Overtime was unexpected between defending champion Hermantown and dogged Luverne.
Hermantown wins on OT goal
![Luverne Declan Beers (4) and Hermantown Ryan Sandelin (11) chase the puck in the first period. ] XAVIER WANG • xavier.wang@startribune.com Game action from a class A Boys’ Hockey state tournament between Luverne and Hermantown Wednesday. Mar, 8. 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/GVYK3EXT5EKX33RFJK6D4762MQ.jpg?&w=712)
But it took a goal scored 42 seconds into overtime by Dylan Kolquist for the Hawks to escape with a 3-2 victory in the Class 1A quarterfinals.
Top-ranked Hermantown, a small-school power aiming for its eighth consecutive championship game appearance, survived Luverne, a hockey outpost in state's southwest corner.
Tyler Watkins and Ryan Sandelin gave Hermantown (27-1-1) a 2-0 lead late in the second period. But Luverne (22-6-1) got a power-play goal from Tyler Reisdorfer and trailed 2-1 at second intermission. Reisdorfer added a second goal with less than three minutes to play in the third period. Sandelin said the crowd reaction was louder than any he has heard playing at Xcel Energy Center.
Meanwhile, Luverne goalie Kaden Ericson kept stopping shots on the way to 49 saves.
A scenario in whichc his team fell in a colossal upset wasn't far from Hermantown coach Bruce Plante's mind.
"In the third period I was thinking about Mariucci," he said, referring to the arena for consolation games.
Luverne had the momentum but Hermantown's confidence lingered.
"We knew we had to get that first one pretty quick in overtime otherwise they would feel like they would have a real good chance at it," Kolquist said.
First-year Luverne coach Phillip Paquette said keeping Hermantown in reach throughout "speaks to the effort the boys put in this season to get stronger in the defensive zone."
DAVID LA VAQUE
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Darius Taylor, who led the Gophers in rushing last season, missed the Aug. 29 opener and was questionable this week leading up to Saturday’s game.