A Quarterfinal: Orono vs. #1 East Grand Forks
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 3:04 pm
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.
-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.
