Top Class A seeds roll at state boys hockey tournament

ST. PAUL — Warroad's Carson Pilgrim and Mahtomedi's Corey Bohmert had hat tricks on an eventful first day as the higher-seeded teams rolled at the Minnesota Class A boys hockey tournament at Xcel Energy Center.

In a rematch of the 2022 MSHSL Class A third-place game, three-seeded Mahtomedi beat Alexandria 6-3. In the opener, Hermantown had no problem getting past Luverne 6-0, Warroad turned it on late to overpower St. Cloud Cathedral 5-1 and Orono needed overtime to beat Northfield.

Seventy-one seconds was all it took for Hermantown to seize control of its state quarterfinal matchup against Luverne on Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Senior Aaron Evjen scored at the 6:28 mark to put the Hawks in front, with River Freeman and Evan Gunderson each scores in the next 71 seconds to put Hermantown in command and ultimately a 6-0 victory.

Alexandria got the momentum going early with three goals in the first half of the period, but Mahtomedi shut them out for the rest of the game and went on to win and advance to the state semifinals.

"I thought the start was good," Alexandria head coach Josh Meyers said. "I think there were a couple of timely penalties or missed calls that took some wind out of our sails. And we just lost too many battles."

Alexandria took advantage of Mahtomedi miscues to gain a 3-2 lead but Bohmert's third goal came with 11:24 left in the game and put Mahtomedi up 5-3.

Unseeded St. Cloud Cathedral collapsed defensively to slow the high-powered Warroad attack for two periods and took its chances offensively before the Warriors rallied for the win in the third Class A quarterfinal of the day.

The win keeps Warroad's state championship dream, and undefeated season, alive.

Since the beginning of the two-class era in 1992, Warroad is 14-1 in the quarterfinals.

Avery Anderson had a chance to end it in the third period. He certainly ended it in overtime. His goal at 7:28 in the extra session lifted Orono by Northfield 2-1.

Northfield goaltender Keaton Walock finished with 48 saves. He made a key stop against Anderson in the closing seconds of regulation.

For more, see therinklive.com