-1) scored twice in the first two minutes of the second period, with junior forward Micah Miller and senior forward Alex Adams knotting the game at 2-2.

Any momentum the Thunderhawks had was ripped away as Mittelstadt scored a shorthanded goal unassisted, added another less than three minutes later, and assisted on senior forward Cole Lawrence’s goal to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead after two periods.

“You talk about a guy taking over a game,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said in the post-game press conference. “He can be humble about it, but at 2-2 he decided to really crank it up another notch.”

Mittelstadt then received a comparison to former Eagle standout Kyle Rau and his “warrior” mentality from Smith.

Rau won two state title in 2009 and 2011, went on to play at the University of Minnesota and now plays for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.

“It’s an honor,” Mittelstadt said after the comparison. “Obviously he’s won here twice and that’s what I’m trying to do,” Mittelstadt continued. Everything he’s done I basically want to do.”

Senior forward Cole Lawrence scored twice and senior forward Michael Graham added a goal for Eden Prairie (21-7-2), while senior goaltender Shaun Durocher made 28 saves.

The win sends the Eagles to the state title game against Lake Conference foe Wayzata, where they have the chance to complete the sweep of both the girls’ and boys’ championships. Eden Prairie and Wayzata faced each other twice during the regular season, splitting the two games.

CLASS AA (Mariucci Arena)

Farmington 4, Burnsville 2

Bemidji 5, Anoka 0

CLASS A CONSOLATION (Mariucci Arena)

Mankato West vs. St. Cloud Cathedral, 10:00 a.m.

CLASS AA CONSOLATION (Mariucci Arena)

Farmington vs. Bemidji, Noon

CLASS A THIRD PLACE (XEC)

Thief River Falls vs. St. Paul Academy/Summit School, 9:00 a.m.

CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP (XEC)

Breck vs. Hermantown, Noon

CLASS AA THIRD PLACE (XEC)

Stillwater vs. Grand Rapids, 4:00 p.m.

CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP (XEC)

Wayzata vs. Eden Prairie, 7:00 p.m.

Photos by Nick Wosika