Playing with a seed next to a team name has been a bad luck charm so far in the Minnesota Boys’ State Hockey Tournament. So far, 2017 has been the year of the upset.
Three high seeds went down in Wednesday’s Class 1A quarterfinals. One game into the Class 2A quarterfinal day, another 2-seed bit the dust. Lakeville South (19-9-1) beat No. 2 St. Thomas Academy (23-5-1) by a 5-2 score, snapping a 12-game winning streak for the Cadets. Their last loss in regulation came in a 2-1 defeat to state tournament entry Hill-Murray on Jan. 5.
Lakeville South coach A.J. Bucchino shed a couple tears as the game ended.
“It just means a lot,” he said. “I’m an emotional guy.”
The Cougars got goals from five players on Thursday, and none of them was named Joshua Ess — a Mr. Hockey Finalist. He had an assist on the first goal.
The Cadets struck first with a goal, but senior forward Cory Checco tied it for Lakeville South off a rebound with five minutes left in the first period.
So far, 2017 has been the year of the upset.
The Cadets outshot their opponents 17-4 through the first frame but were tied. That seemed to work in the favor of the unseeded Cougars, who created a two-period hockey game for themselves after that.
“We were just looking to get momentum at the end of the period,” Checco said. “From there, we just took it and ran with it.”
The Cougars took over in the second, during a flurry of goals in a 1:13 span. First, junior Jack Olsen scored off a faceoff to put the Cougars up 2-1 for the all-important next goal. Junior defenseman Dawson Klein’s shot from the point went in 47 seconds later for a 3-1 lead and the #upsetalert was on. But 26 seconds later the Cadets responded to get the deficit back to one.
There was no equalizer for the Cadets and no semifinal. Senior forward William Moore put the game out of reach with a goal with 3:26 left. Senior forward Bradley Golant added an empty-netter. It was really that second goal for the Cougars that was a huge momentum boost.
“Once that goal went in and we had the lead, we just saw that it was all possible,” Olsen said.
This isn’t the first upset from the Cougars, who are making their third trip to state. The last time they were here, under a different coach in 2012 (another year of state tournament upsets), they upset the No. 1 seed Duluth East in the quarterfinals, 3-2. It wasn’t something this team focused on much before facing St. Thomas.
“But we did acknowledge that we’re not getting a whole lot of love prior to this game, and that’s OK,” Bucchino said. “That happens.”
Bucchino added that he loves it, that underdog status. Seeds don’t matter because his team believed they could win the game.
“It’s just fun to prove people wrong and work hard and reach a goal that people don’t think you can reach,” Bucchino said.
So far, the winning teams in the state hockey tournament have proved themselves and proved that seeds don’t always matter.
There was no equalizer for the Cadets and no semifinal.
The Cadets returned to the Class 2A state tournament for the second time (10th overall) after winning five titles (2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013) in Class 1A. They had plenty of chances in the game, especially in the first period but ended up tied 1-1 through 17 minutes. Cougars goaltender Isaiah DiLaura made 31 saves.
“I think the first period is where we could have capitalized and we didn’t,” said St. Thomas co-head coach Greg Vannelli. “Getting a 3-1 lead puts a lot of pressure on a team. It’s tough to come back from that.”
