Eight Neon players skate for Holy Angels. The Stars play an independent schedule and skate in the Class AA tourney at the end of the year. Last regular season Holy Angels posted an 11-12-2 season. Three of the Stars will be the bulk of the five-player Neon defense; juniors Mitch Farnham and Jack Jones and senior Caleb Scheer. With five Star defenders graduating, all three will likely be skating for the Stars varsity next season. Jones and Scheer skated defense on last season’s Stars’ JV team, Farnham is one of the returning varsity defenders. Seniors Brock Boerger from Sartell and Minnehaha Academy’s Henry Frissell complete an experienced Neon defensive corps. Boerger is one of five Neon players who skate for Sartell. He skated for the Sartell varsity last season posting 5 points 1 goal in 25 regular season games. Frissell is one of three Neon players who skated for Minnehaha Academy last season. He skated for the Redhawks varsity.
Sartell senior goalie Devin Peterson posted a 12-3-0 record last season for the Sartell varsity giving up 1.7 goals a game while stopping 90% of the shots on net. Peterson skated three of those games against Alexandria, the eventual Class A runner-up that lost to Orono just a month ago, winning one game and losing two. Apple Valley junior goalie Andrew Knobel-Piehl will be in the Neon nets. Knobel-Piehl skated JV last season.
Sartell’s three forwards, Jake Mumm, Nicholas Buicage, and Maddux Hagy, all skated for the Sartell varsity last season. Hagy was the #4 scorer for the Sabers with 24 points 9 goals in regular season play. He is one of the three Sartell players in their top 10 varsity scorers who will be returning. Holy Angels have four players, Dante Hajiani, Caeden Phelps, Nick Hibino, and alternate Mark Longhenry skating on the Neon team this spring. Phelps skated varsity for the Stars scoring 5 points 2 goals. Hajiani, Hibino, and Longhenry all skated for the Stars JV team.
Delano had a great year going to State in 2016-2017 led by three players (Ben Meyers, Brian Halonen, and John Keranen) who posted 248 points and 111 goals in 25 regular season games. They left a senior-dominated team that struggled to play .500 hockey last season. Only three of the top 10 scorers from that last season will return next fall. Neon forward, senior Hogan Williams, is one of the three. Williams skated varsity last season scoring 9 points 3 goals. Three Senior Tiger forwards Ethan Underhill, Jack Voss, and alternate Chase Halonen join Williams on the Neon team. Voss skated varsity and JV last season. Underhill and Halonen led the JV team in scoring. With Delano losing scoring punch through graduation, all for returners will likely be among the top scorers for the Tigers next season. Delano graduating senior Evan Sivets skated with Voss and posted 9 points 3 goals. Sivets is skating as an alternate.
Junior Bryce Becker and sophomore Ethan Lessard are the two Minnehaha forwards on the team. Becker skated varsity last season and Lessard skated. Apple Valley senior Noah Williams skated JV and was among the team’s leaders in scoring. Wayzata sophomore Dylan Lewis skated for the Wayzata Bantam AA team that lost in the semifinals of Minnesota Hockey’s Bantam AA State Tourney to Osseo-Maple Grove 2-1.
Neon Team Summary: This Neon defense consisting of all experienced high school defenders centered around what is likely to be the core of the Holy Angeles defense next season. The defense had a good first half against the White Team in Monday’s preliminary game as the Neon offense dominated and built a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game led by Sartell’s Hagy. Hagy had a great game Monday. He is a smart and fast.
But the defense struggled during the game. Two goals by Noah Williams put the Neon up 6-4 with less than five minutes remaining, but the defense failed again. The game ended in a 6-6 tie. Still, the Neon defense should be one of the toughest in this year’s edition of the Red and Black Spring League. Adding to that defensive corps, experienced goalies in the nets makes the Neon Team a contender to win the league.
Clearly, the Neon forwards can carry the day. This team has enough players to form lines featuring experienced players from Delano, Minnehaha, Sartell, and Holy Angels varsities. All played well last night. The Neon Team’s offensive depth makes the team a contender to win the Spring League title.