BLAINE - No. 3 seed Blaine averted a major upset as it scored the last five goals to rally for a 6-4 win over No. 6 seed Coon Rapids on Wednesday night at Fogerty Arena.
Andrew Swanson gave the Bengals their first lead, at 6-4, with 5:09 to play before Landon Steffen completed the scoring with 4:26 left.
Coon Rapids (10-16-0) took a 2-1 lead after the first period on goals by Nathan Clark and Tyler Barsness. The Cardinals opened the second with goals by Tanden Bush and Clark for a 4-1 lead 2:58 into the period.
Blaine (14-8-4) then brought in goaltender Zane Spaniol, who stopped all 16 shots he faced over the final 31 minutes. That performance allowed the Bengals to rally, first with a power-play goal by Finn Loftus with 42 seconds left in the second.
Joe Penner opened the scoring in the third to bring Blaine within one. Dane Anderson tied the game, 4-4, with 12:16 remaining.
Adam Puder recorded four assists while Loftus added two to go with this power-play goal.
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ELK RIVER - Blaise Schutt's goal with 11:57 to play gave No. 3 seed Elk River/Zimmerman a 4-3 win over No. 6 seed Bemidji at the Furniture and Things Community Event Center.
Elk River/Zimmerman (18-7-1), which is ranked No. 19 in Legacy Hockey's Class 2A Power Rankings, advances to play No. 9 Roseau Saturday.
The Elks and Lumberjacks (8-16-2) traded goals in the first before Blake Rinehart's second goal gave Elk River/Zimmerman a 3-2 lead with 1:40 left.
Bemidji's Cade Voge tied the game with 12:29 to play only to see Schutt's goal 32 seconds later give the Elks the win.
The Elks' Sam Stockman made 33 saves to register the win.
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ST. CLOUD - John Hirschfeld scored with 40 seconds remaining to give No. 3 seed St. Cloud Cathedral a 4-3 win over No. 6 seed Mora/Milaca at the Municipal Athletic Complex.
Mora/Milaca (18-6-2) rallied from a 3-0 deficit with two goals by Parker Mitchell in the second period's final 4:36. Mitchell, the state's leading goal scorer, completed his hat trick and tied the game midway through the third. He finishes the season with 55 goals and his four-year career with 110 goals among his 192 points.
The Crusaders (13-13-0) built a 3-0 lead after goals by Joey Gillespie and Collin Hess in the first period and Gillespie's second goal 99 seconds into the second.
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OSSEO - No. 9 seed Irondale scored three-straight goals as the Knights upended No. 8 seed Osseo 3-2 at Dick Vraa Memorial Ice Arena.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead on Noah Lindberg's goal 1:34 into the game. Irondale's Connor Kvaal tied it a 1-1 with three seconds remaining in the first.
Garrett Pearson gave the Knights (7-17-2) the lead by scoring with 11:28 to play. Sam Diebold then put Irondale ahead 3-1 with a goal with 8:47 left. After a major penalty, Jacob Bodin scored for the Orioles (4-20-2) on a power play with 16 seconds remaining.
Irondales' Alex Sabev stopped 34 shots for the win.
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RED WING - Carson Ahern's hat trick and Dixon Ehlers' 30-save shutout led No. 8 seed Red Wing to a 5-0 win over No. 9 seed Waseca at Prairie Island Arena.
Ahern scored the Wingers' first two goals before completing his hat trick 44 seconds into the third period.
Casey Larson and Carter Knapp also scored for Red Wing (11-15-0), which advances to play Northfield, section's top seed.
Ehlers' shutout was his third of the season. The senior ranks sixth in the state with a .927 save percentage.
Waseca finishes with a 5-17-1 record.
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MONTICELLO - No. 4 seed Monticello hung on for a 3-2 win over No. 5 seed River Lakes at Moose Sherritt Ice Arena.
The Moose (11-14-1) built a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Wilson Dahlheimer and Danny Homsombath. River Lakes' Joel Sowada scored on the power play in the second but Monticello's Cody Russell gave the Moose a 3-1 lead with 6:16 to play.
River Lakes' Anthony Fink scored a power-play goal with 52 seconds left but the Stars (11-15-0) could not tie the contest.
Monticello's Michael Biller made 38 saves.
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