3/2/22 Section 8AA Championship Game
Moorhead race passed Elk River 8-4 to claim Section 8AA Championship
St. Cloud, MN – The #1 seed Moorhead Spuds battled the #3 seed Elk River Elks in the Section 8AA Championship game held at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud on Wednesday, March 2nd. Kai Weigel #31 (G, L, 5’10”, 165, Moorhead HS, 10/21/2005) got the nod in net for Moorhead while Sam Stockman #1 (G, R, 5’10”, 140, Elk River HS, 06/11/2005) tended the crease for the Elks.
First Period – Both goaltenders were busy early as it was a wild start for the Spuds and Elks. Each team’s top lines came out of the gates in a frenzy, with a fast-paced, high-energy start. The Spuds jumped to a 2-0 lead early on goals by Joe Gramer #23 (D, L, 6’0″, 194, Moorhead HS, 05/12/2005, Nebraska Omaha) and Gavin Lindberg #3 (F, R, 6’0″, 175, Moorhead HS, 04/20/2004). Gramer grabbed a puck on the right-side boards, above the top of the circle and fired a shot through traffic, beating the goaltender far post. Lindberg scored shortly after finding a loose puck in the crease. Carson Triggs #16 (F, L, 5’9″, 148, Moorhead HS, 01/09/2004) received a stretch pass and brushed off contact, then slid down the boards on a 2 on 1, firing a cross ice pass where the rebound laid in front for Lindberg to finish. Blaise Schutt #17 (F, L, 5’11”, 187, Elk River HS, 08/11/2003) brought the Elks back in the game with his two goals back-to-back. His first came from an easy zone entry he created crossing the middle of the ice near the blue line, then took the defensemen wide and got underneath him to cut back at the net front slipping a puck passed the netminder. His other came off a turnover below the goal line in the Spuds end, he then found some space in the slot and fired a one timer home off a nice feed from Erik Pilich #4 (F, R, 5’9″, 165, Elk River HS, 06/15/2004). Moorhead had all the pressure early, but the Elks began to battle back and tied the game 2-2 heading into the second frame with the shots 19-11 in favor of the Spuds.
Second Period – The first half of the second period seemed to calm down a little bit as both teams tried to reign it in a little. That didn’t last too long as it was then followed up with 3 goals by the Spuds and 2 by the Elks, proving that no lead was safe. Colby Krier #5 (D, R, 5’8″, 150, Moorhead HS, 07/20/2004) started the scoring on the powerplay as he created traffic at front and got a tip on a shot from Joe Schiller #4 (D, L, 5’10”, 173, Moorhead HS, 09/23/2004). Nearly 15 seconds later, Elks forward Blake Johnson #9 (F, R, 5’10”, 175, Elk River HS, 04/19/2003) forced a puck loose on his own blue line, leading to a breakaway at the other end where he fired a missile from the hash marks over Weigel’s glove side. Less than a minute later, Schiller kept a puck in the Elks zone and found Joseph Kortan #10 (F, L, 5’9″, 150, Moorhead HS, 11/01/2004) at the top of the right circle where he circled back, found space above the faceoff dot, and released a cannon far side. Lindberg continued his dominance in the game as he snagged a puck along the wall at the goal line, used his big frame and the net to shield the puck for a wraparound attempt that he was able to sneak it passed the goaltender. Pilich, who was flying around the ice, backchecking and forechecking with intensity, found the back of the net late as he raced off the wall and tracked down a rebound in the slot that he fired home. The Elks refused to let the Spuds pull away as they continued to find ways to claw back into the game. Moorhead held a 5-4 lead going into the third period.
Third Period – Moorhead’s offense continued to keep their foot on the gas scoring three more goals in the third period. Wyatt Tweet #20 (D, L, 5’9″, 155, Moorhead HS, 08/07/2003), Carson Triggs and Harper Bentz #19 (F, R, 5’10”, 165, Moorhead HS, 11/29/2004) each scored for the Spuds as they were able to stretch their lead and not look back. Tweet rifled a quick shot directly off a won faceoff from the top of the left circle. Triggs finished off a nice cross ice feed from Bentz as he was able to fire a pass-through traffic to the tape of Triggs, beating the goaltender off a catch and release. Bentz completed the scoring as he was stopped on a breakaway, circled out then slashed back to the net for a backdoor finish off a tremendous feed from Lindberg. Moorhead outshot Elk River 43-27 in a highly offensive battle between two strong teams.
The Spuds top line of Bentz, Lindberg and Triggs proved to be to much for the Elks to handle as they were able to lead Moorhead to a Section 8AA Championship, after an 8-4 victory.
Three Stars
- Gavin Lindberg – Moorhead
- Harper Bentz – Moorhead
- Blaise Schutt – Elk River
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
