Duluth falls to Roseville 3-2 in girls semis
[Sub the first two paragraphs of previous semifinal story with this as a new lede…pick up 3rd graf of first story…]
Leah Peyer scored on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the third period Friday night to puncture a 2-2 tie and give Roseville a 3-2 victory over the Duluth Dynamite in a pulsating semifinal match of the girls state high school hockey tournament.
The midnight finish and victory gives Roseville (26-0-1) a berth against Bloomington Jefferson — an upset 3-2 victor over South St. Paul in double overtime in the first semifinal. Duluth (21-4-1) faces South St. Paul in the 2:15 p.m. third-place game.
Duluth goaltender Sanya Sandahl anticipated she’d face a busy night from Roseville’s Curtin sisters, and she didn’t have to wait long to find out it was happening. But she and her Dynamite teammates played well through the first 10 minutes to hold off the offensive-minded Raiders, who didn’t show any weariness from their tough first-round victory over Burnsville.
Then Duluth got a power-play chance, and made it click at 10:02, when scoring star Tresa Lamphier had the puck in the slot, and spotted junior Rose Babst in the right circle. Lamphier slid her a pass, and Babst shot it quickly, putting it through goalie Jodi Winters.
Later in the first period, Leah Wrazidlo went off for a penalty, and Lamphier got loose on a shorthanded breakaway, but was foiled by Winters. After that, Sandahl survived Roseville’s power-play pressure and held the 1-0 lead into the second period, even though Roseville had outshot Duluth 12-2 in the opening period.
It took a special play for Roseville to get the equalizer midway through the second period. Renee Curtin slipped away to the far blue line for a long pass, and when she realized Duluth’s defense had her covered, she deftly deflected it to Erika Mortensen, breaking by on the right. As Mortensen rushed up the boards, the sophomore half of the sister act broke for the net on the left, and redirected Mortensen’s pass across the slot past Sandahl at 8:49.
Four minutes later, the Raiders struck again, when Roseville coach Rich Kuehne juggled line matchups and sent both Curtins to the far blue line. Mortensen fired the long pass to spring a 2-on-1, and Ronda Curtin broke up the left side, carrying deep before hooking a pass back across the crease for Renee’s 1-timer and the goal.
But Duluth came out strong in the third period, and Lamphier tied it 2-2 at 1:59. She broke out with a long pass from Allison O’Hara but saw two defenders ahead of her. So as she crossed the center red line, Lamphier measured a slapshot and cut loose from outside the blueline — whistling the 70-footer past Jodi Winters for the shocking goal.
The Dynamite got another power-play opportunity at 6:27, when Chelsey Brodt was penalized, but Ronda Curtin flipped a long clearing pass that sent Peyer up the middle for a shorthanded breakaway. Peyer raced in and scored with a point-blank shot into the upper right at 6:42.
Gopher series could be highlight of UMD season
“It doesn’t matter how good or bad you’re season is, if you beat the Gophers, it’ll make your year.”
That used to be a primary taunt that Gopher hockey fans would toss at UMD. It would infuriate Bulldog fans, who generally would fill every corner of the DECC to see the intensity of the rivalry between the Bulldogs and the “Main U.”
Almost every year, that has been an absurd statement. But maybe not this year. This year, UMD was picked for about the middle of the pack, based on its inexperienced cast of characters, while Minnesota was figured to be a top challenger for North Dakota and Colorado College, based on the Gophers wealth of talent.
The standings tell the story. UMD is last in the WCHA, with slim but extremely unlikely hopes of moving up as high as eighth. Minnesota, however, is sixth, ‘way below its expectations, and desperate to win twice at Duluth this weekend. There are a lot of things riding on this series: Home ice in the playoffs for the Gophers is there, redemption for a second straight season of discontented under-achieving, and possibly even job security for coach Doug Woog.
In their usual unselfish, magnanimous fashion, the Gophers might point out that since revenue-sharing is in effect in the playoffs, having the Gophers at home could make a lot of money, and having them in the WCHA Final Five might be crucial toward making some money — since the Final Five are at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Some of the players on both teams know what’s at stake, and how intense it might be.
UMD’s two senior skaters — goaltender Tony Gasparini is the third one — had different views of entering the final home games of their college careers.
“I’ve been thinking about this being my last games at the DECC,” said winger Curtis Bois. “My family is coming in from Longlac, Ontario, which is a little logging town of about 2,000, about 3 1/2 hours north of Thunder Bay. I want them to see my last weekend at home. And there’s a little extra incentive because we’re playing the Gophers. Everything is in place. You couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Captain Bert Gilling said his parents are coming in too, from Alexander, Manitoba. “It really hasn’t hit me yet about this being the last weekend at the DECC for me,” said Gilling. “It probably won’t hit me until after the season. I wanted my family to come to see us play the Gophers, just to see the atmosphere of the place. It’s unique, and it makes this series fun. I’d love to tell you that I’m going to go out and get the hat trick, but I can only say that I’ll go out and do my best, try to play hard and play smart.”
On the other side, the Gophers have players like Dave Spehar, Dylan Mills and Nick Angell from Duluth East, and Aaron Miskovich from Grand Rapids. That makes it something of a homecoming for those Up North players, and there will be a certain focus on Spehar, the former scoring champ who, a St. Paul columnist suggested, might transfer to UMD if the current Gopher coaching staff remained intact.
Spehar dismissed the notion as ridiculous. A junior, he’d have to sit out a year to play a year. Besides, the abuse he has taken from Duluth fans has made him fell less than welcome in his hometown. “Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of great friends in Duluth and it’ll always be my home,” said Spehar. “But I’d be lying if I said I enjoy playing there.”
As for wishing his Duluth East alma mater good luck in its Section 7AA semifinal against Elk River on Tuesday, Spehar said: “I can’t get up there to see it, but I called coach [Mike Randolph] to wish him good luck.”
As for UMD coach Mike Sertich, he was so worked up over the Gopher series that he and a friend went to Baudette to go ice-fishing on Lake of the Woods last weekend. The Bulldogs had last weekend off, and practiced for an hour a day last week and this to get ready for the Gophers and next week’s final series, at Colorado College.
Sertich took great care not to get verbally trapped into any incendiary statements about the rivalry.
Extra intensity for the Gophers? “I hope we play hard,” said Sertich.
What about reports that the Gophers plan to start going outside the state to recruit? “I wish I had their problems,” said Sertich.
Suggestions from Minnesota that this year’s team lacks talent? “Wyatt Smith, Dave Spehar, Aaron Miskovich, Jordan Leopold, Erik Westrum…I’ll take about six of their guys,” said Sertich.
And, if UMD is destined to finish last, couldn’t success this weekend not only knock Minnesota out of home ice, but make UMD’s season of frustrations a lot more tolerable? “When you put it that way, I guess it would,” said Sertich.
Oh, did you catch any fish last weekend? “Yeah, lots of ’em,” Sertich said. Having a poker face is probably as big an asset ice-fishing as coaching.
Duluth girls stand tall at state hockey meet
When the girls state hockey tournament ended, and Roseville surrounded scoring star Ronda Curtin after her four goals led an 8-2 championship game blowout over Bloomington Jefferson, members of the Duluth Dynamite could stand tall and hold their heads high.
Duluth lost 3-0 to South St. Paul in the third-place game, but the Duluth entry won its first tournament game 5-2 over Mankato, then lost a tense 3-2 semifinal to Roseville. With Roseville crushing Burnsville 5-0 in the quarterfinals and Jefferson 8-2 in the final, that 3-2 victory against Duluth was the Raiders only scare of the weekend at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum.
The Duluth cooperative team’s players showed all the best things about such combined teams. Imagine students from East, Denfeld and Central cheering for each other, or the enthusiasm generated by the East band on Thursday, the Denfeld band Friday, and the Central band, which genuinely stirred up the fans and the players on Saturday.
“Central’s band was the best,” said Tresa Lamphier, Duluth’s lone representative on the all-tournament team. And she’s from Denfeld.
To see the 14 girls from East, and the four from Denfeld, hugging goaltender Sanya Sandahl, who is from Central, was another warm memory to be taken from that cold ice sheet.
Indications are that the Dynamite will be disbanded for next season, but if so, it only will make this season, and the tournament weekend, more special to the players and fans.
Roseville’s Ronda Curtin, the older Curtin sister, broke open a 2-1 championship game with three of her four goals in the second period, scoring on a power play, shorthanded and at even strength. She had seven goals and four assists in the three tournament games, ran her tournament record to 33 points over four years, and completed her career as Minnesota’s all-time top hockey scorer with 249 goals, 217 assists for 466 points. For good measure, she was named Ms. Hockey by the Let’s Play Hockey tabloid on Sunday.
But while Ronda Curtin scored three goals in the opening 5-0 romp over Burnsville, and four in the title game, she was shut out by Duluth center Leah Wrazidlo, with help from Sandahl and the underrated Duluth defense. Wrazidlo’s tenacious play was overlooked by all-tournament voters, even though she also scored twice in the opening victory.
In the semifinals, Lamphier set up Rose Babst for a 1-0 Duluth lead that stood up until the 8:49 mark of the second period, when sophomore Renee Curtin scored twice, on feeds from sister Ronda. Lamphier scored on a 70-foot slapshot at 1:59 of the third to forge a 2-2 tie. Ronda Curtin then fired a long pass to spring Leah Peyer on a shorthanded breakaway that proved to be the game-winner.
Duluth wound up 21-6 after the third-place game, in which Kelly Kegley, South St. Paul’s pint-sized, fifth-year center, scored twice in a 3-0 Packer victory. Sarah Ahlquist recorded her 18th shutout of a phenomenal senior season and the Packers ended 26-2 mark.
Duluth’s experience at the tournament was clouded by the upcoming breakup. High school league rules give new teams the chance to combine with others to get started, but on a two-year basis. After that, each team is evaluated on an individual basis. Duluth got an extention for this year, but has been informed it must disband for next season.
Team athletic director Mike Miernicki, from East, knows East can field its own team next season, but is concerned about the Denfeld and Central girls. “We’ll try to have a combined Denfeld-Central team,” he said. “We hope we’ll have enough players.”
Central’s Sandahl, the star goaltender and one of the finalists for the Let’s Play Hockey’s top goalie award, which it gave to Blaine’s Katie Beauduy, and Denfeld’s Lamphier and Leah Wrazidlo, the top two scorers, are the team’s only seniors. There were few other prospects from Denfeld and Central that came out, so the question is whether there would be enough to make up a team, especially after graduation.
Duluth coach Jack Shearer became aware of the impending breakup when it was announced on Wednesday, the day before the tournament opened, but he kept the team focused on the tournament.
“South St. Paul clearly was the best defensive team we’ve faced,” said Shearer. “And their goaltender is fantastic.”
Ahlquist, who may be the state’s top goalie with a 0.65 goals-against mark against tougher competition than Blaine faced, made her biggest save of the day when Lamphier broke in alone at 6:30 of the first period, when it was 1-0. Ahlquist deflected the shot up over the crossbar.
TOURNAMENT NOTES:
* South St. Paul was the top defensive team in the state, having taken out Natalie Darwitz and Eagan in a 1-0 section final, then stopping Krissy Wendell and Park Center 3-2 in a first round game at the tournament.
South St. Paul was deprived of playing in the final by the only controversial call of the tournament. Leading Jefferson 2-1 in the third period of their semifinal, the Packers made it 3-1 when Kegley broke in with an interception and shot. The goal light flashed red, but the referees discussed it and ruled no goal, that the puck had never crossed the goal line. Glenn Anderson, the goal judge, was never consulted. “The puck crossed the line and was wedged inside the post, up against the pad,” said Anderson. By not counting the third South St. Paul goal, the game stayed 2-1 until Jessica Brandanger scored on a six-skater attack with 10 seconds remaining to give Jefferson a 2-2 tie. The Jaguars won, despite being outshot 38-26, when Sharon Cole’s pass deflected off defenseman Albrecht’s skate and was poked the last inch by Lindsey Christensen at 12:44 of a second sudden-death overtime.
* Park Center’s Krissy Wendell broke the tournament single-game record with all six goals in a 6-5 consolation victory over Mounds View on Friday, after getting both goals in a 3-2 opening-game loss to South St. Paul. That put her within one of the tournament record of nine, held jointly by Hibbing’s Amber Fryklund and Eagan’s Natalie Darwitz, both in 1997. Wendell’s single goal in the 3-0 consolation final over Burnsville gave her a tie for goal record, and her two assists meant she had nine goals and two assists, figuring in all 11 Pirate goals in the tournament. “I didn’t know about any record, but I’d give all of them back if we could have won the tournament,” said Wendell, a junior who finished with 109 goals on a team that wound up 27-1. Wendell left Sunday, along with Darwitz, to join the U.S. National women’s team for the upcoming world tournament.
* Sisters Ronda and Renee Curtin and state champion Roseville teammates Leah Peyer and Erika Mortensen led the 12-player all-tournament team. Jefferson’s goaltender Dana Hergert, defenseman Bethany Petersen and forward Emily Naslund also made the team, along with South St. Paul goaltender Sarah Ahlquist, defenseman Ashley Albrecht and forward Kelly Kegley, Duluth’s Tresa Lamphier, and Park Center’s Krissy Wendell.
* Ronda Curtin’s statistics, 61-47–108, was two more than sister Renee (58-48–106). “It’s better for Ronda to get the points tonight,” said Renee, a sophomore. “It’s her last year, she should be able to get the record.” Renee, who has two seasons to go, suggested that Ronda’s scoring record might only be temporary. “I’ll beat it,” she said, laughing.
* Roseville coach Rich Kuehne has taken more than his share of criticism in his four years, although he says that’s not the reason he’s retiring to a home Up North, on Leech Lake. Kuehne leaves the Raiders with two state titles and an incredible four-year record of 103-5-2.
East falls in bid for 6th straight 7AA puck title
Hermantown will return to the state Class A hockey tournament next week, with a realistic chance to go one better than last year’s runner-up finish. And Silver Bay will make its first-ever trip to the same Class A tournament, charging in as a wide-eyed darkhorse.
But there will be no Duluth East in the Class AA tournament. And that may take some getting used to. Even a unique all-senior all-star game, to be held in Superior, may not adequately relieve the Greyhound disappointment after they lost in the 7AA semifinals to Elk River on Tuesday night.
Nick Licari, Duluth East’s fabulous freshman, scored two spectacular goals at the DECC against Elk River. The first one gave the Greyhounds a 1-1 tie, while the second was the last flicker of the kind of hope that customarily has been rewarded with success by East.
East trailed Elk River 1-0 in the first period when sophomore Jon Hedberg lagged the puck down ice, and junior Ross Carlson chased it down to narrowly avert icing, then passed quickly to the slot, where Licari’s one-timer beat Elk goaltender Mitch Glines.
Elk River took command with three second-period goals, however, two by John Brummer, who scored with a deadly backhander from the slot, and then, with a forehand wrist shot a minute and a half later. But 5:50 of the third period, Licari broke free of a check to catch a Zach Burns pass and zoomed in to score on the breakaway.
As it turned out, that was East’s last hope. The game ended with a wild scramble, but the puck simply would not cross the goal line with 5.5 seconds to go, and the Greyhounds frustration resulted in a brief scuffle. But East lost, 4-2.
After it was over, the Greyhounds trooped to their dressing room, looking down at the floor, silently, except for a few sniffles and sobs.
“We went down fighting,” said East coach Mike Randolph. When he realized his unintentional reference to the last-second hassle on the ice, he couldn’t resist adding: “Literally.”
t would be Elk River facing Hibbing for the Section 7AA title, and not Duluth East. The defending state champs, East had established superiority in 7AA, which traditionally is the toughest section to win. East had won five consecutive 7AA titles. Five consecutive trips to the state Class AA tournament, and striving for six.
That means that when the Greyhounds last failed to carry 7AA’s colors to the state tournament, current East seniors like forwards Chad Roberg, Mike Marshall, and Nick Serre, and defensemen Mark Anunti, Ryan Michela and Jason Marshall were only in sixth grade. They were playing Peewee hockey, and all they ever knew was that when the season ends, East goes to the state tournament.
It’s been 18 years since any team dominated the way East has. Before that, back when it was Region 7, it was somewhat common. Eveleth went to the first 12 consecutive state tournaments. International Falls went five straight times, from 1962-66. Greenway of Coleraine made five straight trips from 1966-70. And Grand Rapids went to eight straight tournaments from 1974-81. Some of those streaks saw entry through the old Region 3 “back door,” however.
“I don’t know about those,” said Randolph, who once starred at Duluth Cathedral. “I was in the Catholic tournament in those days.”
Assessing this year’s team before the sectional, Randolph said: “We’ve been a team that has needed to get refocused on a regular basis. At the beginning of the year, we had a number of new kids who found out that whether it was a practice, scrimmage or game, they’d better be ready to go. The days they took off really cost ’em.
“We’ve set a standard with this program, and we’re not really into losing. We didn’t expect to lose five games this season.”
Then they lost their sixth game, finishing a strong 18-6. With 13 returning players, the Greyhounds future looks bright. But that didn’t diminish the disappointment of the current seniors. Roberg, the captain, said: “We’ve got to get some ice time. I don’t want to be done with this.”
ALL-STARS PLAY MARCH 9
Fortunately for the top seniors in the Up North area, this year there will be a unique all-star game for senior players on Tuesday, March 9. The top Duluth area players, coached by East’s Randolph and Larry Trachsel, will face the top Iron Range stars, coached by Craig Homola and Bob Pazzelli of Eveleth-Gilbert, which felt the same sting as East, because the defending Class A champion Golden Bears were upset by Duluth Central in the 7A quarterfinals.
The CCM All-Star game, brainchild of Ryan Kern, of Kernz & Ko., an athletic promotion company, will be held at Wessman Arena in Superior,with a skills contest at 6:15 p.m., and the game at 7:30. The game will feature 20-minute periods.
The Lake Superior team will consist of goalies Adam Laaksonen of Cloquet and Greg Buell of Silver Bay; defensemen Anunti and Michela of East, Nathan Greene of Duluth Central, John Rodberg of Denfeld, J. R. Bradley of Hermantown and John Conboy of Silver Bay; forwards are Roberg, Serre and Mike Marshall of East; Jon Francisco and Andy Corran of Hermantown; Kyle Tomaich of Central; Jay Dardis of Proctor; Nic Johnson of Silver Bay and Dennis Lennartson of Cloquet.
The Iron Range team has goaltenders Matt Uhan of Eveleth-Gilbert and Nick Ossefoort of Greenway of Coleraine; defensemen Rico Fatticci and Steve Suihkonen of Hibbing, Beau Geisler and Adam Johnson of Greenway, and Dan Heitzman and Troy Korpi of Eveleth; plus forwards Andy Sacchetti andSteve Denny of Eveleth, Mike Fatticci and O.J. Bottoms of Hibbing, Josh Miskovich of Greenway, Andy Allen and Willie Buffetta of Virginia-Mountian Iron/Buhl, Keith Radtke of Mesabi-East, and Jeff True of Grand Rapids.
Bois and the boys seek redemption against Gophers
Growing up in Longlac, Ontario, Curtis Bois knew nothing about the hockey programs at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, or about the University of Minnesota. He didn’t know that Minnesota played all Minnesotans, while UMD, since its start in major college hockey, always used a blend of Minnesotans and Canadians.
In those days, Bois — pronounced “Bwah” — was one of eight or 10 boys — pronounced “boys” — who comprised the Longlac Timberwolves youth teams.
“We only had eight or 10 players, but we dominated the teams from Thunder Bay,” Bois said. “We beat all their teams consistently. We were only a little logging community of 2,000, located about 3 1/2 hours north of Thunder Bay, but we’ve had some good players along the way. My brother played at Princeton two years ago, and Adam Rodak played at St. Cloud State.”
Bois went on to play junior hockey in the USHL with the Thunder Bay Flyers, and led them with first-team all-star statistics of 41 goals, 54 assists for 95 points in 53 games in the 1994-95 season. Then he came to UMD. It seems like just yesterday, but it has flashed past him. He has been frustrated as a goal-scorer, getting just three in his freshman year, 10 as a sophomore and nine last season. He has six this season.
“I expected a lot more goals of myself,” Bois said. “It’s been a rough year. I really expected to be a big player in the league this year. I’d like to go on and play, and use this year as a building year. Instead, I took a few blocks off.
“This is my last weekend at home in the DECC, and I’ve been thinking about it. You think of the friends you meet and the special bond you have with your teammates. We’ve showed a number of times we can play with anyone in the league, and we’ve been better than our record all season. In all honesty, we should be ahead of a lot of the teams that are ahead of us.
“It’s almost unfair the way this year has gone, for the team and for us. Maybe this is all a test of how much I love the game. We’ve been through all this, and something good could still happen, this weekend, and in the playoffs. It all started off on a bad note at Minnesota…”
Back on season-opening weekend at Minnesota, the Gophers had already played two exhibition games and UMD had played none, but UMD got a 2-2 tie when Richie Anderson scored with 3:29 remaining.
The next night, Ryan Homstol scored a goal that would tie the game 2-2 in the second period; the shot went off goalie Adam Hauser, up into the roof of the netting, and landed in the goal, a couple of inches across the line. The referees, holding a delayed penalty, were slow arriving on the scene, and, inexplicably, the goal judge didn’t turn on the light during the several seconds the puck sat there. Gopher senior Reggie Berg then reached his stick in and whisked the puck out, and the goal never was counted. Instead of a 2-2 tie, the Bulldogs ultimately lost 3-1.
The opening tie and tough loss didn’t seem too bad, but the Bulldogs lost two more close ones the next weekend at North Dakota, then came home and lost two more to Wisconsin. The pattern continued, with the Bulldogs playing well enough to win, but finding ways to not win. And last place, unfair or not, is the result.
That leads to this weekend’s final home series for seniors Bois, Bert Gilling and Tony Gasparini. It didn’t take Canadians Bois and Gilling long to realize the extra intensity involved when the Bulldogs face the Gophers — especially in Duluth.
Hockey collisions between the Gophers and UMD in Duluth have always been memorable.
In the first meeting between the two in the Duluth Arena, before it was called the DECC, when UMD first entered the WCHA, Glen Sonmor was in his first year as Gopher coach, and UMD All-American Keith (Huffer) Christiansen lured the Gophers off with Pied Piper-like ease, then passed to teammates at the goal-mouth. He recorded six assists and the Bulldogs won 8-1.
There was the mind-boggling series to open the 1969-70 series, when Ralph Romano’s UMD team pasted the Gophers 7-3, but fans better remember the second game, when a check near the boards with the score tied caused a fan to reach out to protect himself. Sonmor figured the fan was trying to grab Minnesota freshman Mike Antonovich, so, in a flash, Sonmor leaped off the bench and into the stands and beat up the fan.
Police cleared the entire section, and, with Sonmor’s tie still in place but his white shirt torn to shreds, the Gophers rallied to win 3-2 in overtime. The Gophers went on to a magical season and a surprising WCHA title, and they returned to the Duluth Arena to beat UMD 3-2 in a three-overtime thriller in the WCHA playoff semifinals.
The Gophers traditionally opened the season at UMD in those days, and the Bulldogs had a 5-1 record against Sonmor’s Gopher teams in those season-openers at Duluth. Herb Brooks replaced Sonmor, and after the Bulldogs won the next two season-openers from the Gophers, Brooks quit scheduling games at Duluth on opening weekend. That didn’t reduce the intensity of the rivalry, or the penchant for spectacular games between the teams on DECC ice.
Current Gopher coach Doug Woog is 2-0 in openers at Duluth, but are 18-10-1 overall in the DECC coming into this weekend. The last time the Gophers played at the DECC, UMD won 7-3 in last year’s playoff opener, then Minnesota won 5-0. In the third and deciding game, UMD rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the final period to eliminate the Gophers 5-4 in a spectacle that concluded with UMD coach Mike Sertich sliding into the net in a one-man celebration.
One of the biggest differences between the two is still on display this weekend. The Gophers are all-Minnesotan, while UMD has a mixture of Minnesotans and Canadian players, plus the occasional North Dakotan, or Superiorite. But even the Canadians have learned to love this series.
Gilling said: “For this weekend, we can totally forget we’re in last place, because we’re playing the Gophers.”
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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