A hockey fan walked into Aldrich Arena on Saturday stating how a game featuring the top two teams in the rankings caused folks to come out of the woodwork, drawn by the chance to enjoy such a matchup without a trip to St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.
Hill-Murray overcomes Moorhead 8-7 in overtime in a boys hockey game right off the top of the rankings
No. 1 Moorhead and No. 2 Hill-Murray piled up goals until the one by Boden Sampair settled it.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 16, 2025 at 12:09AM
Truer words have never been spoken. No. 1 Moorhead and No. 2 Hill-Murray matched skill and spirit in a game befitting a state tournament crowd. Neither team stopped coming all game long. Hill-Murray survived with an 8-7 victory in overtime.
The first period started with Hill-Murray racing to a 2-1 lead. Sophomore forward Caden Zasada scored the game’s first goal at 5:59. Junior forward Chaz Lentz joined the party with the Pioneers' second goal at 6:34, a little more than 30 seconds later. Sophomore Zac Zimmerman scored on the power play and cut Moorhead’s deficit to 2-1 at 14:46 of the first period.
A Moorhead two-man advantage concluded the first period and stood into the opening minutes of the ensuing period. Mason Kraft made the superior manpower count with a power-play goal 19 seconds into the second period. Teammate Brooks Cullen kept up the pace and scored on a mini breakaway at 1:45.
Hill-Murray roared back as Graham Greeder snuck a power-play goal past Charlie Stenehjem’s pads to trim his team’s deficit to 5-4 in the second period.
Carver Hasbargen got loose behind the Pioneers defense and buried a goal to restore a two-goal advantage. Then, in the waning stages of the period, Tyden Bergeson extended the lead to three goals. By the time the game reached the second intermission, explosive Moorhead had scored seven times — six in the second period alone.
“The second period was as wild as I have seen,” Moorhead coach Jon Ammerman said. “It was a tough way to lose. You’ve got to find a way to close out a game like that.”
Hill-Murray wasn’t done. Riley Zupfer scored to trim the Pioneers' deficit to a more manageable two goals. And soon after, Zasada scored his second goal with 6:39 left and Greeder tallied again with 4:12 remaining to tie the game 7-7. Boden Sampair scored the game-winner in overtime.
“It was a really good way to end the season for both teams,” Sampair said. “It was good for both of these teams in terms of what both teams can work on. Hopefully we see them again later down the road.”
Going into the state tournament, here’s where the best fall in line.
