Class AA Championship
Eden Prairie 3, Moorhead 0 | FINAL
Three Stars
1. Andrew Ford - Eden Prairie | Shutout | 28 Saves
2. Nick Leddy - Eden Prairie | 1 goal, 1 assist
3. Mitch Rogge - Eden Prairie | 1 goal
Scoring:
1P: EP: Mitch Rogge (Corey Willey, Nick Leddy) 14:26
2P: EP: Nick Leddy 16:03 unassisted
___
3P: EP: Dan Molenaar (Mike Erickson) 9:58
Notes:
A goal by Tyler Larson at about the 10:40 mark of the first period was disallowed due to goaltender interference. Quinn Buckellew, I believe, was in the crease. It is a call that could go either way. As Lou Nanne described it on television, Buckellew was not tripped into the crease, he fell on his own. That is the reason why he believes they disallowed it.
Logan Marks has been very solid in goal for Moorhead. Eden Prairie has had some great scoring chances and Marks has held firm.
Mitch Rogge was the lucky recipient of a rebound and lots of traffic in front of Marks. Marks could not find the puck with bodies in front of him and Rogge took advantage and slammed the puck into the net.
Wow. Nick Leddy scored an incredible goal for the Eagles throwing a heavy puck at the net from the left (Marks right side) and it found the upper right part of the net. It surprised Marks, it surprised me, it surprised everyone. That goal will probably put the cap on Leddy's bid for Mr. Hockey. The broadcasts on television all weekend long have repeated that Leddy was the frontrunner for the award.
Moorhead has been rattled since that goal by Larson was disallowed. They will need to regroup in between periods to regain their composure and get back in this game.
End of the 1st period.
There is not much to talk about in the second period. There has been no scoring, very little scoring chances, and Eden Prairie still seems to be in control of the game. The Eagles have had the only real scoring chances in this period and they maybe had three, Moorhead one. Logan Marks is keeping Moorhead in the game. It has not been a boring game, far from it. It has been back and forth with some good hitting and excellent defense going on from both sides.
Moorhead went on the powerplay late in the period but did not capitalize. The powerplay will continue into the third period but for just 49 seconds.
End of the 2nd period.
Eden Prairie scores. Defenseman Dan Molenaar scores from the right side blue line. Marks was screened on the shot.
Believe it or not, Moorhead has had as many shots as Eden Prairie plus a couple more. Sophomore Andrew Ford has been quietly solid in goal for the Eagles.
Eden Prairie is going to be tough for a couple of years if they don't have a mass exodus of players that go to play junior hockey.
I have to admit that I did not have Eden Prairie in my top five at the beginning of the season. I thought the team was too young this year to make enough of an impact coming out of a very competitive Section 6AA. They proved me wrong. My choice at the beginning of the year to win the Class AA championship was Hill-Murray again. When four important players were removed from the team, that pick became null and void.
Congratulations to Eden Prairie on winning the award for having the highest GPA amongst all other hockey teams in the state Minnesota. Champions on the ice and in the classroom.
Even though Moorhead became the runner-up for their seventh time without a title, the Spuds should be proud for making it to the championship game. They made an incredible run after going 0-8-0 in the middle of the season. For most teams, that would be hard to overcome. Congratulations Moorhead.
Congratulations to the Eden Prairie Eagles on your first ever state hockey title!
