For the eighth time, Moorhead boys’ hockey will play for a state title. The program’s last championship game was in 2009. They’ve never come out on the victorious end of the game.
But this is a different roster of players. Someone asked coach Jon Ammerman recently if his current players know the history of Moorhead hockey.
Of course they do.
“We, meaning our community, haven’t had the opportunity to win one yet,” Ammerman said of that elusive state title. “But these are new guys. And when you keep giving yourself an opportunity, eventually it’s going to happen.”
The No. 3-seeded Spuds won their 11th game in a row by beating unseeded Lakeville North 3-2 on Friday night in the first Class 2A semifinal at Xcel Energy Center. They’ve been the Class 2A runner-up six times, plus finished second in 1992 as a Tier I team.
But this is a different roster of players.
Ammerman played for the Spuds when they skated to second place in 2004 and 2005. He played in three state tournaments and is in his fourth year with the Spuds.
When asked about some of those previous title games in recent memory for Moorhead, Ammerman gave some perspective on this group of players. They were eight years old in 2009, the last time Moorhead was in the title game. When he played in the tournament, these kids were just three or four.
“In the 90s, they weren’t alive,” Ammerman said. “Obviously, they know the history, but they haven’t lived it.
“They’re from the same system, but they’re writing their own history right now.”
He gave a frank synopsis of Friday’s game, saying the Cougars outplayed his team in the first period, the Spuds played well in the second and in the third they did a nice job and made enough plays to win.
“That was really fun,” Ammerman said. “We liked it so much, we’ll do it again tomorrow.”
The Spuds were down 1-0 after the first on a late goal from the Cougars’ Zachary Bauer as he found a puck in the slot off a rebound. Moorhead’s Jack Stetz evened the score early in the second period.
“They’re from the same system, but they’re writing their own history right now.”
Spuds points leader Carter Randklev put his team in front a few minutes later with a power-play goal that was an absolute snipe shot from the side of the net while he stood even with the goal line and sent the puck high on the glove side.
Kyler Kleven extended the lead to 3-1 in the third with a rocket of a shot that went in and out of the net in a hurry.
The Cougars got a goal from senior captain and Wisconsin commit Joshua Ess with 1:27 remaining in the third period, but they couldn’t find the late equalizer.
Spuds goaltender Lance Leonard made 39 saves for the Spuds –too many, Ammerman said, referring to the number of shots Leonard faced. He’s one of the best goalies in the state, according to Randklev. Now, they have a chance to win a state championship for the first time tomorrow.
“We just want to hopefully try to be the first to do it,” Randklev said. “That’ll just bring a lot of honor to us.”
