Hockey playoffs: Lightning, Irish lose heartbreakers

Lakeville South continues bid for 6th straight Section 1AA title

The two South Suburban Conference teams remaining in the Section 3AA boys hockey playoffs saw their seasons end by the same score Monday night.

Cretin-Derham Hall’s Marcus Matyas scored at 5 minutes, 50 seconds of overtime as the Raiders defeated Eastview 3-2 in a Section 3AA semifinal Monday night at Braemar Arena in Edina. CDH, the defending section champion, never led until scoring the winning goal.

In the other semifinal St. Thomas Academy grabbed a two-goal lead in the first period and held on to beat Rosemount 3-2.

The victories by Cretin-Derham and St. Thomas ensure that a private school will represent Section 3AA in the state tournament for the eighth straight year. The section championship game is Friday at Braemar Arena.

The Eastview and Rosemount losses mean the top four teams in the South Suburban Conference regular-season standings – Shakopee, Eastview, Rosemount and Prior Lake – did not advance past the section semifinal round. Still alive from the SSC is Lakeville South, which finished fifth in the league and plays Rochester Century/John Marshall for the Section 1AA championship at 7 p.m. Thursday at Rochester Rec Center. Lakeville South is going for its sixth consecutive section title.

Eastview (18-8-1), seeking its first section championship since 2013, took the lead in the first period of Monday’s game against Cretin-Derham when Caleb Nelson gained possession between the faceoff dots and scored on a wrist shot.

Cretin-Derham tied the game at 7:24 of the second period, but Eastview responded just 16 seconds later on Jordan Brothers’ goal, assisted by Brayden Kaldenbach and Sam Wooten.

The Raiders (16-10-1) started to take control in the third period; they outshot the Lightning 19-5 in the third period and overtime. An Eastview player was penalized for elbowing and CDH took advantage with Max Anderson firing a wrist shot into the upper corner to tie the game at 6:04 of the third.

In overtime, Matyas slapped at a rolling puck near the boards and put it just inside the far post to end the game.

Brothers, who led the Lightning in scoring with 51 points, had a goal and assist in the section semifinal. Senior goalie Gabe Otis made 34 saves.

Rosemount (19-8) had a fast start in its semifinal game, with defenseman Christian Nichols scoring on a power play at 2:04 of the first period. St. Thomas (17-8-2) grabbed the lead with three goals in 3:33 later in the first.

The Irish carried play in the second and third periods, outshooting STA 22-11. The Cadets, eager to keep Rosemount from gathering any momentum, frequently shot the puck out of its defensive zone at the first opportunity, even if it meant an icing call. STA likely had more icings than shots on goal over the final two periods.

But it worked, as the Cadets were able to withstand the Irish pressure. Josh Toll scored at 10:28 of the second period to bring the Irish within a goal, but that was all they could muster. Their best chance to tie the game came with about 5:40 left when forward Christian Garrity maneuvered around a St. Thomas defenseman and shot while falling, but the puck hit the goalpost.

Rosemount was looking to end a state tournament drought of more than three decades. The Irish’s only state appearance was 1992, when they finished second to Greenway in the Tier II tournament.

Section 1AA

Lakeville South’s presence in the Section 1AA championship game is not unusual. This will be the eighth consecutive year the Cougars have played in it.

It’s been awhile for the opponent, though. Rochester Century was the last Rochester school to win the section in 2009. Century/JM (the co-op is in its first season) will be the first Rochester school to play in the title game since Century’s victory 15 years ago.

Lakeville South, which received a first-round bye in the section as the No. 1 seed, opened its playoff run with a 5-0 victory over Owatonna in the semifinals Feb. 24 at Hasse Arena.

Jack Starfield and Jackson Ernst scored two minutes apart in the first period as the Cougars (16-10) took the lead. Will Kortan and Carter Ernst scored in the second period and Matthew Allard added a goal early in the third. Carter Ernst finished with three points (one goal, two assists) and Trey Newgard had two assists. Goalie Carson Hauger stopped all 16 Owatonna shots.

Second-seeded Century/JM advanced to the championship game with a 6-1 victory over Farmington. The Panthers scored three goals in the first period and outshot Farmington 19-4.

Junior defenseman Nick Marsh scored in the third period for Farmington, which finished 7-20.

Century/JM takes a 21-4-2 record into the section championship game. Lakeville South receiving the No. 1 seed likely had to do with the Cougars’ strength of schedule as well as going undefeated against Section 1AA opponents in the regular season. Century/JM played almost half of its games against Class A teams.

Neither team was in the top 20 of the Let’s Play Hockey final Class AA rankings. Lakeville South was 20th in Class AA and Rochester Century/JM 34th in the Minnesota-Scores.net Quality Results Formula rankings.