Mahtomedi topples Warroad in second OT for 1A boys hockey title

Lava cake. A chocolate lover's dream on a dessert plate, and a state championship dream come true for Mahtomedi.

A play named after that chocolate treat was on early in the second overtime, when senior Jonny Grove won an offensive-zone faceoff and sent the puck to Seth Nelson at the top of the circle.

"It's where he shoots it and I'm supposed to go to the net," Grove said. "And he hit the net, and the rebound's there just for me. Buried it."

Grove grabbed the rebound uncontested in front, tripped over the sprawling Warroad goaltender and slid a backhanded shot into a gaping net as he dived to the ice. His goal, 4:56 into the second overtime gave the third-seeded Zephyrs a 6-5 victory over top seed — and previously unbeaten — Warroad for the Class 1A boys hockey state championship Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center.

The Zephyrs (23-8-0) won their second state tile in four seasons, on a play named for senior Carson Marshall's favorite dessert, Grove said.

Mahtomedi trailed 3-1 after two periods but rallied. Senior Charlie Drage completed a third-period hat trick with 1:20 left in regulation to tie the score 5-5.

"When we scored that tying goal, I felt like the game was ours," Drage said. "We had all the momentum going into it."

The Zephyrs fought their way to the Class 1A title, never leading until the final goal light was illuminated and cutting into a trio of two-goal deficits. Whenever Warroad (29-1-1) scored, Mahtomedi seemed to have answers. The Zephyrs had "plenty of pushback and plenty of firepower," said Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl.

Mahtomedi grabbed momentum at many points, starting in the final minute of the first period when Carter Haycraft tied the game 1-1. Mahtomedi was down 3-1 in the second period, but Patrick Egan's goal in the final two minutes cut the deficit to one.

Warroad's Carson Pilgrim completed the first hat trick of the game early in the third period to give his team a cushion, but Drage scored only 38 seconds later to make it 4-3. The Zephyrs thought they had scored again a few minutes later, but the no-goal call on the ice stood after video review.

No matter. Drage made it 5-4 — motioning the good-goal sign with his arm — less than two minutes later. His game-tying goal resulted in hats on the ice for the second time in the game.

"We kept letting [Mahtomedi] hang around and kept letting them back into the game," Warroad coach Jay Hardwick said. "When you do that, bad things happen."

The Warriors suffered their lone loss of the season but had their chances, even though they didn't play well defensively, Hardwick said.

"I mean, any time we score five goals, that should be good enough to win a game," Hardwick said.