Hermantown hits lucky 7 to reach A semis

By John Gilbert

SAINT PAUL, MN. — First one to seven wins. Unlikely or not, that seemed like the plan for the first day of the 2012 Minnesota state tournament. Top-ranked Hermantown led the way, extending its undefeated record to 29-0 with a 7-2 victory over Rochester Lourdes in the Class A quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center.

Hermantown's Jared Thomas (10) kicked up his heels, scoring twice in the 7-2 victory over Rochester Lourdes.

The Hawks played the first night game and became the third team of the day to post a lucky-number 7 for a first-round victory. Only Thief River Falls failed to reach the winning quota, beating New Ulm 5-1. The Prowlers’ reward is a date against Hermantown in Friday’s second semifinal.

Marshall didn’t fare as well as its Duluth-area neighbor Hermantown. The Hilltoppers fell behind early and suffered a frustrating 7-0 setback at the hands of powerful Breck, after second-seeded St. Thomas Academy whipped Little Falls 7-0 to open the day.

Marshall goalie Christian Coffman couldn't stop the first of two goals by Breck's Matt Colford (23) in a 7-0 victory.

Marshall played Breck tough through the first period, but the Hilltoppers were called for two penalties and the Mustangs scored power-play goals on both of them, at 3:27 and 10:55. A third Marshall penalty in the second period led to the third Breck power-play goal, and it became 4-0 by the second intermission. Matt Colford had two goals to pace the Mustangs, who outshot Marshall 33-18 to advance to their showdown with St. Thomas Academy in a collision of two of the top Twin Cities private schools who have chosen to remain at the Class A level. Two others, Hill-Murray and Benilde-St. Margaret’s, for example, have chosen to play up in Class AA with the larger schools, and they will be part of the AA quarterfinals Friday at Xcel.

Hermantown knows all about St. Thomas Academy and Breck, who collide in Friday’s first semifinal. Last year, the Hawks were No. 2 seed and lost to No. 1 seed St. Thomas Academy in overtime in the Class A championship game. Two years ago, Hermantown lost to Breck in the A final. This year, however, Hermantown is seeded No. 1, with intentions of improving on their last two tournament trips by one more victory.

The Hawks had their hands full with Rochester Lourdes at the outset. Not that it started out that way. Bo Grunseth staked Hermantown to a 1-0 lead at 0:33, and Jared Thomas made it 2-0 with a deflection of Jake Zeleznikar’s point shot at 7:54. When Connor Nellans got loose to score for Lourdes at 10:07, Neal Pionk countered by ripping a shot from the right circle that was in and out so fast the officials needed a review to make sure it indeed went in, making it 3-1 at 12:38.

The Hawks made an uncharacteristic error at the end of the first period, however. Jared Kolquist, the Hawks ace defenseman, flipped the ouck the length of the ice for an icing call with 4.2 seconds remaining. Alex Funk promptly won the left corner faceoff, bolted to the goal-mouth and put the puck past Matt Mensinger with 1.5 seconds showing.

Griffen Buck timbled into the crease but couldn't get the puck to get past Hermantown goalie Matt Mensinger. Andrew Mattson (9) was plus-5 in the 7-2 victory over Lourdes.

“I always worry about the first period down here,” said Hermantown coach Bruce Plante. “They’re a good team, a scrappy bunch, and I was surprised when their guys were so quick. I’m sure Matt didn’t like their first goal. That was a ‘goalie’s goal,’ and he knows it. He doesn’t usually go down on a play like that. But he’s a smart kid. He’s one of those ‘maniac genius’ types — it’s really weird to have such a smart kid as a goalie.”

But if the Hawks were carelessly loose in their end during the first period, they tightened everything up in the second, while scoring three more goals themselves to put the game away at 6-2. Chris Benson, Jared Kolquist, and Thomas got the goals, leaving only room for Andrew Mattson’s third-period goal to hit seven.

“We had a good first period,” said Josh Spaniol, the Eagles coach. “But they came at us harder in the second period. As good as they are on offense, they really tightened up on defense; we only had two shots in the second period. They’re strong kids, give them credit. They’ve got guys like Kolquist and LeBlanc out there, and they’re strong on their sticks.”

Grant Sega (29) and Travis Koepke (27) were among the Hawks celebrating one of 7 Hermantown goals.

Thomas, Hermantown’s top gun who is committed to UMD, had two goals and two assists, and he also took credit for the misplay at the end of the first period.

“It was my bad at the end of the first,” said Thomas. “Coach put me out there for a draw, and I completely blew it and they scored. But we got a couple quick ones in the second period and took the momentum away from them. Then we wore ’em down.”

With Kolquist and Pionk adding goals from defense, and Zeleznikar assisting on the Hawks first three goals, Hermantown’s defensemen did more than just clean up their own zone. And the Hawks, who outshot Lourdes 28-15, got past the first-game challenge and take their 29-0 record into Friday’s 1 p.m. second semifinal.

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• 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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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.