Back-and-forth favors Bears

Maple Grove boys' hockey coach Todd Bergland said after his team's 7-5 loss to Blake, during which the score was tied four times, "18,000 people got to see a heck of a hockey game."

What referees saw on a late slashing penalty left Bergland perplexed. Senior forward Benjamin Leafblad got whistled with less than four minutes to play in a game tied 5-5. Blake's Will Svenddal's power-play goal broke the deadlock.

"It was a hard way to go out," sophomore forward Joshua Giuliani said. "We battled all game, and I thought we were the better team. They got some lucky calls that I thought were not very good."

Giuliani's second goal of the game tied the score 5-5. Earlier in the third period, Blake scored shorthanded on a 2-on-0 rush. Gavin Best, who scored on a penalty shot to win the Section 6 title game in overtime, passed to Joe Miller for a 4-3 Bears lead.

"I love that," Blake coach Rob McClanahan said. "It's not just fun to watch, it's fun for the guys that are doing it."

Jack Sabre added a wrap-around goal and Blake seemed in control. But Maple Grove, resilient in the face of injuries all season, fought back.

"When they got those goals and they started coming back, we said, 'We're not done yet,' " Sabre said. "We had to meet their intensity every shift."

"That clearly wasn't a penalty," Bergland said. "Refs are human. They make mistakes. It's a tough profession, and I commend them for everything. But that was the game-changer right there."