For the third time in four years, Mahtomedi and Chisago Lakes met with a state tournament berth on the line.
Mahtomedi has yet to lose.
Winston Wright broke open a tight game with an insurance goal midway through the third period and the Zephyrs beat the Wildcats 3-1 in Thursday’s Class A, Section 4 final at Aldrich Arena. It is the fourth straight section title for Mahtomedi and ninth in 11 years. The Zephyrs won state titles in 2020 and 2023.
Brock Gutterman and Laken Decker also scored for the second-seeded Zephyrs. Wes Strub made 28 saves.
Class A state tournament play begins Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center. The brackets and schedule are to be announced Saturday.
Mahtomedi likely won’t be a trendy pick with its 11-15-2 record, but the Zephyrs should not be looked past.
Their losses include a plethora of teams that have either advanced to a section final or the state tournament, including two each to Class 2A schools Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy, and one-goal losses to Hibbing/Chisholm, Cloquet/Esko/Carleton and St. Cloud Cathedral and two goals to East Grand Forks in Class 1A.
Corbin Shandley made 30 saves and Austin Slettom scored for top-seed Chisago Lakes (16-10-2), which won 3-2 at Mahtomedi Jan. 28.
Wright poked home a rebound of a Cody Loida shot that barely got through Shandley and was almost on the goal line to finish the scoring.
Up 2-1 on an early second-period goal by Decker, the Zephyrs had a golden chance to break the game open midway through the frame with a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes. In the Chisago Lakes zone for most of that time, the Zephyrs had good puck movement but could not beat Shandley. Mahtomedi’s power-play success for the season is less than 9%.
A sign in front of the Chisago Lakes student section stated “Celly Button” with a big red dot. It kind of got “pushed” midway through the opening period thanks to a pair of perfect passes.
Down the left side, Alex Bever connected with Landon Kerkow, whose drop pass went to Slottem. Fighting off a defender, the junior went forehand-backhand to slip the puck into the Zephyrs’ net.
Gutterman scored late in the period for Mahtomedi, with a laser-like wrist shot from the left dot that got in just under the crossbar.
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