Rosemount senior defenseman Josh Toll left Saturday afternoon’s 5-3 victory at Farmington with a couple of zeros on the scoresheet. As in zero goals, zero assists.
But Rosemount coach Rick Saintey wasn’t taking that as gospel. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t have any (goals or assists),” Saintey said. “He certainly was on the ice for a few of (the goals).”
Don’t fault the Irish coach for being a doubting Thomas. He’s learned in nearly three seasons with Toll patrolling his team’s blue line that, with Toll, seeing is believing.
“He’s super deceptive,” Saintey said. “A magician.”
Toll, at 5-foot-11 and as slender as his stick, is not your prototypical high school defenseman. He leads his team in scoring. He’s not exceptionally strong and he’s a still-improving skater, but he has the vision of a chess master and can pass the puck like only a select few of his peers.
And he ranks at the top of his class in hockey smarts.
“He’s the smartest player I’ve ever coached,” said Saintey. “He has the ability to see three, four, five steps ahead. He has deceptive hands and he eludes pressure. He gets us out of jams.”
Ironically, Toll had a hand in putting the Irish into a jam early in Saturday’s game at Farmington’s Schmitz-Maki Arena.
A mistake on the Irish offensive end put the puck on the stick of Farmington senior Jacob Miller, who turned up ice with just Toll between him and the Rosemount goal. Miller made a move that put Toll off-balance before skirting past the defenseman and putting the puck past Irish goaltender Sam Clements for a 1-0 Tigers lead just four minutes into the game.
It wasn’t the start Saintey was looking for after his team, ranked No. 8 in Class 2A, lost 4-2 to Shakopee just two nights earlier. But neither Saintey nor his offensive-minded defenseman were too worried.
“What separates good from great is the ability to forget things,” Saintey said. “Josh is able to let those things go.”
The Irish got out of the first period with a 1-1 tie thanks to Sam Schmucker’s goal at 4:51. Rosemount (15-2-0) dominated the second period, outshooting the Tigers 25-1 and building a 3-1 lead. The Irish extend the lead to 5-1 before a pair of late Farmington goals closed the scoring.
Rosemount has an opportunity to set a school record for victories in a season before the 2025 playoffs begin. The Irish, who won 23 games in 2018-19 before losing in the Section 3AA semifinals, have nine regular-season games remaining.
Toll will have a big say in whether the Irish claim that record and perhaps an even more-coveted prize, the school’s first-ever Class 2A state tournament appearance (Rosemount did play in a Tier II state tournament in 1991-92).
Toll, who will play next season with Tri-City of the USHL before landing with St. Thomas, leads the Irish in scoring with 31 points (9 goals and 22 assists). He is two points shy of passing his junior season total of 32 points over 27 games.