Monday, October 26, 2009
Upper Midwest High School Elite League News & Notes: Week 7
By Elite League Media Services
SOUTHEAST CLAIMS ELITE LEAGUE SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP
Team Southeast, led by league-leading scorer Caleb Herbert (Bloomington Jefferson), won the regular-season championship of the Upper Midwest High School Elite League this past weekend in a close race that went down to the final game.
Southeast finished with a 15-5-1 record, good for 31 points, to finish one point ahead of Team Southwest, which finished 15-4-2, for 30 points.
Southeast entered the final weekend with a two-point lead, and they earned a crucial point Wednesday by tying Shattuck-St. Mary’s 2-2 in a game played at Faribault. Michael Zajac of Eagan scored one goal and assisted on another to give Southeast a 2-1 lead of Shattuck late in the game, but Jason Clark’s power-play goal with 23 seconds remaining tied it up for Shattuck. Southeast goalie Ryan O’Shea made 33 saves in the game.
On Saturday, Southeast erupted for six second-period goals in a 9-5 win over Team Northwest. A.J. Reid of St. Thomas scored three goals and added an assists, while Holy Angels’ Joseph LaBate added a pair of goals. Southeast then entered Sunday’s game with Wisconsin needing a win to wrap up the league title, and Zajac pumped in four goals to lead the club to an 8-2 and the championship. Zach Schroeder had two goals for Southeast, and Christian Isackson added a pair of assists.
Team Southwest made a strong run at the league championship, winning their final six games of the season, only to come up one point short. They opened the final weekend with a 4-1 victory over Team Northeast in which goalie Alex Fons made 38 saves. Saturday’s game saw eight different players score in an 8-2 win over Great Plains. On Sunday, they played two hours before Team Southeast, and knew they still had a chance to win or tie for the league title, and responded by beating Team North 5-3, as Archie Skalbeck of Hopkins had a goal and an assist.
Team Northwest earned third place in the league be beating Shattuck 3-2 in their final game. Nick Bjugstad and Scott Holm scored in the second period to give Northwest a 2-0 lead, and after Shattuck’s Tanner Sorenson scored early in the third period, responded for Northwest with the game winner. Goalie Dan Harper of Blaine made 30 saves for the win. Earlier in the weekend Northwest rallied from a 4-2 deficit to tie Wisconsin 4-4 as Christian Horn and Cal Decowski scored third-period goals.
Team Great Plains won two of its final three games to earn fourth place in the league. On Saturday they fell behind team North 2-0, but two goals each by Warroad’s Brock Nelson and Grand Forks’ Casey Purpur led to a 5-2 win. Sunday, Tyler Larson’s goal stood up as the game-winner in a 5-4 victory over Team Northeast.
Team Northeast won one of three games to settle in fifth place. The weekend’s only win was a 10-1 romp over Team North. Connor Reilly (2G, 3A) and Ryan Reilly (1G, 4A) each had five points in the game, while Jake Erickson added a pair of goals.
Garrett Hendrickson of Virginia had a goal and an assist over the weekend to finish as the leading scorer (8G, 14A, 22 points) for Team North, which finished the season 4-15-2. Wisconsin ended the regular season 3-15-3, and was led in scoring by Max McCormick (8-12-20).
NOTES: Caleb Herbert of Team Southeast won the league scoring title. The Bloomington Jefferson senior, who is headed for UMD, had 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points. He finished three points ahead of Southeast teammate Justin Crandall (13-21-34). Team Southwest’s Archie Skalbeck of Hopkins led the Elite League with 17 goals, one more than Hermantown’s Adam Krause, of Team North. A total of 16 players reached double figures in goals during the 21-game regular season.
Jacob Meyers, a senior at Benilde had both the lowest goals against average (2.55) and highest save percentage (.933) playing for Team Southwest. Blaine’s Dan Harper, playing for Team Northwest, led the league with two shutouts.
Shattuck-St. Mary’s power play succeeded at a 25% rate, converting 22 of 88 opportunities, the best in the league, ahead of Team Northwest’s 21.4%. Team Southeast had the league’s best penalty kill at 87.3%.
The Elite League playoffs begin Friday, October 30 with four quarterfinal games at New Hope Arena. The seminfinals are Saturday and the finals Sunday, also at New Hope. Shattuck-St. Mary’s is committed to another tournament, and their spot in the field will be taken by the Omaha Jr. Lancers, a midget team from Omaha, Nebraska. For exact game times, visit www.hselitehockey.com.
Friday’s quarterfinals (seeding in parentheses):
Team Southeast (1) vs. Omaha Jr. Lancers (8) – 5:15 p.m., New Hope North
Team Southwest (2) vs. Team Wisconsin (7) – 5:30 p.m., New Hope South
Team Great Plains (4) vs. Team Northeast (5) – 7:45 p.m., New Hope North
Team Northwest (3) vs. Team North (6) – 8:00 p.m., New Hope South
