Greyhounds nip Moorhead to gain semis
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MN.
Goaltender Dylan Parker had only three shutouts during the regular season, but he recorded his third in the playoffs by stifling Moorhead’s best shots Thursday to guide Duluth East to a nail-biting 1-0 victory over Moorhead in the opening game of the Class AA quarterfinals in the Minnesota Hockey Tournament at Xcel Center.
East goalie Dylan Parker got help from defenseman Alex Trapp to blank the Spuds.
The victory puts the Greyhounds (25-4) into Friday night’s 6 p.m. first semifinal against Edina, with their winning streak now extended to 17 straight, a string that started after losing to Denfeld in a 5-4 upset on January 8. It also was the fewest goals East has scored in that streak, during which the Hounds scored 81 goals, an averag of 4.8 goals per game. The Hounds were shut out twice in their first seven games, by Wayzata and by Breck, which were the only two games they scored less than on Thursday. But when the flashy scoring went away, the defense remained solid, and behind them there was Parker.
East’s offense will have to find its rhythm against Edina (23-6), which romped to a 9-3 victory over outmanned Lakeville North in the second semifinal.
Thursday night’s quarterfinals sent Hill-Murray and Wayzata into the second Friday night semifinal. Hill-Murray beat Eastview 6-3, jumping to a 4-0 lead before Eastview battled back to 4-2, and then 5-2 before it became 5-3, and finally settled by Sam Barker’s shot from the blue line that glanced in off a defenseman’s knee with 5:59 left. The Pioneers outshot Eastview 34-17, and got goals from six different scorers.
The final game was the day’s classic, as Wayzata slipped past Centernnial 2-1 in overtime, when Chase Haller threw a blind pass from behind the net to the crease, and when the puck glanced out to the slot, Chjase Heising put it past goaltender Patrick Munson at 4:01 of sudden-death. Centennial took a 1-0 lead on Adam Anderson’s goal in the first miniute of the second period. Wayzata goalie Aaron Dingmann fell returning to the crease from behind the net, just as Andrew Bertrand forced a shot that squeezed past Dingmann and the goal post, winding up on Andersoon’s stick for an easy shot.
Centennial appeared to make it 2-0 when Anderson’s shot was partially blocked, then covered by a sprawling Dingmann, who got his glove on the puck as it crossed the line. Several replays appeared to verify that the puck never quite made it fully across the line, but one view, looking into the goal, appeared to show white between the line and the puck, but the review staff disallowed the goal. That proved huge when Munson pulled out a half-dozen big saves and flashes of great luck. His best goaltending move was when Wayzata’s Akash Batra and Brian Machut came out of the left corner 2-on-0, but Munson poke-checked the puck off Batra’s stick. It appeared the 1-0 edge would last, but the puck popped free to the slot and Jalen Wahl’s quick move punctured Munson’s shutout with only 1:15 remaining.
The Trojans (22-7) may want to start scoring earlier if they hope to beat top-seeded Hill-Murray in the semifinals.
Duluth East’s first line has been a big-scoring unit all season, but the underlying reason for the Greyhounds success has been the always-solid and often-spectacular play of the defensive corps. That means It helps, of course, to have those goal outbursts to establish a margin, and that’s happened often enough that goaltender Dylan Parker gets overlooked.
But Thursday was a day the big line didn’t score, and while the defense and team defense was near flawless, it also was Parker’s day to grab the spotlight. Jack Kolar, who had played strong but with only four goals all season, scored No. 5 on a low 30-foot bullet early in the second period, and that was it.
Junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu made the critical play at 1:13 of the seconds period, rushing out of his end and passing to his left where Alex Tescano caught the pass and quickly relayed it back to the slot. The pass was just ahead of Beaulieu, but right on the tape of Kolar’s stick. He cut to his left and fired a low 30-footer into the short side.
“My line usually tries to shoot and go get rebounds,” said Kolar. “Our ‘D’ moved the puck up and I got it in the middle. I went left, and shot into the lower left.”
Ryan Lundgren (21) and Alex Tescano were stopped by Moorhead goalie Jacob Dittmer.
When Moorhead arose for a stirring rally in the third period, however, Parker was rock-solid, and the Greyhounds made the 1-0 lead stand up.
“I felt comfortable in the nets today,” said Parker, who has given up only four goals in his last seven games. He concluded the season with shutouts against Lakeville North and Tartan in two of the last three games, then blanked St. Michael-Albertville and Cloquet-Esko-Carlton in the Section 7 AA tournament. “It’s easy when you great team defense in front of you.”
Randolph wasn’t sure if it was Parker’s best day. “What did they have, five shots after two periods?” Randolph said. “Then they came on and he had to make some big saves. It’s very difficult for a goaltender to play that kind of game.”
“We were tight, Moorhead was tight, and really it was an ugly game. But we’re used to ugly games. And now we’re playing at 6 tomorrow — we survived, and we’re on to the semis.”
East nearly made it 2-0 with five minutes remaining in the third period. Kolar fired a hard shot from the left side, and Jacob Dittmer, Moorhead’s 6-foot-2 sophomore goaltender blocked the shot, but left the rebound right in the slot. East’s Tyler Sworsky grabbed the rebound and cut to his right, pulling the puck with a deft “toe-drag” wide to the right, then flipping a backhander low toward the open net. Suddenly, though, it was open no more, as Dittmer, sprawled, lunged to catch it in his glove. The force of the shot pushed his glove back almost to the goal line, but he held it out.
Moorhead sophomore Jacob Dittmer came up with a save on Jack Forbort of East.
“I was just trying to get any piece of my body in front of it,” Dittmer said. “I realized how close to the line I was and I was looking for that post to make sure I stayed outside of it.”
Moorhead coach Peter Cullen, the cousin of current Wild and former St. Cloud State and Moorhead star Matt Cullen, is in his first year at the helm of the Spuds, and was asked about Randolph, who recently coached his 500th victory. “I have a lot of respect for a man who’s touched a lot of young men, and I hope I can do the same,” said Cullen. “I know it’s a bee’s-nest up there, with a lot of criticism, and players moving and all that. He deals with it, and keeps on doing well.”
Randolph, on the other hand, says this team is filled with a special cohesiveness. “Our locker room is solid, and this is one of my favorite groups,” he said. “There hasn’t been a lot of whining, and I can’t remember any other team I’ve had being so cohesive.”
Meirs Moore, one of the captains, and a frequent rusher from defense, reflected on his three straight years of state tournaments. “Our sophomore year, we were fortunate to make it to the championship game,” he said. “Last year, we pretty much dominated teams, and maybe we took it for granted we’d get back to the championship game. But we lost to Lakeville South in the quarterfinals. This year, I had mixed thoughts. We didn’t want to take anything for granted, and I didn’t want to go to Mariucci [for consolation games].”
Instead, the Greyhounds and Hornets will lock up in another of their usually intense battles in the 6 p.m. semifinal.
Hermantown blanks Marshall 3-0 in state opener
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MN.
Hermantown began its quest to be more than just the public-school champion of the Class A state hockey tournament by beating Marshall, its crosstown Duluth rival, 3-0 in a quarterfinal game Wednesday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center.
Hermantown’s top line of Bo Grunseth, Travis Koepke and Chris Benson scored a goal apiece, after a scoreless first period. Having conquered their nearby private-school rival, the No. 3 seeded Hawks (24-4-1) next play in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. Friday against another private school, No. 2 seed Breck (25-3-1) — a 6-1 victor over Marshall High School in Wednesday’s opening game.
Many Hermantown fans are anticipating a rematch in the final against No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion St. Thomas Academy, yet another private school. If such a scenario worked out, it would mean that Hermantown, which beat St. Cloud Cathedral in the 5A final, would face four consecutive private schools in quest of the Class A title.
St. Thomas Academy (25-2-2) unloaded on St. Cloud Apollo 12-0 in Wednesday night’s quarterfinals. The Cadets racked up the first 35 shots before Apollo got its first one, in the last minute of the second period,and outshot the Eagles 50-3. The Cadets will face East Grand Forks, a 3-2 winner over Rochester Lourdes in the final quarterfinal game. Two goals and an assist by Kolton Aubol led the Green Wave to a 3-0 lead in the first two periods, then they had to hang on to advance to Friday’s 1:30 p.m. second semifinal.
Hermantown hockey coach Bruce Plante is infamous at the Class A state tournament, where, after seeing his team lose in the championship game for the third straight time to a private school last year, said, “I guess we’re still the public school champs.”
He deflected questions referring to that, choosing instead to prais his all-senior top line. “We have a pecking order at Hermantown,” Plante said. “The older guys get more play and the younger guys follow along. They’ll get their chance. These three guys came to us as 10th graders out of Bantams. They were our third line, and we affectionately called them our ‘Diaper Line.’ They were the second line last year, and this year they’re our top line.
Travis Koepke (27) put a rebound past Marshall goalie Caden Flaherty to give Hermantown a 2-0 lead.
“I had no doubt they’d be a good line, and they’re fun guys to be around,” Plante added, after the threesome established a school record for goals in a season.
Hawks are far more than a one-line team, but that top line was impressive in their 13th straight victory. Junior Adam Smith, who wasn’t on last year’s tournament runner-up team, recorded a 17-save shutout in his first exposure to the event. His job was made considerably easier by his teammates, who fired 35 shots at the other end of the rink and applied enough pressure to prevent the Hilltoppers from threatening very often.
Marshall, which had come off a shaky midseason to play its best hockey down the stretch, including a 3-2 victory over Denfeld in the 7A championship game, was outshot 10-4 in the first period, but contained the Hawks pretty well. “I thought we had them off their game in the first period, and we had some looks,” said Marshall coach Brendan Flaherty. “But they made some adjustments. They played a suffocating defense and left no gaps for us to make plays. And their power play was very good.”
Two of the three Hawk goals were on power plays. At 3:34 of the second period, Grunseth fielded the rebound of Grant Sega’s power-play shot and put it past Caden Flaherty to break the scoreless tie. Koepke helped create his own goal at 10:41, skating in on the right side and leaving a long drop pass for Gronseth, then breaking for the net just in time to retrieve the rebound of Gronseth’s shot and deposit it at the left edge.
Chris Benson clinched Hermantown's 3-0 state tournament victory with a power-play goal.
The highlight-video third goal came on a third-period power play when the Hawks dizzying passwork left Marshall’s penalty killers flat-footed. The puck went from the left side to the right, to the right point, then the left point, and from Jake Zeleznikar in to Koepke in the right circle, and he sent it to the slot to Chris Benson, who had several seconds wide open to pick his spot and fire past Flaherty.
Both teams credit their arrival at the state tournament to a refocusing on team defense. “For sure, we all stepped up our game,” said Gronseth.
Adam Smith made his toughest save late in the game, a dazzler to rob Kris McKinzie at the net. He said it was “exciting, very exciting,” to get to play and get a shutout at Xcel Center. “It helps to have a great team in front of you.”
Wben Marshall threatened late in the game, Hermantown goalie Adam Smith came through.
His counterpart, Caden Flaherty — who is no relation to coach Brendan Flaherty — said the Hilltoppers knew they “had to be good on the penalty kill, because they feed on goals.”
Flaherty added that when Marshall shook up the lines late in the season, the players all were unified. “We knew we had to turn it around, or we’d be in the stands.”
The Hilltoppers definitely are not spending any time in the seats this week. Coach Flaherty said they intend to still win a couple games, starting with Thursday’s consolation semifinal against the other Marshall, from the small southwest Minnesota town.
East, Hermantown, Marshall return to state
By John Gilbert
Funny how it never gets old? Just like last year at this time, Duluth will have three schools represented at the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament in Duluth East, Hermantown, and Marshall.
This is the 68th hockey tournament, and Northland hockey fans obviously go into it with hope one or two of our teams can bring home a big trophy. More than that, we hope they play their best, win or lose, and represent all that is great about Duluth area hockey on the grandest stage of all. he state hockey tournament in Minnesota is the biggest sports event in the state, every year, and has become the event that defines the state.
Never mind the pros, or the colleges, or the other high school sports; they all must suffer from the ups and downs and inconsistencies of all teams. But despite the upsets and surprises on the way, the state hockey tournament is a constant, always reaching the heights of emotion and displaying astounding levels of competence. We like all our schoolboy sports in Minnesota, but our hockey players are closer to college and pro caliber than the participants in any other sport.
Duluth East's Alex Toscano (23) beats Grand Rapids goalie Hunter Shepard on a breakaway.
Duluth East has a shot at the Class AA title it last won in 1998, and before that in 1995 — both with 25-3 records — and before that in 1960, at 23-3, back when Herman and his town were an obscure wooded region near the airport, and hadn’t yet become the Edina of Duluth. Marshall, meanwhile, was located downtown and known as Duluth Cathedral, and not even allowed to play with the public school boys.
Hermantown, which won the Class A title in 2007 with a 29-0-1 record, defeated Marshall in the championship game that year. Now, after reaching, and losing, the title game three straight years, once to Breck and the last two in overtime classics to St. Thomas Academy, the Hawks wound up running directly into Marshall in the quarterfinals, by the luck of the first-round draw.
The Hawks had to fly south to win the Section 5A title, beating St. Cloud Cathedral 5-1. Marshall, and then East, took center stage at AMSOIL Arena to win their titles. Some are upset that while the top four are seeded in both tournaments, their foes are made by blind draw, but the two Duluth-area entries face off the first day. A better way to look at it is that one of them is assured of being in Friday’s semifinals. As usual, getting to state was half the fun.
HOUNDS HANG ON
East was top seed and Grand Rapids second, and it took everything the Greyhounds could muster to get past the Thunderhawks. Usually getting the first goal in such a big game is pivotal, but East got the first two, when Jack Kolar scored midway through the first period, and Phil Beaulieu moved up from the point to score midway through the second. But the Hounds didn’t have their usual rhythm. Maybe it was the great crowd of 5,630 at AMSOIL, but they quit moving the puck in their usual fashion, settling instead for one-man efforts the left a path open for Rapids.
Jake Bischoff led a Grand Rapids rally with a deflection goal past Duluth East goalie Dylan Parker, plus two assists.
At 11:05 of the middle period, Reid Holum scored from the slot to cut it to 2-1, but East came back when Jack Forbort carried up the right side, circled behind the net, and continued back out front on the left side bvefore firing high into the right corner with 28 seconds left in the second period. At 3-1, East seemed in command, but Jake Bischoff took the game over for Grand Rapids to lead a third-period comeback.
Bischoff, a Mr. Hockey candidate and already the winner of the Reed Larson award as the best senior defenseman in the state, was at center point to catch a pass from his freshman brother, Jonah, and ripped a screened shot. It sailed promptly in, but Holum had gotten a piece of it for a deflection goal at 1:10, cutting it to 3-2.
There was still time for a couple of enormous plays. First, in the face of Grand Rapids pressure, Beaulieu, a defenseman, flipped a pass out to center ice, and Alex Toscano broke free with the puck, sailing in on a breakaway to beat goaltender Hunter Shepard at 4:33, restoring East’s 2-goal lead at 4-2. East’s Andrew Kerr and Alex Trapp delivered huge bodychecks, and again it appeared the Hounds were secure.
But midway through the period, Jake Bischoff made a play the might be the single biggest bit of evidence about why he won the top-defenseman award. Having played almost the whole period, Bischoff came rushing up the middle of the rink. He spotted Holum on the right boards and passed to him at the East blue line. Holum turned, loaded up, and fired a slap shot that was deflected cleanly past Dylan Parker at the net. Amazingly, the deflection was delivered by Bischoff, who managed to pass before reaching the blue line, then raced to the goal in time to make a clean tip on Holum’s shot.
That closed the gap to 4-3, and the game took an odd and unfortunate turn at 9:09. Rapids rushed, and sniper Avery Peterson got open in the slot. As a pass from the left came to him, he pivoted to shoot off the pass. But before the puck arrived, East’s Toscano blasted him in the back and dropped him. It appeared certain that the Hounds would be shorthanded for two, and possibly five, minutes. But the referees watched in silence, and made no call. The Greyhounds immediately counter-attacked and rushed into the Rapids end. Ryan Lundgren, top line center, got to the puck first, but David Horsmann — possibly amped up on adrenaline at the non-call — blasted Lundgren into the end boards.
This time the refs didn’t hesitate, and properly gave Horsmann a five-minute major for boarding. East did nothing on the extended power play, but the major infraction wouldn’t have occurred if any kind of penalty had been called on the hit at the other end. Regardless, the 4-3 game percolated along to the finish. Rapids pulled goaltender Shepard, and East made a rush at the empty net, but a Rapids player blocked a long slap shot. It was Jake Bischoff, following up his dominant night by making a huge save. The game ended when East iced the puck with 4.1 seconds showing. Avery Peterson pulled the crucial faceoff back to Curtis Simonson, but Lundren dived to swat the puck clear and end the game.
“We beat a great team,” said East coach Mike Randolph. “And Jake Bischoff was a man possessed. He took over the game. Every time he carried the puck up the middle of the ice, I got nervous. We were in control in the first two periods, but in the third, we were guilty of playing on our heels. When we got that late penalty, I took a timeout. I told our guys, ‘We’re up by one, we’re not behind. Killing penalties is one of the best things we do, so go kill this one and we go to the state tournament.”
HILLTOPPERS STOP HUNTERS
There was a feeling as Marshall and top-seeded Denfeld came onto the AMSOIL ice for the Section 7, Class A final. The Hunters seemed to be looking around, trying to look poised, at being on the verge of making it to the big show; Marshall’s Hilltoppers zoomed through warm-ups as if they were comfortable with the by-now familiar chore of reaching the state tournament. Before the start of the game, three black-clad Hilltoppers gathered for a group hug near the Marshall bench. They were seniors Kris McKinzie, Matthew Klassen, and Connor Flaherty — three seniors knowing how much they’d been through, and how this could be their last game.
Kris McKinzie backhanded a goal for Marshall's 2-1 lead over Denfeld.
This was a markedly different Hilltopper team than the one Denfeld thrashed 8-3 at midseason. Coach Brendan Flaherty was pretty discouraged back then, because Marshall had also lost 6-1 at home to Totino Grace and 7-0 at Rochester Lourdes. “No question, in January we struggled,” said Flaherty. “We’re young and smaller, and we struggled against high-end players. So we changed some things. We moved Anthony Miller back from forward to defense, and went mostly with four older defensemen. We had some really good younger players, but we decided to lean on our senior class.
“We saw a turnaround at Cloquet, some cohesiveness. This game against Denfeld was a great game, and if it wasn’t our best, it certainly was one of them. When we went down and beat St. Cloud Cathedral 3-1, we also played this well. In the playoffs, we beat Hibbing 3-2. No question, we’re playing our best hockey right now.”
It showed from the start of the game. The Hilltoppers showed some dash, and the Hunters seemed tentative. A lot of too-soft Denfeld passes were easily picked off, and 5:53 into the game, three Marshall seniors collaborated to take a 1-0 lead. Michael Damberg forechecked to kick the puck free on the end boards, and Jeremy Lopez got it. He moved toward the back of the net, then sent a perfect pass out to the slot to Klassen, whose quick shot beat goaltender Zach Thompson for a 1-0 Marshall lead.
The Hunters came right back, and when Alex Thompson got in deep on the left, he misfired on his pass attempt, but it slid to Levi Talarico anyway, and Talarico jammed it in at the left edge for a 1-1 tie. A Hunter penalty followed, and when Luke Pavelich was checked off the puck in the slot, Kris McKinzie pounced on the puck, cut right, and scored with a backhander to restore Marshall to a 2-1 lead.
Denfeld's Ried Lemker (14) put the puck past Marshall goalie Caden Flaherty for a 2-2 tie.
While Denfeld never really got into its usual offensive rhythm — the sort of rhythm they had shown when a five-goal second period had buried Marshall 8-3 at midseason — Ried Lemker got a rebound and scored a power-play goal at 10:02 of the second period to tie it 2-2. But Marshall’s quickness regained the lead later in the second period. Cam McClure got the puck and stepped out front on the right side of the net, and with nobody challenging his position, he pulled the puck back and flicked it up and into the net high right to make it 3-2.
Denfeld charged to the finish, putting on some good pressure, but the revamped Hilltoppers weathered it. Caden Flaherty made some big saves in the closing minutes, but when the Hunters got a late power play and pressed, it was left to Jeremy Lopez to come up with the play of the game. In the made scramble near the crease, a blocked puck squirted out to the left side. Levi Talarico, the area’s top scorer, had one quick chance, with Flaherty unable to get over to cover. But as Talarico went to shoot, he got nothing but air. Lopez, backchecking intensely, lifted Talarico’s stick blade and caused him to miss the puck.
The senior forward who transferred from Proctor just this year played well, although there’s a question which was bigger: making a perfect pass on the first Marshall goal was no more significant than preventing Denfeld’s potential tying goal in the closing seconds.
HERMANTOWN CHALLENGE
Hermantown has the talent to make a run at two-time defending Class A champ St. Thomas Academy, but colorful Hawks coach Bruce Plante may be urged to repeat his comment after last year’s runner-up finish: “We’re the public school champ.”
The Hawks had to get past a strong St. Cloud Cathedral in the 5A title game, then faced Marshall in the Wednesday state tournament opener. After that, they could well have to face a powerful Breck team in the semifinals, and St. Thomas Academy in the final. Plante, and none of his players, are looking ahead that far for obvious reasons. But if that scenario plays out, Hermantown will have earned complete respect, having to face four straight private schools.
St. Thomas Academy is moving up to AA next season, fueling more speculation that private schools, which can attract students and players from anywhere, should play AA. Of course, if St. Thomas Academy and Breck both had followed Benilde from A to AA three years ago, Hermantown very likely would be the three-time defending champ right now — and everybody would be clamoring for the Hawks to move up to AA.
HOME-ICE DISADVANTAGE
UMD’s big series against Nebraska-Omaha this weekend is important to UNO in its quest to move higher in contention in the WCHA, and it’s important to UMD to get some momentum off last weekend’s sweep against Alabama-Huntsville for the league playoffs. Whatever happens, the games will be the last ones of the season for the Bulldogs at AMSOIL.
Tony Cameranesi (13) scored on diving Alabama-Huntsville goalie John Griggs in the 4-2 first game.
They have no chance to gain the top six and a home-ice berth for the final playoffs in the WCHA as we’ve come to know it. UMD beat Alabama-Huntsville 4-2, as Chris Casto had a goal and two assists in a strong game, while Tony Cameranesi, Cody Danberg and Justin Crandall also got goals. The next night, coach Scott Sandelin didn’t dress workhorse freshman goalie Matt McNeely, and entrusted the game to Aaron Crandall — who responded with a perfect 4-0 shutout.
The Dogs got a 1-0 lead on Cameranesi’s first-period goal, then Mike Seidel and AustinFarley both scored on a 5-minute power play early in the second. Wade Bergman scored midway through the third. Cameranesi and Farley each had two assists to go with their goals.
“We’re not there yet, but we will be,” vowed Alabama-Huntsville coach Kurt Kleinendorst. He took over the team after it reportedly would drop hockey, and three top players transferred without penalty before the school reconsidered and reinstated the program. It will move into the WCHA next season.
Klenendorst, a former star at Grand Rapids and Providence and in pro hockey, still comes home every summer to a place he owns on Lake Pokegama.
The UMD women, however, found that coming home isn’t always a good thing, and that the home-ice advantage they had worked so hard to attain wasn’t such an advantage after all. Getting the tie-breaker against Ohio State, the Bulldogs got a 1-0 lead, but couldn’t hold it. Ally Tarr and Paige Semenza scored in the second period for the Buckeyes, and when Vanessa Thibault scored a diving goal in traffic to tie it for UMD, Annie Svedin scored with a slap shot from center point on a Buckeye power play before the second period ended. It ended 4-2 when Hokey Langan hit an empty net.
The second game of the best-of-three found the final elements of this injury-filled season. Starting goalie Kayla Black returned to replace Karissa Grapp, who had started only her second game ever in the Friday game. But the UMD trainer informed coach Shannon Miller that Black was experiencing dizziness and had to come out. Miller’s long night started before the game, when fiery second-line center Zoe Hickel, just back from injury herself, was declared out of the second game when an injury late in Friday’s game persisted to knock her out Saturday.
Mintta Tuominen shot into the upper right corner on UMD goalie Kayla Black for a 2-0 lead as Brienna Gillanders and Bridgette Lacquette stood by.
Oh, and the Bulldogs were beaten 3-0 by the Buckeyes, who outshot UMD 34-21 and got goals from Tina Hollowell and Mintta Tuominen in the first period, and Hokey Langan in the third, with a bullet from the right circle against relief goalie Karissa Grapp.
“We fought through a lot of adversity,” said Miller, “but I felt our seniors deserved better than this, even if it was only one or two more games.”
It was the first time UMD had ever failed to win a quarterfinal series. Instead, it will be Ohio State moving on to face Minnesota in Friday’s WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals. Wisconsin and North Dakota clash in the other semifinal of the tournament, played at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Minnesota is 36-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation, as well as in the WCHA.
“Our kids want to have an impact,” said OSU coach Nate Handrahan. “There are some things that haven’t been done in Buckeye hockey history. We’ll go into Minneapolis, knowing what we’re in for.”
As home-ice advantages go, Minnesota is undefeated wherever the Golden Gophers play, but they were at home for the final league series, and for the playoff quarterfinal series, and now for the WCHA Final Faceoff, then for the West Regional of the NCAA, and the Frozen Four? Also at Ridder Arena.
Cruel end can’t dim glow of UMD star Vogler
By John Gilbert
When the UMD football team lost an incredible 57-55 game at Missouri Western last Saturday, it was one of the cruelest finishes imaginable. Without question, the Bulldogs were up against a Griffon team that was their mirror-image, with an outstanding quarterback, and an explosive offense that could overrun pretty much any defensive scheme.
The Bulldogs trailed 14-6 in the first quarter, thanks to a pair of Andrew Brees field goals. They wrested a 20-14 lead at halftime. They held the lead at 28-21 after three quarters, but they were tied 35-35 at the end of regulation. The teams both drove for touchdowns in the first overtime, and again in the second overtime, inflating the score to 49-49. The rules say that if you get to a third overtime, teams must go for 2-point conversions if they score a touchdown. Central Missouri roared in for a touchdown, and made the 2-points for a 57-49 lead.
Then UMD quarterback Chase Vogler pulled out a couple of his special, career-long magic tricks to get the Bulldogs close enough, and Austin Sikorski crashed over from the 3 for his third overtime touchdown to make it 57-55. On the mandatory 2-point conversion, Vogler obviously was going to run a sprint out himself, maybe spotting a receiver, or maybe going for the end zone himself. He took the snap, and did his little shuffle step back and to the left. But incredibly, his foot caught the heel of a blocking teammate, and in an instant, Vogler fell to the turf.
End of game, end of season, end of fabulous, record-setting career.
Chase Vogler’s legacy at UMD is secure. He will forever be recalled for his four years of heroic play at quarterback, where he was always efficient, sometimes spectacular, and often found extracting victories from what appeared to be certain defeats.
He never seemed comfortable — more like tolerant — of the accolades that came his way. Watching him come out of Rosemount High School in the Twin Cities to jump into the starting role as a freshman, when teammate and fellow-senior Jon Lynch injured his elbow in the second game and was out for the season. Vogler took over, and his ability forced itself to the surface game after game. He became the first true freshman to start at quarterback in 47 years, and led the Bulldogs to a 10-0 conference title, and an 11-2 overall record.
He ran the ball so well that he didn’t need to pass much, that I was curious whether coach Bob Nielson thought Vogler would be good enough, or did he plan to recruit another quarterback who might be a better passer. “Chase is not a great passer, but he is a great athlete,” said Nielson at the time. “We can make him a better passer, but you can’t make someone a better athlete.”
Chris Vogler has done it all for UMD, whether passing or running.
Nielson was right, and Vogler took UMD on a 15-0 odyssey in 2010, winning the Bulldogs their second NCAA Division II championship in three years. As a junior, Vogler and the Bulldogs went 11-3, in something close to a miracle finish, when repeatedly they would pull off narrow escapes to win, right on into the playoffs. Quarterbacks tend to get too much credit when teams win, but invariably, Vogler was making decisions at the line of scrimmage on numerous pivotal plays that led directly to victories.
Vogler’s four years produced incredible numbers. Vogler rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns in 29 carries, and was 14-20 passing for 195 yards, for a game total of 379 yards. That puts his four-year tally at 2,903 yards rushing, passing Corey Veech to place fifth all-time in UMD’s record book. He gained 2,307 yards more passing, and he moved up to No. 2 behind Ted Schlafke for total yards with 10,480. His final record, in 52 games started, is 46-6 — and three of the six losses came in NCAA DII playoff games, meaning he was 39-3 in four regular seasons.
That’s why the ending was so cruel. A slight trip, and Vogler might have regained his footing; he might have stumbled a couple of steps and found a way to pitch the ball to Sikorski. But he fell immediately, down flat, and had to end his fantastic career watching the ecstatic Griffons run past him to their bench for a wild celebration.
Classy as usual, Vogler said he might have tripped over his center’s foot, and yes, it was a disappointing way to end the season. Missouri Western coach Jerry Partridge said: “That kid is one of the very best quarterbacks I’ve eve coached against. That’s why they won a national title a couple years ago.”
Bob Nielson said: “If there’s a better playmaker in Division II football, I haven’t seen him.”
By the way, Nielson was right on about Vogler three years ago, too. He made Vogler a better passer, but nobody needed to make him a better athlete.
VOLLEYBALL REACHES NCAA
The UMD volleyball team had the benefit of competing in the first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference meet last weekend. It’s a benefit because the NSIC is the strongest volleyball league in DII, and UMD joins Concordia of St. Paul and Southwest State as the big three in the conference. UMD beat Concordia in Duluth early in the season, and Southwest State beat UMD. On the final regular-season weekend, Concordia beat Southwest, to leave all three tied for the title. When they decided who would be No. 1 seed, it was Concordia, so the conference meet was held at the St. Paul campus.
The Bulldogs flashed their usual force in the first round, beating Winona State in three sets. But in the semifinals, UMD was beaten by Southwest State, also in three sets, and came home. Surprisingly, Southwest State then beat Confordia for the playoff title, the first home loss suffered by Concordia all season.
When the NCAA Division II seedings were delivered Sunday night, Concordia held on to the No. 1 seed in the region, with Southwest No. 2. UMD (28-4) is No. 5, and must open against No. 4 Central Missouri (26-6) in the first round, which will be next Thursday (November 29). If the Bulldogs can win that match, they would probably run smack into Southwest State at the Central Regional, while Concordia is in the opposite bracket.
The interesting twist on the Central Region is that it will be held — guess where? — right back at Concordia of St. Paul. So right after beating Concordia on its floor, Southwest State must go right back there and try to win two rounds to get the chance to do it again. And UMD’s proud and talented Bulldogs are in perfect position to cruise right back down Interstate 35 and foul up those plans of a rematch.
HOME AND AWAY
We had an idea that this may be a tough rebuilding season for both the UMD men’s and women’s hockey teams. It’s been more than tough for the men, who split with both Ohio State and Notre Dame to open the season, then moved into WCHA play where the Bulldogs lost and tied at home against Wisconsin, then lost twice at Nebraska-Omaha, before going to Grand Forks and tying and losing against North Dakota — the team formerly known as Fighting Sioux.
That leaves the Bulldogs 0-4-2 in league play, and it looks odd to see UMD at the bottom of the league standings. Proves how spoiled we all became the last four years, during the “Jack Connolly Era.” This weekend, the Bulldogs return to AMSOIL Arena for the first time in a month, to face St. Cloud State. The Huskies, by the way, are on an upsurge from their own rebuilding, and stand 4-2 in league play after splitting with North Dakota and taking last weekend off.
The UMD women lost sparkplug winger Audrey Cournoyer, a senior who has decided to retire from playing with some chronic back pain that won’t go away. But the Bulldogs got things together to sweep a pair of 4-1 victories at St. Cloud State last weekend, rising to 4-5-1 in league play with a trip to North Dakota this weekend.
BCS MUST GO
The Bowl Championship Series might be interesting, but we once again are being insulted by the clear prejudice of the voters for the Southeast Conference. For the past decade, the SEC has been the best college football league in the country, so ESPN has hitched its prodigious influence to it and shamelessly promotes the SEC teams at every opportunity.
Recall that a week ago, Alabama was No. 1, with Oregon or Kansas State No. 2 and No. 3, and Notre Dame No. 4. The fact that all four were undefeated stirred up the obvious attraction a four-team playoff could be this year — say, Notre Dame vs. Alabama, and Oregon vs. Kansas State, with the winners to meet for the crown.
But Alabama was beaten, quite soundly, by Texas A & M two Saturdays ago. Last Saturday, I wore out my channel changer trying to watch both Oregon against Stanford and K-State against Baylor. The Baylor Bears put it all together for a stunning 52-24 victory over Kansas State’s previously unbeaten outfit. Then Stanford, an outstanding defensive team, found a way to harness Oregon’s explosive Blur Offense running attack and caught the Ducks 14-14, and beat them 17-14 in overtime.
Notre Dame, which beat Wake Forest, remains undefeated and rightfully took over the No. 1 slot in the national polls and the BCS ranking. But here’s where the bias comes in. Alabama lost to a great upset bid to Texas A&M, but now vaults up to No. 2 after winning 49-0 over West Carolina. (West Carolina?) Then Georgia (10-1) moves up to No. 3 after winning 45-15 over Georgia Southern (Georgia Southern?) What’s all this garbage about the grueling SEC schedules? Meanwhile, Florida wins 23-0 over Jacksonville State (Jacksonville State?) and rises to No. 4 in the BCS picture, while Oregon, an overtime loser to a Stanford team that was by far better than any of the other top teams played last weekend, drops to No. 5, and Kansas State, caught by surprise by a potent Baylor outfit, drops to No. 6.
If that’s not enough evidence of prejudice among the SEC Kool-Aid drinkers, both Alabama and Georgia got first-place votes in the coaches poll, ahead of Notre Dame. Now, I don’t think the Fighting Irish are the best college football team in the country, but they remain undefeated while the others have all stumbled, so they deserve the No. 1 slot. For now. I think Notre Dame my fall this Saturday, at Southern California, even though the Trojans were ambushed by another explosive team, UCLA, in a 38-28 shootout last Saturday.
Oregon faces another huge game, against arch-rival and No.15 Oregon State this Saturday. Alabama and Georgia, the two SEC darlings of the voters, both have “rivalry games” too, because Alabama faces Auburn and Georgia plays Georgia Tech. Now, Georgia Tech is a capable 6-5, but the Engineers play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, not the SEC. And the Alabama-Auburn game is usually a great game, but this season, Auburn is 0-7 and in last place in Alabama’s West Division of the SEC. While the guys at ESPN will try to fan that Alabama-Auburn game to a tube-watching frenzy, and they will sing the Crimson Tide’s glory after they win the game, but don’t be fooled: The oddsmakers have Alabama as an early 31 1/2-point favorite!
I’ve said before that I enjoy watching Oregon play more than any other team, but I was objectively impressed with the great game plan and execution of Stanford in taking down the Ducks. My hope, then, is that Alabama and Georgia find a way to lose before playing each other in the SEC championship game, where one of them will have to lose, just to see how much it will take before the Ducks (and Kansas State) climb back into consideration. In my little campaign to suggest that this season, the Pac-12 has more elite teams than the SEC, by the way, keep an eye on Stanford playing UCLA Saturday.
Giants Stun Tigers, Baseball World
By John Gilbert
Before the World Series started, if someone predicted one team would win in a four-game sweep, the unanimous concensus would have been the Detroit Tigers. Instead, the San Francisco Giants pulled off an incredible feat by sweeping the Tigers in four straight.
It was an inspiring Series for a Giants team of basically unsung heroes. Before the Series, or at least before the playoffs, who ever heard of Pablo Sandoval, Marco Scutaro, Brandon Crawford, Gregor Blanco, Buster Posey, Barry Zito, Ryan Vogelsong, Matt Cain or Sergio Romo, or Hunter Pence. Among others. They rose up together and formed a perfect explanation to the overworked term “chemistry.” This team had it. They chased Justin Verlander, the best pitcher in baseball, in Game 1, and they never looked back.
Posey is the Joe Mauer of the National League. Not only a superb catcher, he led the Major Leagues in hitting, but few realized it, because the Giants play way out West, after East Coast newspapers and ESPN have gone to sleep. I did say, after the league playoffs, and the stirring rallies San Francisco made to beat Cincinnati and St. Louis from seemingly hopeless deficits, that I thought the underdog Giants had far better defense than the Tigers. Turns out, once they beat Verlander in Game 1, the edge in pitching shifted decidedly to the NLers. And after watching closely, I believe Brandon Crawford might be the best shortstop in baseball. And Gregor Blanco didn’t have to come through with his game-breaking hits to be a hero after his sensational catches in left field. Scutaro was just as brilliant as he was while earning the NL playoff MVP honors.
And now we, as basically American League loyalists, listen to the alibis that Detroit got rusty from the long layoff after sweeping the Yankees. Think about that. Sweeping the Yankees, which was considered impossible, is now being transformed to a liability! Too bad about the slump, people say. Slump? They said the same thing about the Yankees in the AL final against Detroit. It’s just that we trade the names Rodriguez and Cano for Cabrera and Fielder.
Face it, a great-hitting and red-hot Tiger team was completely outplayed by the magical Giants. The last out of the Series was a perfect microcosm of the Series: Cabrera, the AL triple-crown winner, comes up for a last chance against Romo, the Giant closer who looked like he had gotten a bad deal from a costume shop when he tried to buy a fake Rasputin beard. Romo has a good fastball, but he throws a slider that genuinely appears impossible to hit. It starts breaking when it leaves his hand, and it keeps breaking, although he seems to be able to control how much it breaks by its velocity.
I made the comment that with his slider, why would Romo ever bother throwing a fastball? He went after Cabrera, slider-slider-slider-slider-slider…Strikes, foul balls, it was a classic duel. Romo wound up one more time, and everybody at Comerica Park knew it would be one more slider . Cabrera knew it, too, and he was ready. Instead, Romo fired a fastball, low and on the inside corner. Cabrera froze, and took the pitch. Called strike three. Game over. Series over.
Congratulations, San Francisco Giants.
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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