Power Play Pays Off For Holy Angels Stars

 Monday night's game between the Holy Angels Stars and the St. Louis Park Orioles was brought to you by the number two.  Jack Bartfield scored two goals and the Stars capitalized on three power play opportunities to beat the Orioles 4-1 at The Rec Center.  

Neither team would erase the zeros from the scoreboard in the first period.  St. Louis Park would take the early lead as Ben Farley went two on one like traffic driving down Excelsior Blvd. and he found an opening to the right of Holy Angels goalie Bryce Hess to put the puck in the net.  But the lead didn't last for the Orioles due to a couple of penalties that the Stars would cash in on.  The first came when Henry Schrader was sent to the penalty box for tripping and :09 later, Noah Hermanson scored from the right slot.  The second came after Phillip Hirte went off for roughing and Holy Angels tallied :12 later on Bartfield's first goal.  

It looks like the Stars would widen their lead to two in the third period.  But after a summit meeting between the three officials, the ruling was no goal.  No problem for the Stars.  Barfield would score Holy Angels third power play goal.  After St. Louis Park called time out, head coach Ben Horsch pulled goalie Josh Middleton for a sixth attacker and Carter Hermanson would fire the puck into the empty net to clinch the victory.  

The Stars improved their record to 6-1 and will host the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks on Thursday, December 23 at 7 PM at the Richfield Ice Arena.  The Orioles ended a two game winning streak and fell to 2-3.  They return to action on Wednesday, December 22 at noon against Minneapolis at the Parade Ice Garden.  

Wayzata Trojans Beat CDH Raiders in Class AAAA Final Rematch

 If you missed last April's Class AAAA championship game between the Wayzata Trojans and Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders due to the pandemic, the two teams would battle again as Carter Bjerke scored 16 points to lead the Trojans to a 59-50 win over the Raiders in the Breakdown Big 12 Classic Saturday night at Totino-Grace High School in Fridley.  

Bjerke would begin the scoring :12 into the first half.  Ryan Harvey would spark a 5-0 run on a goaltending call against Donavhan Cain for a three point play.  Tre Holloman, headed for Michigan State next season would help put the Raiders on the scoreboard with a lob pass to Cain and he would score on a right handed jam.  The lead would go back and forth a few times until Wayzata would widen the lead on a 11-3 run.  They would play solid defense and box out well in the post and it would result in baskets to Bjerke and Davis Hay.  Holloman would be the bright spot for Cretin-Derham Hall as he stole the ball and slammed it home.  The Trojans led at halftime 27-22.  

In the second half, Hayden Tibbits, who wasn't heard from in the first half began the Trojan scoring with a pair of free throws :22 into the half.  But the Raiders would come close to the defending Class AAAA champions with a three pointer from Cain that cut the lead to three.  Foul trouble would hit CDH in the second half when Adam Tauer picked up his fourth foul with 13:50 to go and Sam Koopmeiers 1:36 later.  Tauer would return to the game and hit a three pointer to cut the Wayzata lead to five.  Cain would keep the Raiders in the game with three consecutive three pointers but they would have to foul late in the game to keep the Trojans from running out the clock as Tibbits would clinch the win with a pair of free throws with :07.1 to play.  

Other players in double figures for Wayzata were Tibbits with 12 points, all in the second half.  Drew Berkland contributed 10.  Cain led CDH with 18 points and Holloman added 10.  

The Trojans improved their record to 3-2 and will head to Champlin Park on Tuesday, December 21 for a 7 PM game with the Rebels.  The Raiders fell to 1-2 and are off until Wednesday, December 29 as they will play in Woodbury in the East Ridge Tournament against the Lakeville South Cougars at 6 PM.  

Regguinti's Return Sparks SLP Orioles to First Win

 After sitting out a one game suspension for fighting, Stanley Regguinti returned to action Tuesday night and scored two goals to lead the St. Louis Park Orioles to a 6-1 win over the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles at The Rec Center's outdoor rink. 

It was the Orioles first win of the season and the first for new head coach Ben Horsch,.  

St. Louis Park would break out of the starting gate early on Griffin Krone's goal :25 into the game.  They would go up by two when Jacob Favour passed to Michael Hoikka and he went round the left side of the cage and stuffed the puck over the goal line for a power play goal.  Kennedy would get on the scoreboard thanks to the Brothers Manning.  Nick would get credit for the goal after rebounding Jack's shot.  The Orioles would regain the two goal margin on Phillip Hirte's unassisted goal with 1:11 left in the period.  

Krone would pick up his second point of the game as he sent the puck to Ben Farley and he would score from the right slot.  St. Louis Park would increase their lead to four on Regguinti's right slot goal.  

Regguinti's second goal would account for the third period's only goal.  The Eagles had a five on three advantage for 1:05 but the Oriole defense and solid penalty killing would deny any scoring opportunities.u

St. Louis Park improved their record to 1-2 and will head to Long Lake on Saturday, December 18 to face the Orono Spartans at 2 PM at Morrison Arena.  Kennedy fell to 0-4 and will also be back in action on the 18th as they battle their city rival the Jefferson Jaguars at 3 PM at the Bloomington Ice Garden.  

Hanus' Hat Trick Helps Minnetonka Skippers Sink SLP Orioles

It was an honorable night for Reed Hanus as he scored a hat trick to lead the Minnetonka Skippers to a 7-1 sinking of the St. Louis Park Orioles Thursday at The Rec Center.  

The Orioles were playing without Stanley Regguinti who was serving a one game suspension due to a game disqualification penalty in last Thursday's game against the Edina Hornets.  

St. Louis Park would get the early lead in the first period on a slap shot from Ben Olson that would enter the net.  

The Oriole lead would be short-lived in the second period as the Skippers took the lead with two goals.  Michael Manning would score the first one from the right slot and Alex Lunski would fire a shot from the left face off circle that landed in the net.  St. Louis Park goalie Josh Middleton was busy in the net, facing 30 shots in the period.  

Minnetonka would put the game away in the third period with five unanswered goals.  Manning would pick up his second point when he set up Hanus' first goal.  The Skippers would score four goals in a stretch of 1:18.  Baer would begin the run on a shot from ahead of the blue line.  Hanus would get the hat trick, scoring the next two goals.  Danny Pasqua would wrap up the scoring for Minnetonka.  

The Skippers out shot the Orioles 64-19.  

Minnetonka head coach Sean Goldsworthy is the son of the late former Minnesota North Star Bill Goldsworthy.  

The Skippers improved their record to 3-2 and will head up I-94 to face the Rogers Royals on Saturday, December 11 at 7 PM at the Rogers Activity Center.  The Oead outside for their next game on Tuesday, The Orioles fell to 0-2 and will head outside for their next game on Tuesday, December 14 as the host the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles at 7 PM at the Recreation Outdoor Center.  

Edina Hornets Sting SLP Orioles

 Ben Horsch's maiden voyage as head coach of the St. Louis Park Oriole Boys Hockey Team hit rough waters Thursday night as Trey Fechko scored two goals to lead the Edina Hornets to a 7-1 rout of the Orioles at The Rec Center.  

The Hornets, ranked number one in Class AA, tested Oriole goalie Josh Middleton early as they dominated the first period with four goals and held St. Louis Park without any shots until there was :26.6 left in the period.  John Halverson would score Edina's first goal from the center slot off a pass from Prescot Sexton.  The Hornets would go up by two on Caden Morgan's power play goal.  Trey Fechko and Ryan Flaherty would round out Edina's first period scoring.  

Trey Fechko would fetch the puck from Henry Whittlef and he would score his second goal of the game.  Sexton's shot from the right corner would enter the next to put the Hornets ahead by six.  

Edina would add another goal to their ledger in the third period when Jimmy Clark went top shelf. The one bright spot for the Orioles in tonight's game was there would be no shutout.  While Morgan was serving a tripping penalty,  Teddy Dahlin scored a power play goal on a rebound.  As the clock ticked down toward zero, several players from both teams got into a fight.  One player from each team received a game disqualification.  They were Sexton from Edina and Stanley Regguinti from St. Louis Park.  

The Hornets improved their record to 3-0 and return to action on Saturday, December 4 at 8 PM against the White Bear Lake Bears at Braemar Arena in Edina.  The Orioles opened their season with an 0-1 record and travel down Highway 5 to Waconia on Tuesday, December 7 to take on the Wildcats at 7 PM at the City Ice Arena.  

Mankato West Scarlets Get the Gold

 The final game of the 2021 Prep Bowl featured Alex Dittbenner throwing two touchdown passes to lead the Mankato West Cougars to a 21-10 win over the Mahtomedi Zephyrs Saturday afternoon in the Class AAAAA Football Championship Game at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  

It was the fifth state title for Mankato West in the 13th state tournament appearance and their first Class AAAAA championship since 2014.  

Many red and black clad Scarlet fans (as well as The Blogger) who were stuck in line waiting to enter the US Bank Stadium's purple seats missed the Mankato West defense coming up big when Mahtomedi's Gunnar Woods fumbled and Ryan Haley recovered and went 34 yards into the woods for the touchdown.  The Scarlets would go up by 14 as Dittbenner would rush for 37 yards on three plays and fire a nine yard pass to Brady Haugum on first and goal with :20 left in the quarter.  

Mankato West, the top ranked team in Class AAAAA most of the season had trouble hanging on to the ball, losing three fumbles.  The first was recovered by the Zephyrs Dominic Rohrer and it gave Mahtomedi an opportunity to cut the lead to seven.  But they would only gain one yard on three plays thanks to the Scarlet defense and Joseph Heinsch would put the Zephyrs on the board with a 31 yard field goal.  Mankato West led 14-3 at the half.  

The Zephyrs would inch closer to the Scarlets in the third quarter when Charles Brandt completed a 34 yard pass to Woods but he fumbled and this time he recovered the ball at the Mankato West four yard line.  They would cash in on Jordan Hull's one yard touchdown run.  However, the Scarlets would widen their lead to 11 when Dittbenner threw a 13 yard touchdown pass to Gibson Blackstad.  

Mankato West would conclude the scoring in the fourth quarter on Drew Smook's 35 yard field goal with 4:17 to go.  Mahtomedi had a chance to narrow the lead to seven on their final drive but once again the Scarlet defense came through on Haley's sack or Brandt and on fourth and 16, Brandt's pass to Quinn Walek was deflected by Damian Riewe and the Scarlets got the ball and ran out the clock to send the fans down Highway 169 home happy.  

Dittbenner led Mankato West completing 11 of 18 passes for 121 yards and rushing for 48 yards.  Mahtomedi was led by Ethan Loss who gained 130 yards on seven completions.  

The Scarlets ended their season with a 13-0 record and Mahtomedi finished with a record of 10-3.  

Long Drives Help Dassel-Cokato Chargers Win Class AAA Title

 Fans from five communities got to see Eli Gillman rush for 150 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Dassel-Cokato Chargers to a 28-21 victory over the Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs in the Class AAA Football Championship Game Saturday afternoon at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  

It was the first state title for Dassel-Cokato in their fourth trip to state.  The Chargers returned to the Class AAA final after losing to the Pierz Pioneers 28-27 in 2019.  

The Charger defense would prevail in the early going when Kyan Lynk intercepted Bulldog quarterback Connor McGuire's pass.  It would begin a drive would culminate with Eli Gillman's eight yard touchdown run.  But the replay review ruled that Eli Gillman came short of the goal line.  so he got the ball again and this time he scored the touchdown, capping a 14 play drive that lasted 5:49.  

In the second quarter, P-E-M, aided by a D-C encroachment penalty got a one yard keeper touchdown from McGuire to tie the game at seven.  Then it would be D-C's turn and they kept the Bulldog defense on the field for a long long time.  They went 3 for 3 on fourth down conversions and it would culminate in 20 plays lasting (;30 with Eli Gillman's two yard touchdown run.  P-E-M would go into the locker room at halftime with a deficit.  They used a bit of trickery.  McGuire completed a pass to Kaiden Peters, he lateraled the ball to Jason Felis and he scampered down the left sideline like the fan buses heading down I-90 for a 44 yard touchdown to tie the game at 14.  

Heading into the third quarter, the Chargers methodical offense would strike again as they used 18 plays and 8:45 that would result in Eli Gillman's third touchdown of the game, his second from two yards.  

D-C would extend their lead to 14 in the fourth quarter when Keyton Johnson bulged through the Bulldog defense and scored from 10 yards.  P-E-M would cut the margin to seven on McGuire's nine yard touchdown pass to Hunter Tentis.  The Bulldogs would get the ball back, thanks to an onside kick that was recovered Peyton Schumacher.  Could they send the game into overtime or pull off the win?  The answer would be no as McGuire would misfire on all four downs and turn the ball over to the Chargers.  Two kneels later, the game ended.  

Statistics worth noting.  D-C ran 71 plays, P-E-M 34.  The Chargers had the ball 32:44, the Bulldogs 15:16.  

D-C finished the season with a 14-0 record and P-E-M ended their campaign with a record of 11-3.