The Northfield Arena was full, but not packed last night.  The game was televised and that may have taken the edge off the attendance.  Until the last five minutes of the second period, it was a great game.  Both teams wanted the win and both skated hard.  The first period opened with three plus minutes of non-stop up and down action.  Northfield would move the puck through the Rocket fore checkers and but be stymied by the Rocket defense men at the RJM blue line.  The Rocket defenders were strong enough to tie up the speedy forwards or force a short pass at the blue line to turn the rush into a counterattack.  In the Raiders’ defensive zone, the RJM forwards were consistently tying up the Northfield defense men behind the net, but could not make a good pass for the scoring opportunity.

RJM’s goalie Brady Meyers was an active part of the Rocket defense.  At times, he played the puck away from the Rockets’ net making passes after picking up the puck below the dots (of the faceoff circles).  Meyers at times played like a third defenseman.  It worked.  The Northfield attack, trying to move the puck low, was often blunted by Meyers’ quick passes.  The game pace started to slow halfway through the opening period, but as the period was ending, the Raider’s starting line of Ryan Torbenson, Jackson Cloud, and Grant Sawyer starting to press the Rockets in the RJM zone.  The period ended in a scoreless tie.  It was evenly played up tempo game.  Northfield had a slight edge in the SOG, 9-8.  It was a good period of play.

For the first five minutes of the second period second period, both teams set a fanatic pace.  The puck never stopped and never moved far without a change of direction.  Both teams had scoring chances, but at the five minute mark, the Raiders Ryan Torbenson picked up the puck in the neutral zone and beat the Rocket defense.  Skating down the right side of the Rocket zone, Torbenson fired a hard shot that Meyers stopped.  The puck rebounded to the end boards to Torbenson who swooped behind the net for a quick wrap around score.  The goal was unassisted.  Northfield led 1-0.

Two minutes later, John Marshall tied the game.  The Raiders went for a shift change thinking the puck would be played in the RJM zone.  They left the ice as two Rocket forwards came off their bench in neutral ice.  One forward picked a up a puck sliding in near the Raiders blue line and turned the play into a 3-on-2 rush.  Carrying the puck along the left boards, a Rocket forward hit Luke Ranfranz in the right slot with a quick pass.  Ranfranz one-timed the pass beating the Raider’s goal Ryan Bielenberg with a hard shot low right to tie the game 1-1.  Conner Lee got the assist.  With five minutes to go, Northfield drew a five minute major for checking from behind.

On a minor penalty when the team on the power play scores, the penalty is over.  On a major penalty, the penalized player stays in the penalty box regardless of how goals the other team scores.  It took RJM ten seconds to score.  The Rockets won the draw, the puck moved to the right blue line area to Connor Lee.  Lee put a hard shot on net beating a screened Bielenberg to put Rochester John Marshall up 2-1.  Joshua Frerks and Brady Dahl got the assists.  The Rockets, still on the power play, took the ensuing faceoff and set up again in the Northfield zone.  For the next two and half minutes, they attacked the Raider net and wore down the Northfield defense keeping them from a shift change.  The Rockets moved the puck again to the left point to Conner Lee.  Lee got off a hard shot that Rocket forward  Alexander Paulson, in the left slot, tipped past goalie Bielenerg to put the Rockets up 3-1.  Lee and Frerks got the assists.  Two minutes later, Lee picked up a rebounding puck in the right slot and beat Bielenberg with a top shelf shot to put the Rockets up 4-1.  Frerks and Xander Lamppa got the assists.  Eighteen seconds later, the major penalty ended and 17 seconds after that the second period ended.  Rochester John Marshall led 4-1.

The final period was anticlimactic.  Two minutes into the period, Xander Lamppa scored with Luke Johnson getting the assist to end the scoring 5-1.  The five minute major cost the Raiders, but to Rochester John Marshall credit, led by seniors center Conner Lee and defense men Alex Paulson and Joshua Frerks, they converted the opportunity into a game winner.  RJM won and with win the Big 9 title.

Section 3AA is a mess.  First, St. Thomas Academy is the only team in Section 3AA that has lost less than 10 games.  Good deal, right?  But the Cadets have 5 ties and have completed their regular season with a 14-6-5 record.  Fourteen wins will be dicey since the Cadets lost to Lakeville North 4-1 Tuesday.  North is in a battle for first place in the South Suburban Conference, the same conference in which Section 3AA competitor Burnsville plays.  The Blaze can win their last two games (Lakeville South and Shakopee to end their season with 13-10-2 record.  Rosemount (11-11-0) is an outside threat in the seeding process.  They have re-scheduled their “snowed out” game from last Tuesday with Cretin-Derham Hall to today and could finish 14-11-0.  Jefferson (11-12-0) could also finish above .500 with two wins (St. Louis Park and Cretin-Derham Hall).  Eastview is currently 10-10-3 but play Lakeville North and Farmington, both tough teams for the Lightning to beat.  The Lightning are the only other Section 3AA team that can finish above .500.  This would be a fun seeding to watch. The Cadets finished second in the Metro East Conference behind Hill-Murray and hold a 1-0 win over the Hill in a game played last Saturday and are still slight favorites, but the rest is a mess.

Section 4AA has a clear favorite.  Stillwater (21-1-1) will get the #1 seed even if they lose to Holy Family in Saturday’s game at the St. Croix Rec Center.  The Ponies have already clinched the Suburban East title.  Hill-Murray will get the #2 seed, and Tartan should get the #3 seed.  These three teams will all have above .500 records.  The remaining six Section 4AA teams have losing records.

Section 5AA is fairly well set as the 5AA teams end their regular season.  A few weeks ago, it was noted here that Blaine would run the table winning their last eight games and win 20 games or more.  A win over Armstrong/Cooper tonight at Forgerty and the Bengals will have 20-4-0 record with one more game Saturday hosting Roseville.  Blaine should get the #1 seed.  Centennial has lost once since the start of the new year, to Elk River 4-1.  But early season losses including three straight at the Schwan Gold Cup cost the Cougars a twenty game season.  Centennial should get the #2 seed.  Anoka looks strong again in winning their last five games.  The Tornadoes should take the third seed.  Maple Grove and Spring Lake Park are the #4 and #5 seeds.

Another section that is fairly well set is Section 6AA.  The forecast here is #1 seeded Benilde/St. Margaret’s (22-0-1) playing the winner of Wayzata (15-7-1)/Edina (13-8-2) semifinal game at Mariucci for the ticket to the Xcel.  There is a different battle shaping up in Section 7AA.  This one is about Elk River (15-7-1) or Grand Rapids (17-6-1) playing Duluth East (15-8-0) in the Section 7AA semifinals.  The venue for the semifinals (and finals) is fixed, Amsoil Arena in Duluth.  But don’t be surprised if Duluth East ends up with the #1 seed.  They can make a good case by winning their last game of the season at Minnetonka.  The East team maybe “Hounds” but they have been very bear like as the season end winning nine of their last 10 games.  If the Hounds beat Minnetonka Saturday, they could take the #1 seed away from Grand Rapids    

Blaine's Riley Tufte and Benilde-St. Margaret's Cade Gleekel battle for the puck in an early season game won 4-3 by the Red Knights.  Is this a preview of the state tourney championship game?