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BHS: Class A State Championship

By Peter Odney , 03/07/20, 1:00PM CST

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Game story, pictures, and box score, from the Class A state title game.


Mahtomedi knocked off Hermantown 3-2 in overtime to capture the program's first state championship.

(4) Mahtomedi vs. (3) Hermantown


Colin Hagstrom scored the game-winning goal in overtime for Mahtomedi on Saturday afternoon.

Scoring Summary

Period Time Team Goal Assists Goal Type
1 10:41 Mahtomedi J.D. Metz Nikolai Dulak, Ethan Peterson Power Play
2 15:13 Mahtomedi Ethan Peterson J.D. Metz, Colin Hagstrom Power Play
2 5:19 Hermantown Drew Sams Cole Antcliff Even Strength
3 0:21 Hermantown Aaron Pionk Ethan Lund, Drew Sams Even Strength
OT 5:16 Mahtomedi Colin Hagstrom J.D. Metz, Nikolai Dulak Even Strength

Hermantown's Jacob Backstrom made several saves on odd-man rushes throughout the game, keeping the Hawks in the contest until the final goal.

Mahtimedi earns first state title in program history

For much of December and nearly all of January, Colin Hagstrom didn't skate with his Mahtomedi Zephyrs. 

But a broken fibula sidelined the Zephyrs' co-captain, and he was forced to remain on the bench for nearly two months, holding his stick over the boards during practices in the hopes that someone would pass the puck with him.

On Saturday afternoon, J.D. Metz made the final pass of the Zephyrs' season, and Hagstrom buried it in behind Hermantown's goaltender Jacob Backstrom at the 2:44 mark of overtime to give Mahtomedi its first state championship. 

"It's what people dream of," Hagstrom said during the postgame press conference. "To have it come true is just unreal."

Hagstrom's dreams nearly remained just that — dreams. There was no definite timeline for his recovery, except in his own mind. 

"The doctors didn't know at first," Hagstrom said. "But I had the support of my team, and I told myself there's no way I wouldn't come back."

Hagstrom's return coincided with an impressive stretch run for the Zephyrs, who since his first game back on Jan. 28 have gone 10-2 and outscored their opponents 27-7, including Saturday's 3-2 victory over the third-seeded Hawks.

"There was a lot of bending, but not breaking," Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl said. "We're not going to be able to go toe-to-toe with Hermantown. We're not going to come out on top in a track meet. We knew that we were going to need to take time and space away from them (and) eliminate odd-man rushes."

Hermantown coach Pat Andrews acknowledge that the Zephyrs' strategy was near-perfect. 

"Their game-plan was outstanding," Andrew said. "They played exactly how they had to play," Andrews added, noting the way the Zephyrs back-checked played a role in the Hawks' loss and adding some praise for Mahthmedi goaltender Ben Dardis. 

"It was a clinic on how to play goalie because he made everything look easy," Andrews said of Dardis's 40-save outing.

No. 4 seed Mahtomedi (23-8) took a 1-0 lead in the first and extended that lead to 2-0 in the second, capitalizing on its limited offensive chances. Drew Sams pulled the Hawks (23-4-4) within one midway through the second, and Aaron Pionk scored the game-tying goal with 22 seconds left in regulation to send the game into its extra session. 

But with the momentum against them and without a single Division I commit on the roster, the Zephyrs pulled off the upset after Metz fed Hagstrom in the slot, threading a pass into the middle of three Hermantown defenders that Hagstrom managed to get off as a quality shot. 

A defensive-minded blueprint, an other-world goaltender, and a timely return of a captain. That's the surface recipe for a program's first state title, but Poeschl is quick to point out the group's camaraderie as another lynchpin. 

"One of the things I tell teams before the season starts is that my goal for our group is for them to feel like a family," Poeschl said. 

"I've had some dysfunctional families over the course of my twenty-seven years, but this group bought in, and they committed to one another and to the systems that we were giving them, and our plan."


Ethan Peterson scored a goal and added an assist for Mahtomedi in Saturday's win.

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