Add another heavyweight into the Section 6AA mix. A table for four, please.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s found a way to fight through a deficit and sting Academy of Holy Angels on Tuesday night at Richfield Ice Arena place, earning a 7-5 victory in a preamble for the section tournament three weeks away.
The satisfaction in the win is temporary for Benilde-St. Margaret's, and what it does for potential seeding doesn’t much concern Red Knights coach Ken Pauly. Not this year, his 32nd at Benlde-St. Margaret's.
“We’re under no delusions,” he said. “There are four teams circling each other with Holy Angels, Edina, Wayzata … all this is just preliminary.”
Pocket the experience for both teams and hope to see you again.
The Red Knights (13-5-0) earned it the hard way, a fight from behind against Holy Angels (16-3-1), ranked No. 10 in Legacy’s latest rankings, one spot ahead of No. 11 BSM.
Benilde-St. Margaret's senior forward Junior Podein, a Western Michigan commit, scored twice and was helping drive the response after Holy Angels took a 3-0 lead midway through the opening period.
The 5-foot-8 Red Knights captain plays bigger than his frame with a steady motor, strong hockey sense, and advanced comfort and creativity with the puck and spacing.
“This is what a section game looks like,” Podein said. “We’ll probably see these guys again, and any game from here on out is going to be close like that.”
Benilde-St. Margaret's fought back to trail only by a goal heading into the second period. From there, the Red Knights took charge and hammered the shots and the body checks on Holy Angels to shift the course and momentum slightly and for good.
On the other side, Henry Lechner, the state’s leading scorer and a leading Mr. Hockey candidate scored his 36th goal and added an assist for 62 points on the season. Lechner, a University of St. Thomas commit who has spent time in the USHL with Des Moines, is the punch behind the Holy Angels' revival back toward the state’s elite.
Last week, Lechner passed Danny Mattson to become the school’s all-time leading scorer with 252 points.
The Stars dominated at the turn of the millennium with five section titles from 1999 to 2005, and two Class 2A state championships (2002 and 2005). But they haven’t been back in 20 years. Have they returned to that caliber in the winter of 2025?
“Damn right, they’re back,” Pauly said.
“They’re legit. They’ve got a great goalie and play hard in front of him, and the (Cole) Cheeseman, Lechner, (Lincoln Ayers Assad) line is as good as any line in high school hockey."
Tuesday provided a welcomed victory for the Red Knights, but they're not going to get too comfortable.
“The good thing is we won, but I don’t think Pat (Griswold) or I are very happy with the porous defense we saw tonight," Pauly said. "However, to find a way to battle back against the horses that (Holy Angels) have, that’s a nice pick me up.”
There's no clear hierarchy in the section at the moment. Holy Angels beat Wayzata on Jan. 22. Wayzata beat defending state champion Edina (Jan. 15) and BSM (Dec. 17). Edina beat Benilde-St. Margaret's (Dec. 7). Factor in teams like St. Louis Park (13-6-0) and Blake (14-5-0), both capable of tossing a wrench into any of the top four's best-laid plans, and there's no telling how this might finish.
“Even down to the quarterfinals, that No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup and No. 3 vs. No. 6 is going to be incredibly tough,” said Benilde-St. Margaret's junior Mason Minor, the team’s top-scoring defenseman with four goals and 22 points. “We are all gunning for Edina, but this competition makes everyone better, and that makes for a fun section to watch.”
Lechner said if the teams meet again, it’s not likely to resemble this haymaker-after-haymaker, high-scoring goalfest.
“Both teams are going to lock it up before section time,” he said. “Six or seven goals (allowed) isn’t going to cut it.
“We’ve got a lot to work on and ... we’re going to learn from this," he added. "We know we can play with all these teams, we just need to cut out these mistakes. Once we do, we’re winning these games, not losing them.”
RICHFIELD - Benilde-St. Margaret’s fought out of an early three-goal hole and battled past Academy of Holy Angels in a pivotal Section 6AA showdown via a 7-5 final Tuesday night at Richfield Ice Arena.
Stars’ senior forward Henry Lechner, the state’s leading scorer, notched his 36th goal of the season to kick off an early scoring flurry in the first period, but Benilde-St. Margaret's fought back to trail only by a goal heading into the second. From there, the Red Knights (13-5-0) took charge and hammered the shots and the body checks on Holy Angels (16-3-1) to shift the course and momentum for good.
Benilde-St. Margaret's senior captain Junior Podein, a Western Michigan commit, scored twice, including the eventual game-winner five minutes into the third. Senior defenseman Peyton Mulheran added a goal and two assists for the Red Knights, No. 11 in Legacy’s latest Class 2A rankings.
Lechner, a University of St. Thomas commit, finished with a goal and an assist to give him 62 points for the season and 254 for his career. Lechner earlier passed Danny Mattson to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Junior defenseman Gabe Perron finished with two assists, which gave him 100 points in the career for No. 10-ranked Holy Angels.