With the backdrop of a sold-out Elk River Arena for the Section 5AA championship March 3, the Rogers boys hockey squad stood one game away from program history: searching for their first berth in the state tournament. But conference rival Maple Grove, who was in search of their third straight section championship, stood in their way, and the Crimson used their experience to make enough plays to secure a 4-2 victory and a trip to the state tournament.
With passionate student sections screaming and chanting (Rogers wearing all blue and Maple Grove wearing all white), both teams came out of the gates on the attack. The Royals and Crimson each had several good scoring looks before junior forward Finn Brink, camped out in front of the net, took a nifty pass from junior forward Landen Gunderson and hit the back of the net for the opening tally of the night and a 1-0 Maple Grove lead.
As both teams switched ends for the second period, the Crimson, who began the frame on a power play, took advantage of the 5-on-4 as Giuliani netted the second goal of the evening to double the Crimson lead.
Then as the period waned, Rogers, who had gotten several good looks on senior goalie Toby Hopp, finally capitalized on their own power play, thanks to a score from leading goal-scorer junior forward Sam Ranallo. With the Royals’ fans now louder than ever before, Rogers felt like they had reclaimed momentum.
But that fire was quickly doused thanks to a goal less than a minute later from Gunderson, and the Crimson once again held a two-goal lead. With 17 minutes left, the game looked oddly familiar to both of these teams. In January, Maple Grove held a two-goal lead in the third period before Rogers came storming back and scored three unanswered to win 5-4 and shock the Crimson.
Now in the section championship, the Royals looked to do the same thing and the ball got rolling when senior forward Hogan Sinjem laced a shot that found its way past Hopp to cut the lead to 3-2. But just like they have all season, the Maple Grove boys found a way to respond, and in a hurry. Senior forward Bennett Glad raced down the ice to stave off an icing call and all the while got possession of the puck and threw a backhand shot on net which got past Rogers junior goalie Cade Chapman.
Suddenly, within a minute of Rogers once again feeling like they had a comeback brewing, the lead was back to two for Maple Grove. From then on, the story was about the Crimson defense, as they held Rogers scoreless the rest of the way, including during the last two minutes when the Royals pulled Chapman. The Royals ended the season with a 19-8-1 record.
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