I did not get the best performances for Tuesday together due to a few factors. The notes from Tuesday games and other thoughts are all I had for that day. We'll do better for Thursday night's games.
A nominee for best Tuesday night performance is the #2 Little Falls Flyers and their overtime win against #1 St. Cloud Cathedral 5-4. Izaak Berglund scored the game-winner. Ben Hanowski had another hat trick and two assists. Hanowski's five points now brings the magic number down to 96 to break the Minnesota high school career total points record.
Another nominee is New Prague's upset of #3 Rochester Lourdes in overtime 4-3. Schyler Adams won it for the Trojans. That was his second of the night. The Trojans go up north and get crushed by Duluth Denfeld and Hermantown and then they comeback, regroup, and travel to Rochester to defeat the third best team in the state in Class A. Right now, the Trojans are a head scratcher.
The last name may be getting redundant for some but the Benik brothers strike again. Joey scored four more goals while Andy saved 34 shots. St. Francis defeated Mora/Hinckley-Finlayson 5-2. The Saints are 5-0 so far this season.
Other notes from Tuesday
I'm starting to look a little foolish for picking Breck to win the Class A championship this year. St. Thomas Academy thumped them 7-2 on Tuesday night. There seems to be a little inconsistency in goal. Breck outshot the Cadets 33-18. Goaltending was very good against Duluth Marshall and Red Wing but not so good against Mahtomedi or St. Thomas Academy. Even after last night's beating, I still say watch Breck.
Edina got back on track by defeating a good Woodbury team 5-2. Marshall Everson scored two goals while Connor Gaarder had a goal and three assists. They deserve to retain their 2nd ranked spot in the state. The Hornets have the Edina Classic coming up and I don't see them having any problems until the Eden Prairie matchup or the game after that against Blaine. Edina is very good until they face a team that has a solid defense AND goaltender. Eden Prairie has the defense and Blaine has both.
Northern Lakes senior goaltender Trey Flesch leads the state in shutouts with three total on the season already.
Watch out. Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl is gaining strength. After crushing Wadena-Deer Creek 13-3 on Saturday, the Blue Devils traveled to Grand Rapids and blanked the Thunderhawks in their own building 4-0. Will Lustig stopped all 36 shots that he faced.
Lakeville South may be on the way up now too. After losing in overtime on December 4th to Eastview, they pulled off back-to-back wins against Eagan in overtime, 2-1, and now Burnsville on Tuesday, 5-2. Bill Simon had a goal and two assists against Burnsville. Let's see what 'Simon says' or does when they face Bloomington Jefferson on Saturday at BIG.
Hey Section 3A, watch out for Willmar. They had 52 shots on goal against River Lakes on Tuesday and the Cardinal goalie, junior Ben Leitch, had 29 saves in a 2-0 shutout in Paynesville. In their first game against Morris/Benson, they put up another 50 shots. Morris/Benson? Eight.
