ST. PAUL - Zero-for-eight and 0-for-20.
They are the two most famous, or infamous, streaks in state tournament history.
One of them could be dispatched into the ether tonight. A Moorhead victory over Stillwater would give the Spuds their first state championship. They’ve lost in all eight of their previous title game appearances.
“They’ve been really good for a long time,” Edina coach Curt Giles, in his 26th season, said Friday after Moorhead beat the Hornets 4-3 in a state Class 2A semifinal. “Every team we’ve seen a team come out of Moorhead has been really good. We’ve played them many times in the state tournament and many times in the regular season.”
The Spuds are the tournament’s top seed, have been ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the last half of the season and have just two losses in 30 games. They play Stillwater, also gunning for its first championship, at 7 tonight for the title.
“We’ve just got to lock in and do something that Moorhead has never done,” said Moorhead forward Zac Zimmerman, who scored the winner in the final minute against Edina.
If Spuds players are feeling the weight of 0-for-8, they weren’t showing it. It was a pretty loose group that addressed the media after Friday’s game.
“You kind of see it all over social media,” Moorhead goalie Charlie Stenehjem said about posts referencing the Spuds’ streak. “You see these posts, X/Twitter obviously has all those burner accounts. You kind of have to realize, like, this is our group of guys. We are going to go out and accomplish what we want to do.
“Let’s go focus on Stillwater and let’s go get it done.”
Not to forget, that 0-for-20 streak is White Bear Lake’s string of losses in state quarterfinal games, dating to the first state tournament in 1945 and extended last season.