ST. PAUL — If there ever was a time that the Hermantown boys hockey team questioned its own play, it would have been in early January during a stretch of three consecutive tie games.
First and foremost in frustration during that span was a 5-5 draw with Class A defending state champion St. Cloud Cathedral, a game in which the then-No. 1 Hawks blew a four-goal lead.
ADVERTISEMENT
So when the Crusaders cut a three-goal deficit to one goal in the third period of the rematch in a state tournament semifinal Friday at Xcel Energy Center, one could forgive the Hawks if thoughts flickered back to the previous meeting.
Instead, the Hawks became the aggressor and scored the final three goals to win 6-2 Friday, March 6, and earn a berth in their ninth Class A championship in the past 11 seasons.
That was even longer ago than the aforementioned tie with Cathedral.
“In the life of a high school hockey player, early January is ancient history,” Hawks coach Patrick Andrews said. “We had a good gut check and we doubled down on playing good team ‘D.’ We gave up five goals, two goals and five goals in that stretch and that’s not like us. The boys took it seriously.
“We didn’t give them much tonight. I knew we’d get our goals, it was just a matter of shutting them down, and they did a good job of that.”
The third-seeded Hawks outshot the second-seeded Crusaders 47-23, including 22-7 in a dominant second period.
ADVERTISEMENT
Future Minnesota Duluth teammates Blake Biondi and Joey Pierce each scored goals for Hermantown, but lesser-known Cole Antcliff and Cayden Sunde also scored to give the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
Antcliff opened the scoring after Aydyn Dowd won the race behind the Crusaders’ net and batted the puck to Aaron Pionk, whose shot rebounded off goaltender Grant Martin right to a waiting Antcliff at 4:31. Dowd was injured on the play and didn’t return, though early reports were optimistic he would suit up for the title game.
The Hawks killed off two power plays and goalie Jacob Backstrom made a big save on an Ethan Cumming backhand with 2:01 left in the period.
Seconds later, Mr. Hockey finalist Biondi knocked in a loose puck that Martin tried to sit on for a 2-0 lead at 15:20.
The Crusaders spent most of the period focused on getting physical with Biondi, almost to the point of an unhealthy preoccupation.
That’s what helped lead to a bench-clearing fracas at the end of the first period.
“Wasn’t that ridiculous?” Biondi questioned. “It gets to the point where, ‘OK, you can stop me but we have four other guys who can get the job done.’ And they got the job done today. Their game plan didn’t work.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Seven players were sent to the penalty box — two serving 10-minute misconducts — to begin the second period.
“I haven’t seen that in a high school hockey game for a while,” Andrews said. “They tried to tear (Biondi) down by his head. Coach Brown apologized for it right away, but that was obviously their game plan to try and get in Blake’s head. But it didn’t work today.”
Even Crusaders center Jack Smith, who will team up with Biondi at UMD, went after his good friend when both were given coincidental minors in the second.
"Both teams are very competitive teams with competitive players and it got a little out of hand,” Smith said. “We didn’t mean for that to happen, it just happened.”
Soon after, Sunde, who was filling in for the injured Dowd, scored a fluke goal at 7:04 as his shot deflected in off Jon Bell for a three-goal advantage.
ADVERTISEMENT
It didn’t take long for the Crusaders to make a charge as Nate Warner batted in a rebound at 10:17.
“Everybody had it in the back of their mind that we were going to come back,” said Warner, who scored twice in the Crusaders’ January comeback.
Despite a 36-12 shot advantage, Hermantown’s inability to add another goal left the door open for the Section 6A champs.
Ethan Cumming’s power-play goal at 6:44 cut the deficit to a single goal and the Crusaders had multiple offensive barrages at the Hawks’ goal but were unable to tie it.
“When we got it to 3-2 in the third, I thought we were going to come back,” Brown said. “Then we had three or four Grade-A (chances) and they didn’t go in, and then they responded.”
Pierce made a rush up ice and pounced on a rebound in the crease to score the backbreaking goal with 6:06 to play.
Pierce, who received tons of praise from Brown after the game, was up for the challenge of playing against Cathedral’s Division I-caliber players.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I was super excited,” he said. “I knew that I had to play defense first and the offense would come. I’m happy with myself and happy for all my (defensive) partners, we played a great game.”
Ethan Lund, off a picture-perfect pass from Zach Kilen, scored at 14:15, and Kilen added an empty-net goal to secure the victory and set off the celebration.
