AA Quarterfinal: Eastview vs. #1 Hill-Murray
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:08 pm
EASTVIEW VS. #1 HILL-MURRAY
6:00 Thursday
-A Tournament heavyweight faces off against an insurgent suburban school making just its second trip to State to kick off the AA primetime session. This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.
Eastview (18-9-1, #20, 3-seed in 3AA)
State appearances: 2 (first since 2001)
Key section win: 4-1 over #4 Eagan
-The Lightning pulled off a huge upset against Eagan in the 3AA final and looked good in doing so, putting together a complete team effort in front of goaltender Zach Driscoll (30), who is a legitimate budding star. Ryan McNamara (8) is their leading scorer, and Jake McGlocklin (20) has buried some big goals as well, but this squad lacks any real obvious standout skaters. Instead, they will look to rely on a balanced, defensive approach to limit opponents’ scoring chances and give Driscoll every opportunity to steal some games. The Lighting seem to have the depth necessary to hang around with the State’s best teams, too. The road ahead is not an easy one, but if they can beat Eagan, they can certainly beat a fairly similar Hill team.
Hill-Murray (25-2-1, #1, 1-seed in 4AA)
State appearances: 26 (2 in a row)
Championships: 3 (1983, 1991, 2008)
Key section win: 1-0 over #17 White Bear Lake
-The Pioneers had the strongest regular season of any team, though they are not as convincing a favorite as other recent top seeds in the Tournament. As always, coach Bill Lechner’s squad has excellent depth; Zach LaValle (21) and Mitchel Slattery (28) lead a strong top line, while Wille Brown (17) anchors the second line, which includes 8th-grader Joey Anderson (8). The third line is effective, and they are also deep on defense, though they lack the real standouts they’ve had on some of their best recent teams. Goaltender John Dugas (1) has had to bail them out at times, and the Pioneers’ coaching staff is good at making sure they are rarely outmanned, even if that comes at the expense of some offense. They are the most complete team in the state, but they will still have to get through three tough games to claim the crown.
6:00 Thursday
-A Tournament heavyweight faces off against an insurgent suburban school making just its second trip to State to kick off the AA primetime session. This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.
Eastview (18-9-1, #20, 3-seed in 3AA)
State appearances: 2 (first since 2001)
Key section win: 4-1 over #4 Eagan
-The Lightning pulled off a huge upset against Eagan in the 3AA final and looked good in doing so, putting together a complete team effort in front of goaltender Zach Driscoll (30), who is a legitimate budding star. Ryan McNamara (8) is their leading scorer, and Jake McGlocklin (20) has buried some big goals as well, but this squad lacks any real obvious standout skaters. Instead, they will look to rely on a balanced, defensive approach to limit opponents’ scoring chances and give Driscoll every opportunity to steal some games. The Lighting seem to have the depth necessary to hang around with the State’s best teams, too. The road ahead is not an easy one, but if they can beat Eagan, they can certainly beat a fairly similar Hill team.
Hill-Murray (25-2-1, #1, 1-seed in 4AA)
State appearances: 26 (2 in a row)
Championships: 3 (1983, 1991, 2008)
Key section win: 1-0 over #17 White Bear Lake
-The Pioneers had the strongest regular season of any team, though they are not as convincing a favorite as other recent top seeds in the Tournament. As always, coach Bill Lechner’s squad has excellent depth; Zach LaValle (21) and Mitchel Slattery (28) lead a strong top line, while Wille Brown (17) anchors the second line, which includes 8th-grader Joey Anderson (8). The third line is effective, and they are also deep on defense, though they lack the real standouts they’ve had on some of their best recent teams. Goaltender John Dugas (1) has had to bail them out at times, and the Pioneers’ coaching staff is good at making sure they are rarely outmanned, even if that comes at the expense of some offense. They are the most complete team in the state, but they will still have to get through three tough games to claim the crown.
