Minnesota boys hockey tournament. Get updates on the semifinals here.
Chanhassen and Edina comfortably landed spots in the Class 2A final, and Hermantown and St. Cloud Cathedral both needed extra time to escape the 1A semifinals.
By David La Vaque and
Heather Rule
Semifinals
Friday
10:39 p.m.
Edina starts fast in defeating Grand Rapids
This time, there would be no late-game heroics.
Grand Rapids, winner in the quarterfinals on a goal with one second remaining, was unable to generate significant offensive pressure and lost to No. 1-seeded Edina 5-2 in the final Class 2A semifinal.
Edina will meet Chanhassen, a first-time tournament entrant, at 7 p.m. Saturday with the Class 2A championship at stake. Edina (25-4-1) will be playing for its 15th state championship, including three won by Edina East in 1974, ‘78 and ‘79.
Edina withstood early pressure from Grand Rapids, getting the first goal of the game from Jackson Nevers. He skated down the slot and blew a quick shot past Grand Rapids goalie Carter Casey at 6:12 of the first period.
The Hornets bumped the lead to 2-0 thanks to a nifty play by Caleb Pittsley. The sophomore stepped through the Grand Rapids defense, drew the attention to himself, then slid a perfect pass to John Halverson, whose one-timer made it 2-0 at 12:32.
John Warpinski made the score 3-0 at 14:02 when he crossed in front of the Grand Rapids goal and knocked home a puck that had come free.
Edina took a 4-0 lead when Bobby Cowan took a long breakout pass from Barrett Dexheimer and broke cleanly into the Grand Rapids end. He beat Casey to his left side at 15:20.
Statistically, the second period was played to a draw as both teams went scoreless. But in truth Edina controlled play for much of the period, outshooting Grand Rapids 9-5 and, most important, never giving the Thunderhawks the opportunity to develop momentum.
Punctuating the victory, Cowan added a power-play goal at 5:23.
Grand Rapids (18-12-0) broke through with a power-play goal at 8:29 by Kyle Miller, making it 5-1. Thunderhawks senior forward Jacob Garski’s shot from the slot at 11:36 pulled Grand Rapids to within three, 5-2.
Game 4′s three stars
Bobby Cowan, Edina, forward: Had two goals, an assist and nine shots on goal for the Hornets.
Sam Peckham, Edina, defenseman: Had two assists and was a team-high plus-3.
Jackson Nevers, Edina, forward: The talented Mr. Hockey finalist had a goal and an assist and scored Edina’s first goal.
Game 4′s key numbers
14: State championships won by Edina/Edina East.
92:29: Time Edina has played with the lead in the first two games of the tournament.
8:07 p.m.
Chanhassen rolls against Cretin-Derham Hall
Boys hockey state tournament newcomer Chanhassen traded Thursday quarterfinal tentativeness for Friday semifinal dominance.
The Storm blew out Cretin-Derham Hall 6-1, led by a four-goal first period in Friday’s Class 2A semifinal at the Xcel Energy Center.
No. 2 seed Chanhassen (25-5) advances to the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday against either No. 1 seed Edina or No. 5 seed Grand Rapids.
Cretin-Derham Hall (18-11-1) was the fifth seed in Section 3 and making its third consecutive state tournament appearance.
Game 3′s three stars
Jack Christ, Chanhassen forward: Netted a pair of first-period goals to fuel the Storm’s fast start.
Gavin Uhlenkamp, Chanhassen forward: Top-line speed merchant assisted on three goals Friday
Cam Autrey, Cretin-Derham Hall forward: Ruined Chanhassen’s shutout bid with a power-play goal in the third period.
Game 3′s key number
1: Chanhassen will attempt to win a Class 2A or single-class state title on its first try, a feat not accomplished since Centennial in 2004.
36: Seconds left in the first period when Tyler Smith, Chanhassen senior forward, netted his team’s fourth goal.
4:30 p.m.
Hermantown blows big lead, defeats Mahtomedi in OT
River Freeman scored on a pass from A.J. Francisco from the left circle at 7:11 of overtime to lift Hermantown to a 7-6 victory over Mahtomedi in the second Class 1A semifinal Friday.
The goal rescued the Hawks, who had led by four goals after the first period.
Hermantown (20-8-2) carried the play early, and the Hawks’ pressure and commitment to the forecheck paid off handsomely in the first period. Freeman kicked off the three-goal barrage when he poked the puck through Mahtomedi goalie Wes Strub for the game’s first goal at 6:02.
Hermantown took advantage of a weird carom for its next goal when Jack Slattengren, alone in front of the net, smacked in a puck that bounced off the back wall right to him for a 2-0 lead at 10:49.
A.J. Francisco made it 3-0 for Hermantown 24 seconds later, slapping in the puck when Strub left a long rebound. Weston Bohlman made it 4-0 for the Hawks, snapping a wicked wrister from the left faceoff circle with less than a minute remaining before the first intermission.
The first period ended with Hermantown leading 4-0 and Mahtomedi struggling for answers. The Zephyrs were outshot 16-5 in the first period and lost 12 of 18 faceoffs.
Mahtomedi (18-12-0) attempted to climb back into the game in the second period. Charlie Brandt replaced Strub in goal, and the Zephyrs began finding room to operate.
Sam Harris put the Zephyrs on the board with a shot at 8:25. Harris’ goal provided a spark, and Mahtomedi capitalized less than two minutes later when Jake Hodd-Chlebeck’s shot from the right faceoff circle glanced off Hermantown goalie Dane Callaway’s glove and bounced into the goal at 10:05, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
Hermantown bumped the lead back to three quickly. Francisco scored his second goal of the game — and third of the tournament — when he skated across the slot and beat Brandt to the far post at 10:37.
Mahtomedi received a charge just before the end of the period when Patrick Egan pushed home a loose puck in a scramble in front with just 52.1 seconds left.
Mahtomedi, outshot drastically in the first period, had the advantage in the second, with 15 shots on goal to nine for Hermantown.
The game remained explosive in the third period. Mahtomedi pulled within one when Wyatt Tarnowski threw a puck on net from the point that sneaked under the crossbar at 2:54, but Hermantown regained its two-goal margin when Francisco walked the puck in from the side and beat Brandt to complete his hat trick at 5:41.
Harris scored his second of the game at 1:52 with the Mahtomedi goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Max Strecker got the tying goal at 16:09 when he tipped in a shot by Harris, tying the score 6-6 and sending it to overtime.
Game 2′s three stars
River Freeman, Hermantown, forward: Scored the Hawks’ first goal and the game-winner, and added three assists.
A.J. Francisco, Hermantown, forward: Scored a goal in each period to complete a hat trick.
Sam Harris, Mahtomedi, defenseman: Scored two goals, including one with less than two minutes left to pull the Zephyrs to within a goal, and added two assists.
Game 2′s key numbers
4: First-period goals by Hermantown.
16-5: Margin by which Hermantown outshot Mahtomedi in the first period.
16-3: Mahtomedi’s shots-on-goal advantage in the third period.
JIM PAULSEN
1:27 p.m.
St. Cloud Cathedral tops Warroad
No. 3 seed St. Cloud Cathedral’s John Hirschfeld scored the tying and winning goals in a 4-3 overtime victory Friday morning over Warroad in the Class 1A semifinals of the boys hockey state tournament.
Hirschfeld tied the game on the power play — 6-on-4 with the goalie pulled — with 1:09 remaining in regulation and then won it 1:53 into overtime with a rebound goal.
No. 2 seed Warroad took a 1-0 lead only 26 seconds into the game on a Taven James goal, and doubled the lead in the period with a power-play goal from Ryan Lund.
But the Crusaders came back in the second period. First came a power-play goal for sophomore defenseman Griffin Sturm. He drove into the zone with the puck and sent it behind the net. Junior Jaeger Wood passed the puck from behind the net back out front so Sturm could bury it.
The Crusaders tied the game with about two minutes to play until the second intermission. Senior Cole Hwang finished the play by beating the goaltender, but a diving-pass effort from senior Landon Swenson as he drove the zone made the play happen.
Warroad sophomore Ryan Shaugabay scored a power-play goal in the third period to break up a 2-2 tie. The goal came with some controversy. Lund took the initial shot on goal, shooting the puck into the goaltender. It appeared and sounded like the whistle blew, then Shaugabay put the loose puck into the net; the official ruled no goal on the ice.
After the play was reviewed, Warroad was awarded the goal. It was Shaugabay’s sixth goal of the season and first since Jan. 13. Warroad was on the power play after a five-minute major boarding penalty against Cathedral.
Each team scored two power-play goals.
Cathedral (25-4-1) went 2-0 against Warroad this season, also defeating the Warriors (24-6-0) 3-2 in overtime in the second game of the season. The Crusaders advance to their first state title game since 2019, when they won the championship.
Warroad hasn’t won a boys state title since 2005, and it was the runner-up in each of the past two state tournaments. Warroad is 4-4 in overtime games this season, including 0-2 vs. Cathedral.
Game 1′s three stars
John Hirschfeld, St. Cloud Cathedral forward: Scored the game-tying and overtime-winning goals to send his team to the Class 1A championship game.
Griffin Sturm, St. Cloud Cathedral defenseman: Scored the team’s first goal and assisted on the tying goal late in regulation.
Ryan Shaugabay, Warroad forward: The sophomore scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for his sixth goal of the season and first since Jan. 13.
Game 1′s key numbers
2: Goals of Griffin Sturm’s 10 this season that have come against Warroad.
2:02: Span of game time it took for John Hirschfeld to tie the game late in regulation and then win the game in overtime with a pair of goals.
4: Overtime victories, and that many overtime losses, for Warroad this season. Two of the losses have been to the Crusaders.
Tickets, TV
Ch. 45 will stream all three rounds for free and will televise the semifinals and championship games. Link to the streams and find other details on how to watch here. Tickets to the event range from $13 to $20 and are available at mshsl.org/tickets.
. . .
More coverage
The Star Tribune will be publishing stories and other content related to these state championship games and more this week. Keep up by checking startribune.com/preps each day. Thank you for reading and subscribing.
Tournament information
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
