Duluth Marshall knocked off the top Class A high school boys hockey team in Minnesota its last time on the ice, but Cloquet-Esko-Carlton often has proved the Hilltoppers?' toughest challenge.
When the Hilltoppers lost only once in the 2005-06 season prior to the state title game, it was to the Lumberjacks. Marshall?'s lone loss in the Lake Superior Conference last season came to CEC as well.
Marshall ended that trend with a 5-3 victory tonight at Mars Lakeview Arena.
Trent Harris tipped in a slap shot, and Tom Paine wristed home another goal as the Hilltoppers (13-3 overall, 3-0 LSC) broke 2-2 and 3-3 ties in the second period.
CEC defenseman David Brown scored 7 seconds into a power play at the 7:01 mark for a 3-3 tie. But Paine lifted a shot over Aaron Baker?'s glove into the top-right corner of the net for the go-ahead goal at 9:23. Marshall spent the last 1:59 on the power play but couldn?'t add to its lead despite a 17-5 edge in shots on goal during the period.
ADVERTISEMENT
David Hafferty added a short-handed goal into an empty net with 6.4 seconds left in the third period for the clincher.
Austin Hatch assisted on the first goal and scored the second for the Lumberjacks.
Joe Kozlak gave Marshall an early lead when he knocked in a Pat Mahoney pass from behind the net for a short-handed goal at 2:53.
Blake Abrahamson poked in a Hatch rebound at 5:23 to tie the game at 1 after the Lumberjacks failed to capitalize on the power play. Hatch drilled home a slap shot from the right sideboards at 12:57 for a 2-1 advantage, but Marshall responded on the power play when Lanny Olson flipped a shot from behind the CEC net that deflected in at 15:49.
Marshall defeated top-ranked St. Thomas Academy 8-2 on Jan. 12 to take over the top spot in the state.
Cloquet-EC......2-1-0-?3
Duluth Marshall..2-2-1?-5
First period ? 1. DM, Joe Kozlak (Pat Mahoney), 2:53 (sh); 2. CEC, Blake Abrahamson (Austin Hatch), 5:23; 3. CEC, Hatch, 12:57; 4. DM, Lanny Olson (Dano Jacques, David Hafferty), 15:49 (pp).
ADVERTISEMENT
Second period ? 5. DM, Trent Harris (Derek Stauber, Mark Laskowski), 6:49; 6. CEC, David Brown (Hatch, Justin Jokinen), 7:01 (pp); 7. DM, Tom Paine (Laskowski, Harris), 9:23; Third period ? 8. DM, David Hafferty (Mahoney, Jacques), 16:53 (sh, en).
Saves ? Aaron Baker, CEC, 31; Matt Messina, DM, 23.
