Ultra-physical play. Numerous chances. A fully-engaged arena. 

Friday’s Class 1A semifinal between Greenway and Mahtomedi had every ingredient necessary for an all-time contest, one that was polished off by an overtime game-winner. 

“I wasn’t even thinking at the time, I guess” junior forward Ben Troumbly, he of the game-tying and game-winning tallies said after the win.

Troumbly collected a loose puck near the Mahtomedi crease, patiently rotated to the open side of the net, and sent the overwhelming emotional favorite Raiders to the state finals and delighting the northern contingent of fans. 

“It’s definitely crazy, all the fans that come and support us,” Troumbly said. “Not just (from) the Iron Range, but the entire state. 

The entire state roared when No. 4 seed Greenway (17-13) took a 1-0 lead at the 12:48 mark of the second period, but hushed midway through the third when Mahtomedi potted a pair of quick goals from Nikolai Dulak and Kory Pilarski. 

After the Zephyrs took the lead, it appeared that their depth would eventually wear out the Raiders. 

“The format with the TV timeouts helped their lack of depth,” top-seeded Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl said. “That’s not an excuse; that’s just the way it is.”

Poeschl also said a slow start could have doomed his team. 

“I didn’t think we were moving our feet and working as a whole,” Poeschl explained. “There was some pressure, but not nearly as much as we would have liked.”

After taking a tripping penalty in the neutral zone late in the third period, Greenway turned to Troumbly, who promptly blasted a slap shot past Mahtomedi (22-7-1) goalie Ben Dardis to tie the game. Troumbly's goal set the stage for his extra-session heroics. 

“When you believe, you believe,” Greenway coach Grant Clafton said. “It’s not arrogance or cockiness. When you go through what these guys have gone through this season…it’s like wearing a protective shield of armor when you have that belief.”

The Raiders‘ armor is only strengthened by the belief that they’re playing for something more than a state championship and their school. 

“We’re not only playing for Coleraine or the Greenway area,” Clafton said. “We’re representing Virginia, and Eveleth, and International Falls, and Hibbing and those schools. There’s a lot of pride in that.”