Luke Herzog, Rob Christy and Ryan O'Neill each had second-period goals and host St. Thomas Academy won its 11th boys' hockey game in a row, beating Hill-Murray 4-1 on Thursday night.
Both teams returned from weather-induced breaks, with Hill-Murray having only one optional practice this week while the Cadets had none.
"Obviously, we had to take our warmups pretty seriously," Christy said. "We had to get our feet wet."
St. Thomas Academy (17-3-1, 7-1 Metro East), ranked No. 6 in the Class 2A state coaches' poll, hasn't lost since a 6-2 defeat by Edina on Dec. 28.
Ryan Petersen scored the lone goal for the No. 10 Pioneers (11-6-2, 5-1-1), who have played a difficult schedule that has included Benilde-St. Margaret's, Mahtomedi, Edina twice and Maple Grove in the past 10 games.
"Hopefully, it prepares you if you take it the right way," Pioneers coach Bill Lechner said. "You can either use it as a positive or it can destroy you. And we'll find out how our guys respond."
Boys' basketball
Tartan 63, Mahtomedi 52: Antwan Kimmons scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half and the Titans ended on a 16-5 run to beat the visiting Class 3A, No. 6 Zephyrs.
Mahtomedi tied the score at 47-47 with less than 5½ minutes to play, but Tartan scored the next eight points and moved into a tie atop the Metro East Conference lead with the Zephyrs.
