Cretin-Derham Hall played spoiler this time.
The unseeded Raiders played what Raiders coach Matt Funk called his team's most complete game of the season to upset No. 2 seed Maple Grove 3-1 in Thursday's first Class 2A quarterfinal of the boys hockey state tournament at Xcel Energy Center.
The 2022 Raiders went into last year's state tournament with a lot of confidence and the No. 2 seed but lost to unseeded Prior Lake 6-0. This time around there was confidence again, but "it was controlled," said senior captain Simon Houge.
"I feel like this year it was, 'We're going to win this hockey game,' " Houge said.
The Raiders (19-9-1) got the job done with defense and depth. After taking a 1-0 lead early in the game only to see the Crimson (22-6-1) tie the score 13 seconds later, the Raiders limited the Crimson's opportunities.
"The ones we did have, we didn't get the bounces, and that's hockey," said Finn Brink, Maple Grove senior and Mr. Hockey finalist.
With the Raiders' third line — Szilveszter Lippai, Holden Saumweber and Charlie Cantwell — on the ice in the second period, senior Saumweber got the puck on his stick in the slot, turned and fired toward the net for his sixth goal of the season. It held up as the game-winner.
"You could see it," Funk said. "It seemed like a minute where they had the puck in the zone.
"It's usually in moments like this, especially when you've got horses that are going against each other every shift, it's going to be somebody in your depth that finds the back of the net."
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