Hill-Murray routs Spuds in rematch

Seeded lower for the state tournament than Moorhead despite beating the Spuds a few weeks ago. A desire to end an 0-3 slump in quarterfinal games.

Whatever the motivation, Hill-Murray dominated the rematch 5-1 Thursday. Moorhead defenseman Luke Gramer praised the Pioneers' relentless play, and that sounded good to sophomore Nick Pierre.

"We want to be that team that's really hard to play against," Pierre said.

Senior Charlie Strobel started the party for No. 5 seed Hill-Murray (20-6-3) with a goal at 3:45 of the first period. Pierre made it 2-0 at first intermission.

"They did a much better job playing fast," Ammerman said.

Moorhead's Luke Gramer, a Mr. Hockey Award finalist, cut the deficit with a power-play goal early in the second period and the Spuds had life.

When Pierre answered a little more than one minute later, it was clear this game was going to be different from the previous meeting, a back-and-forth affair won 4-3 by Hill-Murray.

No. 4 seed Moorhead (21-6-1) fell behind 5-1 by the end of two periods on two goals from Hill-Murray junior Jared Jensen scored 14 seconds apart.

Hill-Murray's Remington Keopple got the better of Moorhead counterpart Hudson Hodges in a game featuring two finalists for the Frank Brimsek senior goalie award.

Pierre scored a hat trick in the teams' meeting on Feb. 15, and he brought great speed back with him to the Xcel Energy Center ice.

"He's fast and he has a lethal shot," Gramer said.