A difficult time for the leaders of the boys’ hockey section; Park Center rims amazed

In games played Saturday at Aldrich Arena, the top seeds in the Class 2A, Section 4 boys hockey tournament stood up to the challenges. One of them survived, one didn’t.

The best White Bear Lake beat the eighth ranked Tartan with a victory in overtime 4-3. Second-ranked Stillwater fell to seventh-ranked Woodbury in overtime, 1-0.

Woodbury coach Wes Bolin said he wasn’t worried about seeing the pressure of a lower seed because of an upset just before his team looked to do the same.

“It didn’t affect us at all,” Bolin said. – We had confidence and were ready to play.

“You don’t always see several [upset bids] in the same section, but it didn’t surprise us.”

Ethan Hansen scored off a rebound 1 minute, 57 seconds into the extra session for the Royals (12-13-1).

“The kids were excited. Anytime a goal is scored in overtime, you look at the referee,” Bolin said. “When we [saw the signal for a goal] and knowing it was a good goal, the kids erupted. It was a great feeling for the kids, coaches and parents.”

Kam Carlson made 32 saves for Woodbury and had to endure a four-minute power play in the final 5:23 of regulation.

“He was outstanding,” Bolin said. “Our penalty kill was excellent. They got some looks late, but we found a way to keep the puck out of the net.”

In the first game, Grady Gallatin held White Bear Lake [20-5-0] from disappointment 1:20 into overtime. The Bears had a 48-19 advantage in shots in the game.

“We just had to get through it,” White Bear Lake coach Tim Sager said. “We’ve been fighting the flu. I’m proud of the way we kept our heads and fought through it.

“Give them credit. They battled, but we had as many coaches as players on the ice the last couple of days. Hopefully we can get some of those guys back at practice.”

Tartan (6-20-0) got third-period goals from Gavin Buche and Noah Joyce with 3:04 left to send the game into overtime. Ben Bangura made 44 saves for the Titans.

“Their goalie played really well,” Sager said. “We had some semis that we really had to change, but he played really well.”

Elk River ends Park Center run in boys basketball

The Park Center boys basketball team’s long hitting streak came to an end Friday when visiting Elk River beat the Pirates 73-70. Park Center, last season’s Class 4A state champion and No. 1 this season, hadn’t lost since Jan. 21, 2022, with 41 straight wins. The Pirates (22-1) beat Elk River 85-37 on Jan. 24.

“They are impressive [team]”Elks coach Ryan Servaty said. “At halftime we talked about having 18 minutes left. We had to win every minute. We knew if we could keep it close, they could tighten up. They didn’t expect to be in a close game when they beat us by 48 earlier in the season. We just kept making plays. The tension grew.”

The Elks (12-11) held on with Carson Haack’s pair of free throws in the final minute after Haack had missed a pair moments earlier. Haack scored 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

Cade Osterman led the Elks with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He also had five wins.

“He’s always been a big player for us. He helped us handle the pressure,” Servaty said. “He got into foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul after seven or eight minutes and had to sit for a few minutes. … When he came back in, he was able to stay in the game. We’ll go when he He was ready for the challenge.”

Inside the numbers

:56: In overtime, Tommy Lewin scored to give Orono a 2-1 win over Hutchinson in the Class 1A Section 2 quarterfinals.

3: Jake Geiger’s goals for Northfield in an 8-1 win over Rochester Lourdes in Class 1A, Section 1 boys hockey and Will Cashin’s goals for Northfield in a 6-1 win over Dodge County in the semifinals.

4: Goals by Charlie Drage and Seth Nelson in Mahtomed’s 10-0 win over St. Paul Johnson in Class 1A, Section 4 boys hockey.

5: Aidan Willis scores in Lakeville South boys hockey’s 6-0 Class 2A Section 1 semifinal win over Rochester Century.

5: Calvin Jones scores in 7-5 Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato boys hockey win in Class 1A, Section 2 first round over Bloomington Kennedy.

5: Trevor Aberwald’s points in Champlin Park’s 5-4 win over Mounds View in the Class 2A, Section 5 boys hockey quarterfinals.

30: Savannah McGowan scores in Armstrong girls basketball’s 79-61 loss to Maple Grove.

32: Brynn Beffert scores for Hutchinson in 81-66 win over Mound Westonka in girls basketball.

33: Maddyn Greenway scores in Providence Academy’s 96-65 girls basketball win over Perham.

37: Audrey Jakway scores for Mounds Park in a 68-31 girls basketball win over St. Paul Academy.

39: Stromberg’s points for Legacy Christian in a 59-24 girls basketball win over Christ’s Household of Faith.

40: Bloomington Jefferson’s Daniel Freitag scores in a 93-79 boys basketball win over St. Louis Park.

40: Princeton’s Cooper Drews score in a 96-85 boys basketball loss to Chisago Lakes.

42: Max Shikenjanski scores for Stillwater in 67-64 boys basketball win over Roseville.

49: Coon Rapids’ Will Wagner makes a save in boys hockey’s 4-1 loss to Duluth East in the Class 2A, Section 7 semifinals.

49: East Ridge’s Jack Hodgins makes a save in a 6-1 loss to Hill-Murray in the Class 2A, Section 4 boys hockey quarterfinals.

50: Makes a save for Bloomington Kennedy’s Rohr Brockman in a 7-5 loss to Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato in the first round of the Class 1A, Division 2 boys hockey.

52: Hutchinson’s Hunter Lien made a save in a 2-1 boys hockey Class 1A, Section 2 quarterfinal loss to Orono.

54: Holy Angels’ Luke Marsalek had a save in a 5-3 boys hockey Class 2A, Section 6 semifinal loss to Wayzata.

59: Shakopee’s Aleksi Huson made a save in a 3-1 boys hockey Class 2A, Section 2 semifinal loss to Minnetonka.

60: Elk River/Zimmerman’s Gavin Greniuk made a save in a 6-1 boys hockey Class 2A, Section 8 semifinal loss to Roseau.