BHS: Some top Seeds go Bad

By Tony Scott, 02/21/16, 12:15AM CST

Five Top 10 Teams Fall Saturday in section play

Riley Scanlon scores his second goal of the night for Little Falls

Some Minnesotan's were not so Nice

The officials rule no goal

Getting a crown jewel can often be a difficult task. In Minnesota high school hockey, that jewel is the state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. Saturday, five of the best teams in the state fell short of the X and their dream of playing in The Tourney.

Four of the upsets came from unranked four seeds over top ten number ones and the other one was one of the most exciting most controversial games we've seen in years. In sequential order here is a peek at those games:

1. #10 Eden Prairie > #8 Holy Family...not exactly an upset, no matter what a top ten team was going home and EP was technically the higher seed coming into the game despite faltering down the stretch. In what appeared to be a great back and forth game between two talented teams went from great to epic at the 7:10 mark of the third period. After Matt Anderson tied the game minutes earlier for the Fire, Nick Michel scored the apparent go ahead goal for the Fire who had taken control of the game. But wait, as the Fire were rightfully celebrating, the officials discussed if there was a hand pass prior to Michel knocking the puck in. After nine minutes of talk between the two referees, the linesman and goal judge they ruled it no goal.

EP/HFC Goal Highlights

See all goals from yesterday's EP/HFC game...including the "NO GOAL" call.

Fourteen seconds later, Mack Byers innocently slashed the stick of a puck carrying Michael Graham knocking the stick out of the future Notre Damer's hands and the Eagles found themselves on the power play. Graham made the Fire pay and scored in a mad dash in front to lift the Eagles to the win.

Game Highlights: Casey Mittelstadt is known for his ability to score. Saturday in the first period he chased down Fire leading scorer Will Garin from behind to prevent a goal. "Unbelievable," said EP coach Lee Smith. "He set the tone for us all day today. Casey is a special player." Matt Anderson from Holy Family's embrace with EP assistant Steve Olinger at center ice after the game - a bold statement that what we saw Saturday was just a game. Holy Family was truly holy in defeat. Despite losing a heartbreaker, they held their head high and will likely be back even stronger next season.

Will Garin scores for Holy Family Saturday

2. Cretin Derham Hall > #1 Benilde St. Margaret's...the biggest upset of the day. Cretin came into the game 15-11 and with zero top ten wins all season long. On Saturday the records were thrown away and the Raiders won in overtime to beat the number one and undefeated team in the state. Jack Jaunich had the game winning goal and the Hatty and Mike Magnuson turned away 29 shots for the Raiders. The Raiders clogged the middle of the ice and were able to contend with Benilde's speed all day long playing a perfect game.

3. Prior Lake > #4 Minnetonka...The Lakers flexed their South Suburban muscles Saturday taking down the Lake Conference champs 3-2. Curtis Hansen had a goal and an assist for the Lakers and Drew Scites turned away 28 of 30 shots to send Prior Lake to their first ever section final. "It was a total team effort by our kids," said Prior Lake head coach Joe Pankratz. The Lakers will take on Eden Prairie Wednesday for their first ever berth in The Tourney.

4. Little Falls > #3 St. Cloud Apollo...after losing to Apollo in a heartbreaker on January 26, Little Falls returned the favor beating the Eagles 4-1 to advance to the section final Thursday night against St. Cloud Cathedral. Riley Scanlon scored two big goals and Justin Pekula had 41 saves for the Flyers.

5. Maple Grove > #5 Blaine...in what the second biggest surprise of the day, Maple Grove knocked off top seeded Blaine 6-3 to advance to the section finals against Anoka. Freshman Trevor Janicke hosted his coming out party Saturday in Champlin getting his first high school Hatty. The Notre Dame commit showed why he's regarded as one of the top players his age Saturday scoring three including the important game tying goal in the second and the go ahead goal in the third period.

Justin Pekula stops Josh Kenney for one of his 41 saves Saturday for Little Falls

Saturday Stars

Cade Borchardt had a Hatty for the Blaze Saturday

Cade Borchardt, Burnsville - Hat trick for the Blaze in their 4-1 win

Gavin Hain, Grand Rapids - Two goals and an assist for Thunderhawks

Trevor Janicke, Maple Grove - Hat trick in Crimson's big upset over Blaine

Jack Jaunich, Cretin Derham Hall - Hat trick in Raiders' win over #1 and undefeated Benilde St. Margaret's

Billy Jerry, St. Thomas Academy - Hat trick in #1 seed Cadets win over Jefferson

Micheal Johnson, Thief River Falls - Two goals and an assist for the Prowlers on Saturday in their win over Detroit Lakes

Tyler McAlpine, Princeton - Two goals and four assists for the Tigers as they come one step closer to a bid to state.

Player of Year finalist Casey Mittelstadt scores one of his two goals Saturday

Casey Mittelstadt, Eden Prairie - The future Gopher had two goals and an assist for Eagles in their win over Holy Family.

Logan Neu, St. Cloud Cathedral - Big night for the senior - a hat trick including one on a penalty shot.

Blake Neumann, Anoka -Two goals and two assists for the Tornadoes Saturdy

David Raisanen, Litchfield - Hat trick for the Dragons as they swept Hutch for the year and moved on to the section final against Luverne.

Riley Scanlon, Little Falls - Two goals for the Flyers in their huge win over number one seed and #3 in the state Apollo.

John Siebenaler, Farmington - had hat trick for the Tigers...they face rival Lakeville North next week for a berth in state.

Class AA Scores

Team	Score	Team	Score	Section
Rochester John Marshall	1	Lakeville North	6	1
Lakeville South	3	Farmington	5	1
Holy Family	2	Eden Prairie	4	2
Prior Lake	3	Minnetonka	2	2
Bloomington Jefferson	3	St. Thomas Academy	6	3
Rosemount	1	Burnsville	4	3
Irondale	4	Stillwater	7	4
Mounds View	1	Hill-Murray	4	4
Woodbury	3	Tartan	1	4
White Bear Lake	4	Roseville	1	4
Anoka	6	Centennial	2	5
Maple Grove	6	Blaine	3	5
Cretin-Derham Hall	4	Benilde-St. Margaret's	3	6
Edina	3	Wayzata	5	6
Elk River	3	Duluth East	6	7
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton	1	Grand Rapids	5	7
St. Michael-Albertville	0	Bemidji	4	8
Rogers	2	Moorhead	4	8

Jack Stensgard scores for Moorhead Saturday in their win over Rogers

Class A Scores

Team	Score	Team	Score	Section
Mankato East	0	Northfield	6	1
LSH/SP/TCU	1	Mankato West	5	1
New Ulm	0	Luverne	10	3
Hutchinson	4	Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato	5	3
Pine City/Rush City	4	Princeton	9	5
Monticello	4	Chisago Lakes	1	5
Little Falls	4	St. Cloud Apollo	1	6
Sartell-St. Stephen	2	St. Cloud Cathedral	7	6
Greenway	0	Hermantown	9	7
Duluth Denfeld	1	Hibbing/Chisholm	5	7
Detroit Lakes	0	Thief River Falls	4	8
Warroad	1	East Grand Forks	3	8

Logan Neu scores on a penalty shot Saturday for Cathedral

Thoughts from the Glass

Goodbye Apollo - a sad ending to Apollo's great season Saturday. Falling to a plucky rival on home ice. The storybook didn't end the way they wanted, but what that group accomplished this year as JV/Varsity is still something those boys will tell their kids about someday. It may be a few years until Apollo dons those filthy red, white and blue Rangers/Canadiens knock offs again - when they do pretty sure names like Bissett, Breitenbach, Bisson and Lucia will bantered about as past Apollo greats!

Moose are charging - Monticello/Annandale/Maple Lake has never appeared in the state tournament - with a win over Princeton Thursday, it will be their first. They have lost to the Tigers twice already this year....could the third game be the charm?

Apollo fell Saturday to Little Falls, hopefully they will be back soon

Freshmen are fresh - Trevor Janicke, Ryan Ullan and Jackson Jutting all had great games yesterday. Jutting had the game winner for Prior Lake, Ullan stopped 18 shots for Hibbing and Janicke was involved in five of the six goals Maple Grove scored Saturday in their win over Blaine.

Projected State - Here is a fun look at what the state tournament could look like if top seeds hold serve this week in section playoffs. Based on yesterday, don't plan on it.

(2) Lakeville North v. Bemidji

(3) Wayzata v. STA

(1) Stillwater v. Anoka

(4) Grand Rapids v. Eden Prairie

Notre Dame commit Trevor Janicke had a Hatty yesterday for the Maple Grove - Janicke cut his teeth in the successful OMGHA program - Photo Credit, Cheryl Myers MN Hockey Hub

Do the Right Thing

In Minnesota, there are several traditional powers all over the state. If you are a fan of the game here in the Land of 10,000 rinks - those don't need to be listed. Standing the test of time is almost as hard as building a program. Some wonder, what is harder building a successful program or maintaining it?

Coaches and volunteers in Prior Lake and Maple Grove likely had a grin on their face when their high school programs overcame traditional powers like Minnetonka and Blaine Saturday. Prior Lake's head coach Joe Pankratz is the heart and soul of the Lakers' program, working with the youth program year-round both on the ice and in the board room. Saturday's win was the culmination of several thousand hours of volunteer work and development. Hats off to them all.

Each of the past four years, Osseo Maple Grove has won the YHH Squirtacular pitting the best teams from the state against one another. If you listen closely in the halls of the arena, you hear whispers about their program, "yeah, but they never win at the high school level..." On Saturday, they won and they won big. They beat Blaine and big man Riley Tufte and are headed to the section final this week. Much like Prior Lake, the OMGHA has gone the extra mile to build their in-house program at the mite level that attracts the best athletes from their communities to play hockey. Hats off to them and best of luck to both in their quest for the prized jewel!