ST. CLOUD - Will Esterbrooks scored twice in the final 1:11 to break a tie and help lift No. 1 Hermantown past No. 3 St. Cloud Cathedral 3-1 on Thursday in a matchup of Class 1A powerhouses at the Municipal Athletic Complex.
Esterbrooks, a senior defenseman, drilled a shot through traffic with 71 seconds remaining to put the Hawks (10-2-2) in front 2-1. He then launched a shot from just in front of his own goal into an empty net at the other end with .7 seconds remaining.
Cole Hwang scored with 3:47 remaining to pull the Crusaders (11-4-1) into a 1-1 tie.
Hermantown outshot Cathedral 26-18.
DELANO - Sophomore forward Daniel Halonen's goal early in the third period held up as the winner as Delano snapped a nine-year losing streak to Holy Family with a 3-1 Wright County Conference triumph at Delano Area Sports Arena.
Halonen's goal, his sixth of the season, came 4:23 into the third period and put No. 5-1A Delano (9-5-1) ahead 2-0. No. 10-2A Holy Family (7-4-1) answered with a goal by Angelo Provinzino midway through the third to cut Delano's lead to 2-1.
Teague Collings scored with 2:18 left to clinch the long-awaited win for the Tigers.
Delano outshot Holy Family 37-24.
EDEN PRAIRIE - Alex Hall scored twice in the third period to account for all of the scoring and Isaiah Paulnock made 31 saves in Eden Prairie's 2-0 upset victory over Benilde-St. Margaret's at the Eden Prairie Community Center.
Hall, a junior forward, broke a scoreless tie with 7:17 remaining with a power-play goal. He scored into an empty net with 40 seconds remaining for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
John Kleis assisted on both of Hall's goals.
No. 18-2A Eden Prairie (8-4-1) has lost just once in its last seven games.
Mason McElroy stopped 20 shots for No. 6-2A Benilde-St. Margaret's (10-3-1).
VADNAIS HEIGHTS - Tyler Lalonde's goal with .8 seconds left in regulation lifted White Bear Lake to the dramatic 3-2 triumph over Park of Cottage Grove at the TCO Sports Garden.
Owen Corkish scored the lone goal of the first period and Park (7-6-0) went ahead 2-0 on a goal by Jackson Gear 36 seconds into the second.
Nolan Roed scored in the second and Vinnie Villella in the third for No. 11-2A White Bear Lake (8-3-1), setting up Lalonde's last-second winner.
CIRCLE PINES - Heath Nelson's power-play goal 6:30 into the third period helped Centennial forge a 2-2 overtime tie with Andover at Centennial Sports Arena.
Defenseman Landon Stringfellow had a goal and an assist for No. 8-2A Andover (9-5-1), which outshot Centennial (7-4-2) by a 36-28 margin.
Andover had a 7-3 shots-on-goal advantage in the overtime period.
NEW PRAGUE - Luca DeCubellis' power-play goal with 9:10 remaining lifted Orono past New Prague 4-3 at the New Prague Community Center.
The No. 4-1A Spartans (10-4-0) trailed 3-1 in the second period but rallied past New Prague (8-3-0) behind goals from Jackson Knight, Rory Kvren and DeCubellis.
Tag(s): News