Rosemount teammates, next-door neighbors and lifelong friends Connor Schubert and Channing Goodwin accomplished a “dream” by helping punch the Irish’s ticket to state.
Schubert and Goodwin lifted the Irish to a 3-2 win over St. Thomas Academy in the Class 2A, Section 3 final at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul on Tuesday night.
Schubert scored the first two goals, and Goodwin’s empty-netter with a minute to play propelled the Irish past the Cadets. The linemates shot pucks in the garage growing up in Rosemount and delivered the city its first trip to state since 1992 (Tier II tournament).
Rosemount head coach Ricky Saintey said it was hard to put into words what the win means to the community.
“The Rosemount guys that are on our staff, that are giving back to our youth and that are here supporting, that’s what it means to me,” Saintey said. “This is not for me. This is for every single one of those people that believed in Rosemount and stayed in Rosemount.”
Sophomore goaltender Drew Sherman said the team has called the section final a “hump game” since bantams.
A combative, charged pregame atmosphere set up a physical first period, but that intensity boiled over for the Irish. Senior forwards Quinton VeDepo (elbowing) and Cade Sherman (tripping) received minor penalties, giving the Cadets four minutes with a man advantage.
St. Thomas Academy failed to capitalize, managing just two shots on goal across its two power-play opportunities. Sherman said killing off both early penalties gave the team “a ton of momentum.”
Schubert slotted one past Cadets freshman goaltender Owen Ryan with just five seconds to play in the opening period, giving the Irish a 1-0 lead. It was Schubert’s 18th goal of the season in a period that saw just nine combined shots on goal.
Cadets senior forward Oliver Marvin netted just his fourth goal of the season to even it up 1-all with 8:19 to play in the second.
Rosemount ratcheted up its pressure in the final five minutes of the period but could not put one past Ryan, despite recording 12 shots on goal after totaling just six in the first.
In the locker room during the second intermission, Schubert said Saintey told the team whoever got the first goal was going to win.
An early penalty on Cadets senior forward Peter Murray 83 seconds into the third, gave the Irish a prime opportunity. A snipe from the point by Schubert beat Ryan on the near side as the power-play goal put Rosemount ahead for the second time.
Schubert said he saw a lane open as the puck was sliding toward him and let it rip, placing it perfectly past the goalie. Saintey said you cannot leave a player like Schubert open because he’s a “big player in a big moment.”
St. Thomas Academy pulled Ryan with a minute and a half to play, with its season on the line. Goodwin won the faceoff 15 seconds later and fired a bending shot the length of the ice into the empty net, giving the Irish a 3-1 edge.
Goodwin said he was just trying to get the puck out of the zone, and a “lucky bounce” saw it curve into the back of the net.
The Cadets answered via senior forward Cole Braunshausen but could not find an equalizer in the final 34 seconds.
Saintey said the final 90 seconds felt like an “eternity,” but the mindset was to stay poised, and his team managed the situation.
Saintey said he did the math, and it had been 12,698 days since Rosemount had been to the state tournament. When the final horn sounded, he said all he could do was raise his arms in appreciation.
“I’ll tell you right now, whatever just happened is pretty awesome,” Saintey said.
Other section tournament games on Tuesday:
Class A, Section 2 semifinals
No. 1-seed Delano beat No. 5-seed Orono 7-3 at the St. Louis Park Rec Center, while No. 2 Blake beat No. 6 Minneapolis 4-2 in the evening’s later game.
Lance Halonen had a hat trick, Jacob Perlich had a pair of goals, and Daniel Halonen and Brady Kangas also scored for Delano. Rory Kvern scored twice and Ryan De Lange had a goal for Orono, which got 13 saves from Max Lewin. Evan Geyen stopped 20 shots in goal for Delano.
Landon Bell scored twice in the first to open the scoring for Blake, which also got goals from Jimmy Hughes and Charlie Moore. Will Ackerman and Owen DeYoung scored for Minneapolis. Blake’s Jake Iwan had 20 saves, while Minneapolis’ Ivan Kelly made 26 saves.
The two meet 7 p.m. Thursday at the St. Louis Park Rec Center in the section final.
Class A, Section 4 semifinals
Top-seed Mahtomedi beat No. 4-seed Hastings 5-1 at Aldrich Arena. Henry Sampair and Will Seevers scored in the second to put the Zephyrs in front 2-0. Mahtomedi’s Devin O’Donnell and Julian Cisek made it 4-0 in the third before the Raiders got a goal from Brecken Fullerton. However, Brayden Fuerst ended the scoring for the Zephyrs, who also got 17 saves from Jackson Chesak. Charlie Stoffel made 25 saves for Hastings.
On the other side of the bracket, second-seed Chisago Lakes beat No. 6 Tartan 8-3 in Tuesday’s other semifinal, a back-and-forth affair that saw Tartan come back from two deficits to eventually lead before Chisago Lakes scored six straight goals.
Colton Horak had a hat trick — his second and third goals coming after Tartan’s lead — and Jacob Kletti scored twice for Chisago Lakes. Austin Slettom, Zach Carlson and Quinlan Ryan also scored for the Wildcats. Carter Parent, Kieran Moylan and Benny McClellan scored for Tartan, which got 38 saves from Nathan McGuire.
Jacob Schaeppi had 26 saves for Chisago Lakes, which will meet Mahtomedi in the section final at 7 p.m. Thursday at Aldrich Arena.
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