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High School Hockey | 2012-13 All-Area co-Players of the Year

Posted by: Feldman

The 2012-13 All-Area Boys Hockey Team is posted in the blog post directly below this one. If you can't scroll down to it, here's a link.

Now, the story on the 2012-13 All-Area co-Players of the Year:

• • • • •

Alex Funk and Jason Samuelson came to the Rochester Lourdes hockey team four years ago with big expectations.

They lived up to those right away.

The talented forwards combined for 57 points as freshmen and they only got better and better as their high school careers went on.

They wrapped up their Lourdes careers eight days ago, playing in their fourth Class A state tournament, where the Eagles placed sixth.

Funk and Samuelson nearly matched one another point-for-point throughout their careers and their senior seasons were no different. Funk finished with 82 points this season, while Samuelson had 81. They leave Lourdes as the top two scorers in program history — Samuelson with 226 points, Funk with 222.

They also leave as the 2013 Faceoff Blog All-Area co-Players of the Year.

"I wish they could have ended in a tie," Lourdes coach Josh Spaniol said of the duo's career point totals. "They're pretty special kids. They've been a part of our program for so long. They put themselves on the map in the state and helped our program get back to higher levels.
"Without those two, our program wouldn't be where it is."

Samuelson and Funk blew away the previous career points records at Lourdes. Sean Corfits held the record previously, with 172 career points, since his gradation in 1992. Samuelson passed him in early January and Funk followed soon after. They then continued to pull away and put up numbers that will be difficult to match.

To put their success into perspective: Corfits finished his entire varsity career with 172 points. Funk had 152 points and Samuelson had 151 total in their junior and senior seasons.

Funk finished his career with 114 goals and 108 assists. He will likely play in the North American Hockey League next season, but will also have a chance to attend some United States Hockey League camps this summer.

"He just works hard, he never backs down," Lourdes coach Josh Spaniol said of Funk. "He got hammered a couple of times against East Grand Forks (in a state tournament quarterfinal), but he didn't shy away. He's not afraid to take a hit or give a hit. That makes him such a competitive player.

Samuelson finished his high school career with exactly 100 goals and 126 assists. He'll play baseball at the University of Iowa, beginning next season.

"He's just a great kid on and off the ice," Spaniol said. "He'll be a great leader wherever he goes."

Both players will leave big holes to fill when practice starts in about eight months.

"We're just thankful to have had them in the program," Spaniol said. "We're lucky they chose to come to school at Lourdes, a great academic school. They'll be well-prepared for college. I'm thankful we were able to coach them for four years — they're very coachable kids. They got out of it exactly what they put into it."

FACEOFF BLOG ALL-AREA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2013 — Alex Funk and Jason Samuelson (Sr., F, Rochester Lourdes)
2012 — Alex Funk, Jr., F, Rochester Lourdes
2011 — Rory Vesel, Sr., D, Rochester Lourdes
2010 — No POY (the inaugural All-Area Team didn't include a POY)

High School Hockey | 2012-13 All-Area Team

Here we go with the fourth annual Faceoff Blog All-Area Team. I'll lay out the selection process once again: We have seven teams in our coverage area (Century, JM, Lourdes, Mayo, Austin, Dodge County and Red Wing). We pick a Player of the Year, a First Team, Second Team and PUC (players under consideration -- our honorable mention). We don't try to make sure a player from every team is on one of the teams, we just put the guys who we feel have been the best players this season on the team.

The story on the Co-Players of the Year will be posted soon and will appear directly above this post in the blog.

So, that said, here we go with this year's All-Area Teams:

FIRST TEAM

F — Alex Funk, Sr., Lourdes (Co-Player of the Year; 46-36—82): The most complete forward in Rochester and arguably the most complete forward to come through Lourdes in the past five years, during its run of five straight state tournament appearances. Funk had eight hat tricks, 13 multi-point games. He had point streaks of 16 games and 11 games during his senior season. He'll play for sure in the NAHL next season, though he'll also get some looks at USHL camps this summer.

F — Jason Samuelson, Sr., Lourdes (Co-Player of the Year; 28-53—81): Samuelson, somewhat surprisingly, surpassed 50 assists this season. I say somewhat surprisingly because he has one of the heaviest and best shots in Section 1. He was one of the top scorers in the Upper Midwest Elite League last fall and carried over his strong play into the high school season. Samuelson will play baseball at the University of Iowa next season.

F — Nick Paulson, Sr., John Marshall (16-23—39): Paulson tied for fourth in scoring in the Big Nine Conference and led all of Rochester's Big Nine players in scoring. He did so on a team that missed three key players for nearly half of the season, making Paulson one of the only options for the Rockets offensively. He had at least one point in 21 of 25 regular-season games and had 12 multi-point games. Paulson had one hat trick, in a five-point game against Faribault on Jan. 15.

D — Will Holtan, Sr., Mayo (10-15—25): Holtan, who had seven multi-point games from the blue line for the Big Nine champs, was one of the best two-way defensemen in the conference. Holtan was a key to Mayo's power play, too, and he was skilled at getting shots from the blue line, through traffic to the net. He went scoreless in five of the first six games, but then put up 24 points in Mayo's final 21 games.

D — Karl Krecke, Sr., Lourdes (8-20—28): The four-year varsity regular and two-year captain was the leading scorer among all defensemen in Rochester this season. Krecke was a rare two-year captain for the Eagles and played in four state tournaments. He was at his best late in the season, too, when he posted nine points in six postseason games.

G — Case Hansen, Sr., Mayo (21-6-0, 2.06 goals-against average, .908 save pct.): Hansen played all but seven minutes in goal for the Big Nine Conference champion Spartans, leading them to a 21-win season. It's the first time Mayo reached 20 victories since the 1999-2000 season. Hansen recorded three shutouts and allowed just 56 goals in 27 games. He stopped 555 of 611 shots, an average of 20.5 saves per game.


SECOND TEAM

F — Ryan Martin, Sr., Mayo (19-18—37): Martin, an equally good scorer and passer, led the Big Nine champs in scoring.

F — Adam Alcott, Sr., Mayo (15-21—36): Alcott, playing on a line with Martin all season, had at least one point in 21 of Mayo's 27 games.

F — Dalton Travis, Sr., Century (10-10—20): Travis was the leading scorer for a Panthers team that relied upon its top line quite heavily for offense.

D — Griff Slightam, So., Lourdes (9-13—22): Slightam can not only produce on offense, he was the most physical defenseman on the ice in most of Lourdes' games.

D — Tommy Fjelsted, Jr., Mayo (9-18—27): Like Slightam, Fjelsted has a great mix of offensive ability and physical play.

G — Jacob Garvey, Sr., John Marshall (12-11-0, 2.72, .904): Garvey did what the Rockets needed him to do — he got increasingly better as the season progressed.


PUC (Players Under Consideration)
FORWARDS
Sam Broman, Jr., John Marshall (11-20—31)
Tanner Dufault, So., Dodge County (15-24—39)
Ethan Larson, Sr., Austin (15-20—35)
Alex Rezansoff, Sr., Red Wing (14-14—28)
Sam Robinson, Jr., Dodge County (19-12—31)
Marcus Stoulil, Sr., Austin (23-16—39)

DEFENSEMEN
Jared Bromberg, Jr., John Marshall (2-18—20)
Alec McGinn, Sr., John Marshall (3-13—16)
Riese Zmolek, So., D, Century (8-3—11)

GOALIES
Rainer Londino-Green, Sr., G, Austin (6-16-0, 3.63, .898)
Eric Rohleder, Sr., G, Century (7-19-0, 4.22, .881)

PHERSY AND FATIS SHOW: Divisional semifinals edition

PHERSY: Welcome back to the latest edition of the Phersy and Fatis Show.

This week, we look back at the Owls series as the Ice Hawks completed a perfect 8-0 season sweep of their "rivals" and eliminated them from the postseason.

That means the Ice Hawks are in this weekend's divisional semifinals. They'll be hosting the Dells Ducks. Game 1 is set for 7:05 p.m. Friday night at the Rochester Recreation Center. Game 2 is at 1 p.m. Sunday in Lake Delton, Wis. If a third game is necessary, it will be at 7:05 p.m. Monday back at the Rec Center.

The Ice Hawks are still dealing with injuries.We break down all the info you need for the second-round series, so enjoy the show!!

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Class A state hockey | EGF 3, Lourdes 2. FINAL SCORE

Posted by: Feldman

Good evening from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The scheduled 8 p.m. Class A state quarterfinal game between Lourdes and East Grand Forks looks more like an 8:45-8:50 start now. I'll have in-game updates on Twitter (@PBFeldy) and I'll post all of the scoring plays here as they happen. 

You'll also fine full line charts for both teams below. 

TV: Charter digital cable channel 386 or prep45.com in Rochester. 

FIRST PERIOD

1. EGF, Kolton Aubol 15 (Dixon Bowen 22) 8:51. Bowen springs Aubol on a 1-on-0 breakaway. Burkel makes the first save on Aubol's attempt, but the rebound bounces right back to Aubol who flips into the top of the goal.

2. EGF, Aubol 16 (Tommy Hajicek 24) 12:58. Aubol finishes a perfect 2-on-1 after Hajicek feeds him with a cross-crease pass. Burkel had no chance. 

Shots on goal: EGF 18, Lourdes 5.

SECOND PERIOD

3. EGF, Hajicek 21 (Taylor Brierley 15, Eddie Eades 19) 15:08 (dp, ea). With a delayed penalty coming against Lourdes, EGF gets the extra attacker on the ice. Brierley feeds Hajicek with a cross-ice pass and Hajicek rips a wrister past Burkel glove-side.

4. RL, Alex Funk 43 (Jason Samuelson 49) 6:10. After an EGF turnover in its own zone, Samuelson zips a pass to Funk in the right circle. Funk snaps a wrist shot high past Lindstrom to snap the shutout.

5. RL, Griff Slightam 9 (Samuelson 50, Funk 32). Slightam rips a hard wrist shot from the slot that Lindstrom was late on, pulling Lourdes within a goal.

Total shots on goal: EGF 33, Lourdes 12.

THIRD PERIOD

Total shots on goal: EGF 34, Lourdes 13.

* * * 

LINE CHARTS

LOURDES EAGLES (20-8-0)
FORWARDS
7 Jason Samuelson - 20 Alex Funk - 4 Ben Weir
10 Griffen Buck - 2 Montana Streit - 5 Cody Cossette
17 Kane Carstens - 15 Mason Carstens - 16 McKay Carstens
6 Lee Brandrup - 9 Tucker Chapman - 19 Luke Morrey
DEFENSEMEN
12 Karl Krecke - 21 Griff Slightam
11 Nathan Roth - 3 Dakota Streit
14 Lars Anderson - 18 Nick Roth
GOALIE
1 Jack Burkel
30 Andrew Ellingson 

EAST GRAND FORKS GREEN WAVE (22-3-3)
FORWARDS
14 Kolton Aubol - 17 Tommy Hajicek - 9 Dixon Bowen
18 Brandon Loven - 29 Grant Loven - 19 Tanner Tweten
21 Rayce Martin - 10 Nick Ranten - 7 Nick Korynta
4 Luke Bieto - 22 Dallas Dragich
DEFENSEMEN
6 Colton Poolman - 12 Tye Ausmus
16 Taylor Brierley - 27 Eddie Eades
26 Nathan Peabody - 15 Trevor Selk
28 Ryan Pecka
GOALIES
31 Tanner Lindstrom
30 Josh Weber
35 Garrett Lieberg 

The Tourney | Looking at the Lourdes-EGF matchup

Posted by: Feldman

So, we're approximately five hours away from Rochester Lourdes' Class A state quarterfinal game against Section 8A champion East Grand Forks. Here is a composite list of all the articles I could find about both teams leading into the game (which is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start, but more likely will get going about 8:30).

ROCHESTER POST-BULLETIN

* It's Lourdes' experience vs. East Grand Forks' depth in state tournament quarterfinal

* Three Lourdes seniors -- Alex Funk, Karl Krecke and Jason Samuelson -- are ready to play in their fourth state hockey tournament. 

* Commentary: Lourdes players should savor the moment.

GRAND FORKS HERALD

* UND blood runs deep in East Grand Forks team. (I swear I'm not just posting this because I'm a UND grad and fan, but it doesn't hurt.)

MnHOCKEYHUB.COM

* Rochester Lourdes state tournament preview

* East Grand Forks state tournament preview

* * *

So, what should we expect in tonight's game? 

First, don't expect it to start at 8. Like I said before, 8:30 is more realistic, possibly later. 

As for the game itself, East Grand Forks will bring some big, physical defensemen and Lourdes will have to match the Green Wave's physical play on the back end and its speed up front. 

EGF is a deep team up front, rolling three lines consistently. 

Something to watch for: EGF is the higher-seeded team (it's No. 4; Lourdes is No. 5). That means Green Wave coach Tyler Palmiscno has the option of making the last line change and getting the matchups he wants. But, Palmiscno apparently doesn't really care to match lines, he has confidence in any of the three lines he puts on the ice. That could play to Lourdes' advantage, if coach Josh Spaniol decides he likes a certain matchup. It'll be interesting to see if Lourdes can find a matchup it likes for its top line -- the vast majority of the Eagles scoring comes from Jason Samuelson, Alex Funk and Ben Weir -- and can continually take advantage of it.

We're about four hours away from game time. Time for me to see if there are any empty seats at Cossetta's (I know, it's a shock that a sports writer is going to seek out food). 

Check back here or on Twitter (@PBFeldy) for game updates, if you're unable to watch.

(Reminder: All of the championship round games in the Class A and AA tourneys are on Charter digital cable channel 386 and they can be viewed online at prep45.com)

PHERSY AND FATIS SHOW: Playoffs edition

PHERSY: SOrry for the late posting folks ... forgot to put this up before I left for state wrestling.

Ice Hawks open the playoffs this weekend against the hated Owls. Game 1 is at 7:05 tonight at the Rec Center. Game 2 is at 7:30 Saturday night in Isanti. And if Game 3 is needed, it will be at 7 Monday night back at the Rec Center.

Enjoy the show!

PhersyandFatisShow030113

Section 1A Final | Lourdes 6, Mankato West 1. FINAL SCORE

Posted by: Feldman

(NOTE: In order to see updates, you'll have to keep refreshing this page; it won't do it automatically, I don't believe.)

Welcome to the Rochester Rec Center for the Section 1A boys hockey championship game. Lots of storylines with this one.

I'll post goal summaries here and random notes during each period of tonight's game between No. 2 seed and No. 15-ranked Mankato West (22-5-0) and No. 1 seed and No. 7-ranked Rochester Lourdes (19-8-0). I'll also have updates on Twitter (@PBFeldy)

FIRST PERIOD

No scoring.

SECOND PERIOD

1. RL, Alex Funk 39 (Karl Krecke 15, Jason Samuelson 47) 5:38. Great pressure by Lourdes on a power play leads to Funk being left alone in the left circle. Rips a wrist shot short side. LOURDES 1, WEST 0

2. RL, Griff Slightam 8 (Funk 31) 7:24. Funk carries the puck around behind the net and feeds Slightam, who blasts one past Spiess. LOURDES 2, WEST 0

3. RL, Funk 40 (Samuelson 48, Krecke 16) 13:04. Samuelson lets a shot go from near the point, Funk with a great tip in front to re-direct it past Spiess.

THIRD PERIOD

4. RL, Funk 41 (unassisted) 1:03. Lourdes buzzes again on the opening shift of the period and Funk scores from close range to complete the hat trick.

5. RL, Funk 42 (Krecke 17) 9:02 (pp). Funk puts home a pass from Krecke for his fourth goal of the game, Krecke's third assist.

6. MW, Ryan Jutting 5 (Max Mettler 19) 11:07. Jutting puts West on the board on the first shot on goal against Andrew Ellingson, who replaced Jack Burkel with 6:42 to go.

7. RL, Luke Morrey 1 (Slightam 12) 12:10 (dp). With a delayed penalty coming against West, Lourdes gets the extra attacker on the ice and Morrey notches his first goal of the season. 

* * * 

STARTERS
WEST (22-5-0)
G 33 Jake Spiess (10-4-0, 2.35 GAA, .908 save pct)
D 15 Scott McKissick (3-30--33) -- 24 Max Mettler (4-18--22)
F 3 Nick Campbell (17-32--49) -- 9 Galt Goettl (21-28--49) -- 7 Derek Frentz (38-32--70)

LOURDES (19-8-0)
G 1 Jack Burkel (7-4-0, 3.10, .886)
D 12 Karl Krecke (8-14--22) -- 21 Griff Slightam (7-11--18)
F 4 Ben Weir (15-10--25) -- 20 Alex Funk (38-30--68) -- 7 Jason Samuelson (26-46--72) 

 

* * * 

PRE-GAME NOTES

* Lourdes is going for a fifth consecutive section championship and fifth consecutive state tournament trip, something a Rochester team has never accomplished

* Lourdes is playing in its sixth consecutive Section 1A championship game. The last team to beat the Eagles in a section final? Mankato West in 2008. That was the Ricky Litchfield-Corey Leivermann team that put up ridiculous point totals.

* This is West's first appearance in the section final since they won it in 2008.

* Lourdes has at least three players who will play in their fourth section title game tonight: D Karl Krecke, F Jason Samuelson and F Alex Funk. Lourdes D Griff Slightam is playing in his third section final as just a sophomore.

* Samuelson and Funk continue to set themselves miles apart from everyone else on Lourdes' all-time scoring list. Sean Corfits, a '92 Lourdes grad, entered this season with the all-time points lead (172), but Funk and Samuelson have left him and everyone else in their ice shavings. Samuelson has 217 career points, while Funk has 208. 

* Both teams have a 70-point scorer. West's Derek Frentz has 38-32--70 this season, while Lourdes' Samuelson has 26-46--72. Funk (38-30--68) is close.

* West has two more players on the verge of topping 50 points: junior forwards Nick Campbell (17-32--49) and Galt Goettl (21-28--49).

* If Saturday's section semifinals are any indication, odds are this game will hinge on special teams and who can stay out of the box. As I noted in my preview to the game in Tuesday's Post-Bulletin, there were a total of 15 goals scored in Saturday's two section semifinal games. Eight of those goals were scored on special teams (seven power-play goals, one short-handed). 

* * *

AROUND THE STATE

There are four other section championship games being played tonight. I'll try to provide updates on those games here and on Twitter (@PBFeldy) as much as possible. Those other section finals tonight are:

Section 3A: No. 4 seed Marshall vs. No. 6 seed Hutchinson (at Gustavus Adolphus College)
Section 7A: No. 1 Duluth Denfeld vs. No. 2 Duluth Marshall (at Amsoil Arena, Duluth)
Section 2AA: No. 1 Edina vs. No. 3 Burnsville (Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, 6 p.m.)
Section 6AA: No. 1 Benilde-St. Margaret's vs. No. 3 Wayzata (Mariucci Arena, 8 p.m.) 

In Section 5AA, there are a pair of semifinal games being played tonight at the State Fair Coliseum:
* No. 1 seed Blaine vs. No. 4 Champlin Park (6 p.m.)
* No. 2 Centennial vs. No. 3 Maple Grove (8 p.m.) 

PHERSY AND FATIS SHOW: Not as suspended edition

PHERSY: The Phersy and Fatis Show returns today, and we have good news.

Coach Fatis' suspension by the MnJHL has been lowered to three games. That means he'll be out for this weekend's game at Steele County, but he will be back for the playoffs.

Enjoy the show!

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PHERSY AND FATIS SHOW: Shorthanded edition

PHERSY: OK people, sorry for the late show this week ... but it's been a rough week for coach Fatis and the Ice Hawks. There's a lot of rough stuff going on for the team right now with people leaving the team, suspensions, injuries, etc. But we talk about all that in the show, so I'll let you listen. Most notably, coach has been suspended by the league for his reaction to the ice-ball incident, so he will not be on the bench tonight or tomorrow.

Home games tonight and Saturday ... get to the Rec Center.

Enjoy the show!

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PHERSY AND FATIS: It's getting rough in here edition

PHERSY: The show is back, and this week we're talking about the Ice Hawks picking up four big points last weekend and then we're breaking down this weekend's games.

The Ice Hawks are home against the Energy on Friday, and then they hit the road for a game Saturday night at the Owls in Isanti. That one could get nasty ... since the Owls have taken out two Ice Hawks players for the season in their last two meetings.

Enjoy the show!

PhersyAndFatisShow020713