ST. PAUL - Maybe, just maybe, this is Moorhead’s year.

The Spuds, who have a long and complicated history with disallowed goals and video reviews, went 2-for-2 on such calls by off-ice officials on Thursday as they rallied to beat Lakeville South  7-4 in a state Class 2A quarterfinal at the Xcel Energy Center.

Moorhead, 0-for-8 in state title games, is the No. 1 seed and has been ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season. Still, they had to rally from 3-1 and 4-2 deficits to secure the victory over the No. 8-seeded Cougars. 

The calls from upstairs in the officials’ replay booth certainly didn’t hurt the Spuds’ quest for a first title. Brooks Cullen’s goal 4:28 into the third period put the Spuds ahead 5-4. But Lakeville South goaltender Carson Hauger dropped his blocking mitt and his stick right before the goal, and even made a barehanded stab at the puck before it went in. Play is typically stopped immediately when a goaltender loses a piece of his equipment.

“You get the goal to go up 5-4, get back to the bench after you are done celebrating, and then there’s a chance there’s no goal,” Cullen said. “You get pretty nervous.”

A Lakeville South goal was disallowed a few minutes later, presumably because of goaltender interference, as Moorhead goaltender Charlie Stenehjem was clipped by a Cougars player just before the puck went in the net.

Neither coach received explanations from the on-ice officials on the rulings.

“There’s a reason they made those calls,” Lakeville South coach Josh Storm said. “I would just like to hear about it.”

Back in the 2005, in the Spuds’ sixth runner-up finish in a title game, a pair of goals were disputed in a 6-4 loss to Holy Angels. A first-period goal by Holy Angels was hotly contested by Moorhead, to no avail. A Spuds goal later was waved off.

Video review of goals at the state tournament was instituted the following season. But the Spuds didn’t return to the tournament until 2009, when they lost 3-0 to Eden Prairie in the title game. An apparent goal by Moorhead’s Tyler Larson went to video review and was disallowed. It would have given the Spuds a 1-0 first period lead.

"One of these days we'll get a break in one of these state championship games," then-Moorhead coach Dave Morinville said to the media at that tourney. "But who knows? I'll probably be in my grave when it happens.”

Moorhead hasn’t reached this season’s title game yet. There’s still a semifinal game to be played Friday. Still, Spuds’ players have a good feeling about their chances. All season they’ve been hanging a jersey behind the bench bearing the name of team manger Ethan Monshaugen, who died in March 2024 of a spontaneous aortic dissection.

“Ethan was pulling some strings today for us,” Moorhead senior Mason Kraft said. “I truly believe that.”