Among Grand Forks Central's top line of forwards, senior Jordy Aamot would be considered the distributor.
Yet with the Knights in need of a goal today, Aamot was the finisher.
The senior buried a shot at 2 minutes, 58 seconds of overtime to lift No. 4 Central to a 3-2 win over No. 1 Bismarck Century in the quarterfinals of the North Dakota state boys hockey tournament at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
"As much as Jordy sets guys up, he also gets his chances," Central coach Tony Bina said. "He hopped on the loose puck and was able to put the biscuit in the back of the net."
The defending state champion Knights, who improved to 13-9-3, advance to Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal against Grafton-Park River, a 3-1 winner over Bismarck High in the second quarterfinal game of the day.
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After trading goals in each of the first two periods, the Knights began to wear down Century.
"That's a tough loss," Century coach Troy Olson said. "We had our chances to get a goal. In third period and overtime, (the Knights) outplayed us. We told the guys that their top line would have a lot of speed and put pucks on net. That's what they did, and we stood around a little bit."
The Knights thought they had the game-winner in regulation when Johnny Simonson knocked in his own rebound with 4:27 left in the third. But the goal was immediately waved off, with the referees ruling Simonson kicked the puck in with his skate.
Central controlled overtime, putting five shots on net to Century's one.
"We've been in overtime situations many times," said Bina, whose team has played in seven overtime games this season. "After the first two periods, we made some adjustments and got stronger and stronger."
The Knights' top line of Aamot, Luke Johnson and Johnny Simonson accounted for all three goals.
Johnson scored in the first period with a perfect setup from Simonson and again in the second period when he buried a shot from the slot on the power play.
Johnson, a sophomore, scored his 16th and 17th goals of the season.
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The Patriots, who dropped to 20-5 overall, led 2-1 early in the second period. Brady Spooner was credited with a goal in the first period when he threw a puck near the net that was incidentally kicked in by a Central defenseman. The Patriots went up 2-1 when Nick Bohrer cut off a shot on goal at the doorstep, turned it to his backhand and beat Central goalie Derek Fuller.
But Aamot, who has 10 goals and 30 assists this season, pounced on the opportunity in overtime to put away Century.
"There was a huge scramble in front and (Jeremy) O'Keefe passed it over to me," Aamot said. "I just shot it in and scored.
"(After Simonson's goal was disallowed), we never lost hope. We stuck to our game plan. We got pucks in deep, banged on their D-men and went to work."
GF CENTRAL 3,
BISMARCK CENTURY 2, OT
First period - 1. GFC, Luke Johnson (Johnny Simonson) 5:14; 2. BC, Brady Spooner 6:08
Second period - 3. BC, Nick Bohrer (Cole Ude, Alex Rauhauser) 1:49; 4. GFC, Johnson (Simonson) 7:38
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Overtime - 5. GFC, Jordy Aamot (Jeremy O'Keefe, Tanner Corbett) 2:58
Goalie saves - GFC: Derek Fuller 9-10-7-1 - 27; BC: Devon Butz 12-3-12-4 - 31
