In the first round of the 1995 state tournament, Duluth East shut out Bloomington Jefferson 5-0 en route to winning the program’s first state championship.  

In the first round of the 2018 Class AA State Tournament, Duluth East shut out St. Michael-Albertville 5-0. 

Coincidence?

Probably not, but sending more than 30 shots on net and scoring five times in certainly a step in the right direction for the Hounds, who earned a spot in the semifinals after Thursday’s win over the Knights. 

Garrett Worth scored his forty-third goal of the season during the game’s first period and tacked on two more goals in the second to help put the game out of reach for the Knights (23-6). St. Michael-Albertville goaltender Justin Damon made 29 saves in the loss.  

Ian Mageau and Logan Anderson also chipped in goals for the Hounds (24-2-3), while goaltender Parker Kleive rejected all 28 shots he faced to earn the clean sheet. Mageau, Ryder Donovan, Carson Cochran all registered two assists in the win. The Duluth East penalty-killing unit survived all three Hound penalties.  

The third-seeded Hounds will now face No. 2 seed Edina in the semifinals on Friday night at 6 p.m.