The No. 3-ranked East Grand Forks Senior High boys hockey team matched up with Minnesota's No. 7-ranked team, St. Cloud Cathedral, on Friday night.
The Green Wave proved the pollsters were spot on.
Tanner Tweten had a goal and an assist and Senior High doubled up Cathedral in shots as the Wave picked up a 3-1 victory at the East Grand Forks Civic Center.
Senior High improved to 10-2-1, while Cathedral dropped to 9-3-0. It was a matchup of two favorites to advance to the Minnesota state Class A tournament. The Wave are the top team in Section 8, while Cathedral leads Section 6.
"I thought we played a solid game from start to finish," Senior High coach Tyler Palmiscno said. "We made plays in the offensive zone that we haven't been making. It was a good step for us."
ADVERTISEMENT
Braden Shea and Luke Beito also scored for the Wave, who controlled play through most of the game.
But Cathedral made the Wave uncomfortable early in the third period as Brady Johnston scored a rebound goal only 55 seconds into the frame to cut Senior High's lead to 2-1.
Senior High slammed the door on a comeback when Beito netted a power-play goal at 13 minutes, 26 seconds of the third period. Eddie Eades ripped a shot from the blue line, Grant Loven created traffic in front and Beito pounced on the rebound.
"We got a puck to the net and found the rebound," Palmiscno said. "Two of our three goals were just getting the puck to the net and finding the rebound. I thought their goalie played well and gave them a chance to win the game."
Crusaders goalie Zach Fritz stopped 19 shots, while Wave netminder Josh Weber stopped 10 shots.
"We were good in spurts," Cathedral coach Eric Johnson said. "This is why we come up and play these teams. When we worked extremely hard, we were competitive. It was a good, messy game, which we needed to stay with them."
Senior High dominated the opening two periods. Tweten scored at 15 minutes of the first after a scrum in front of the net, while Shea extended the lead to 2-0 at 10:44 of the second when Tweten found him at the doorstep.
"That's a hell of a hockey team over there," Johnson said. "They have skilled guys up and down the lineup.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I was pleased with our effort, but we needed more intensity on the puck. When you finally get it down in their end, you have to pin it down there."
