Greenway edges Delano in tight quarterfinal

The Raiders avenged a one-goal loss to Delano in December with their comeback

March 7, 2019 at 6:59AM
Teammates celebrated with Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin defenseman Christian Miller (12), bottom right, after his go-ahead goal in the third period, giving their team a 5-4 lead against Delano. ] Aaron Lavinsky ¥ aaron.lavinsky@startribune.com Delano played Greenway in a Class 1A quarterfinal hockey game on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
Teammates celebrated with Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin defenseman Christian Miller, bottom right, after his goal put the Raiders ahead of Delano 5-4 in the third period Wednesday night in the fourth quarterfinal game of the Class 1A state tournament. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Down two goals after one period felt like no big deal to Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin players, who were cracking jokes before the next period started.

The Raiders got the last laugh, too, coming back in the third period to defeat Delano 6-4 in Wednesday's last, and best, Class 1A quarterfinal at Xcel Energy Center.

No. 4 seed Greenway (16-13) scored three times in the third period against No. 5 seed Delano (17-10-2).

"It's a weird feeling to have when you don't feel like you're out of any game at any time," Raiders coach Grant Clafton said. "These guys have a killer instinct. And tonight, they wanted a chance to right a wrong."

Clafton was referring to a 4-3 loss to Delano in December. The rematch started well for the Tigers, who held a pair of two-goal leads early.

In the second period, Greenway's Donte Lawson recorded his 34th goal of the season, then assisted on Ben Troumbly's goal to tie the score 3-3 at the second intermission.

"We stayed positive because we battled through adversity all year," Lawson said.

Kory Dunningan's second goal of the game brought Delano a short-lived 4-3 lead in the third period. Then Greenway's Mitchell Vekich and Christian Miller struck 53 seconds apart for the tying and winning goals, respectively, with Miller scoring with 7:20 to play.

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"This was what the No. 4 and No. 5 seed game is supposed to be," Delano coach Gerrit van Bergen said. "It was a battle of wills that was trending toward us and then, unfortunately, trended toward them at the end."

DAVID La VAQUE

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