A Quarterfinal: Orono vs. #1 East Grand Forks

[karl(east)]

ORONO VS. #1 EAST GRAND FORKS
-The evening Class A session kicks off with a good one, as a top-ranked northern power heads south to play the team that just took down the only Class A team that beat them during the regular season. They met in the 2002 State Tourney in a game won by East Grand Forks, and the Green Wave also won a 2011-2012 meeting between these two.

Orono (19-8-1, #12, 2-seed in 2A)
State appearances: 7 (first since 2007)
Key section wins: 2-1 (OT) over #20 Bloomington Kennedy, 2-1 over #4 Breck
-The Spartans stunned Breck to return to State, and now once again will try to take down an elite team. They aren’t a great offensive team, but with a narrow loss to Hermantown and a tie to St. Cloud Cathedral, they’ve shown the Breck win was no fluke, and that they can stick with anyone in Class A. Their key is goaltender Jonathan Flakne (33), who was stellar in sections. Joey Luedtke (12) is their leading scorer, and Jake Flemmer (5) is not far behind. The rest of the team hasn’t put up a whole lot of points, but they are fairly balanced, and if they can keep the score down and stay within striking distance of an East Grand Forks team that isn’t always overpowering, they’ll have a legitimate shot at the upset.

East Grand Forks (25-2-1, #1, 1-seed in 8A)
State appearances: 9 (3 in old one-class tournament; 2 in a row)
Key section win: 3-2 (2 OT) over #3 Warroad
-The Green Wave enter the Tourney as the top seed, but they didn’t get a very favorable draw against Orono. Their claim to fame is their defense, which shut down nearly all comers over the course of the season, allowing just 33 goals in 28 games. The giant Eddie Eades (27) and Colton Poolman (6) lead the way on the blue line, and they have good depth with Tye Ausmus (12) and Taylor Brierley (16) back there as well. The offense isn’t overwhelming, but it has two reasonably productive lines, with Reed Corbid (20), Grant and Brandon Loven, Tanner Tweten (19), and Dixon Bowen (9) leading the way. If they continue to smother opposing teams the way they have for most of the season, we should wind up with the expected clash with Hermantown in the state final.

[Sats81]

EGF 6-2

[bauerman]

EGF 6-2

EGF 5-1

[RG_hockey]

3-1 EGF

[MNHockeyFan1983]

Orono 4-2

[defense]

East Grand Forks 5-2. 6-1 in game two. 4-2 in game three.

[puckbreath]

EGF's defense isn't really just because of their d-men.

It's much more because their forwards fore and back check very well.

Their system is a carbon copy of Roseau's during the Oliver years (surprise).

[Puckguy19]

EGF 6-2

EGF 5-1

Yeah, I think EGF opens the gap early. Just too deep for Orono.

[blueblood]

Cinderella's slipper gets broken in this game

EGF - 5
Orono - 0

[bleedblue]

Orono, coming out of the deepest A Section in state, continues their string of solid games and wins 2-1.

[puckbreath]

Go Orono !

[RG_hockey]

how good is this orono goalie anway?? guessing EGF pops in a couple and there defends stands tough like they have for most of the year.

EGF 4-1

[BlueLineSpecial]

EGF is coming in waves

[Roy01]

Only a few minutes in, but EGF is dominating the play. They are very quick and anytime an Orono player touches the puck they're being hit. The EGF D-core looks very poised as well. I'm very impressed by their start.

[TTpuckster]

3 - 0 Green Wave

End of 1st

Shots 14 - 3 according to the hub

[karl(east)]

3 - 0 Green Wave

End of 1st

Whatever a Green Wave is, it's looking like the team to beat in Class A.

[TTpuckster]

3 - 0 Green Wave

End of 1st

Whatever a Green Wave is, it's looking like the team to beat in Class A.

Karl, what does it say for shots on the scoreboard?

[karl(east)]

3 - 0 Green Wave

End of 1st

Whatever a Green Wave is, it's looking like the team to beat in Class A.

Karl, what does it say for shots on the scoreboard?

16-5.

Edit: according to the chart they just handed me, EGF attempted 19 shots that period, and hit the net on 16 of them.

[DmanDad1980]

3 - 0 Green Wave

End of 1st

Whatever a Green Wave is, it's looking like the team to beat in Class A.

No doubt Karl! Speed kills and EGF has it throughout the lineup.

I was at the X this afternoon, and left thinking Hermantown is not the team of past years. One game. Still look to see an East Grand / Hermantown final, but we have this game and a couple others to finish first...

[DmanDad1980]

Nice period so far for Orono. Way to pick it up!

3-1 EGF w/ 5 minutes to go.

[TTpuckster]

Nice period so far for Orono. Way to pick it up!

3-1 EGF w/ 5 minutes to go.

EGF has been notorious for slow 2nd periods.
They should come out strong again in the 3rd.

[TTpuckster]

Whew, finally, 4 to 1

[jeffpv]

Boy, if EGF plays like this all tournament, it'll take a Herculean effort to beat them.

[east hockey]

Today's Huge Understatement: East Grand Forks is pretty good.

Lee