AUSTIN - Luverne surged to an early lead and was never threatened as it beat La Crescent-Hokah 6-2 on Thursday at Riverside Arena in a highly anticipated matchup of two of the top teams from southern Minnesota.
The teams, which entered with a combined 45-3 record, arraigned the neutral-site matchup late in the season after both had openings on their schedules.
Patrick Kroski scored three goals -- one in each period -- to lead the No. 16-1A Cardinals (23-2-0) to victory. Kroski, Owen Sudeng and Elliot Domagala each scored in the first period as Luverne raced to a 3-0 lead.
Noah Gillette and Alex Von Ark scored for No. 17-1A La Crescent-Hokah (23-2-0), which posted the best regular season record in school history.
La Crescent-Hokah star forward Wyatt Farrell, the state scoring leader with 86 points, was held off the scoresheet. He remains at 192 goals for his career, four behind the all-time mark of 196 set by Little Falls' Ben Hanowski.
VICTORIA - Mason Minor scored twice and Mason McElroy made 21 saves as Benilde-St. Margaret's upended Chanhassen 2-0 at the Victoria Recreation Center.
Minor scored in the first period and added an empty net goal with 15 seconds remaining for the No. 5-2A Red Knights (20-4-1). The goals were the fifth and sixth of the season for Minor, a sophomore defenseman.
Kam Hendrickson stopped 25 shots for No. 4-2A Chanhassen (19-5-0). He leads the state with a .952 save percentage.
BAUDETTE - Elijah Swanswon scored 56 seconds into the overtime period to complete a 5-4 comeback triumph over International Falls at Lake of the Woods Community Arena.
International Falls (5-18-2) led 3-0 after the opening period and 4-1 heading into the third.
Randy Wood, Swanson and Jordan Kervanen scored in the third period for the Bears (15-8-0). Kervanen's goal came with 56 seconds left in regulation. He leads Lake of the Woods with 64 points.
PROCTOR - Easton Anderson scored twice and Nigel DeSanto stopped 31 shots as Northern Lakes cruised past Proctor 4-1 at the St. Luke's Sports and Event Center.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for No. 10-1A Proctor (18-7-0), which got its lone goal from Austin Bryant late in the third period.
Taylor Berg scored a goal and added an assist for No. 19-1A Northern Lakes (15-8-0).
WORTHINGTON - Landon Pillatzki scored with 1:32 left in overtime to lift Windom past Worthington 8-7 at Worthington Arena.
The goal was the seventh of the season for Pillatzki, a junior forward/defenseman.
Windom (6-19-0) scored three unanswered goals in the second period to take a 6-4 lead. Worthington (7-17-0) scored the first three goals of the third period to pull ahead 7-6.
Windom's Sonny Heil scored with 3:08 left in regulation to force the extra session.
EDEN PRAIRIE - Luke Garry and Javon Moore each scored twice and Hunter Bauer made 10 saves for his state-leading 11th shutout of the season as Minnetonka, the defending state Class 2A champion, completed an undefeated regular season with a 6-0 win over Eden Prairie at the Eden Prairie Community Center.
The No. 1-2A Skippers (23-0-2) also clinched the Lake Conference championship with the win.
No. 12-2A Eden Prairie dropped to 15-8-1.
MONTICELLO - John Hirschfeld scored a goal and added an assist and Nick Hansen made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season as St. Cloud Cathedral beat Monticello 3-0 at Moose Sherritt Ice Arena.
Hirschfeld and Thomas Rosenkrans scored first-period goals for the No. 2-1A Crusaders (20-4-1). Griffin Sturm completed the scoring in the third.
Owen Soderholm made 45 saves for Monticello (19-5-1).
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