St. Thomas Academy: Champions at Last

St. Thomas Academy senior A.J. Reid likened the state boys hockey tournament to a business trip. In his last year with the Cadets, the forward wanted nothing more than to bring home a championship to his school.

So when Taylor Fleming’s shot in overtime slipped past Hermantown goalie Connor Lucas, giving STA a 5-4 victory in Saturday’s Class A title game at the Xcel Energy Center, Reid couldn’t help but enjoy the moment after the team accomplished its goal.

“We closed the deal,” Reid said with a laugh. “It’s my last year and it was my last shot and we got it done. So the business trip is over.”

The deal, as it turned out, wasn’t easy to complete.

The Cadets had to overcome separate three-goal and two-goal deficits in the game thanks to a quick start by the Hawks.

Hermantown notched three first-period goals to take an early 3-0 lead. Despite out-shooting the Hawks for much of the period, STA couldn’t find a way to get on the scoreboard.

That changed with 26 seconds left in the period, when Andrew Commers scored the first of his two goals on the night—a shorthanded tally that began the gradual comeback.

“We  knew from the minute we were down 3-0 that we were going to win the game,” Reid said.

Hermantown coach Bruce Plante had similar feelings.

“I was never confident,” Plante said. “It’s hard to be confident when that team is flying around like they do. Three goals for them—they can make it up in a minute.”

After Peter Krieger brought STA to within a goal, Hermantown responded at the 12:07 mark of the second period to again give the Hawks (25-4-2) a two-goal lead.

But Cadets goalie David Zevnik closed the door from that point forward, keeping the Hawks scoreless and allowing STA to make a second run at a comeback.

“I just knew what I had to do to keep my team long enough in the game to get us back in the game,” Zevnik said. “We have a good enough team to come back from any deficit.”

STA did just that.

Reid brought the Cadets (25-6-0) to within a goal with two minutes left in the second, and Commers delivered the game-tying score 4:43 into the third.

Once Fleming fired his shot from the blue line in overtime, the Cadets stormed the ice to celebrate their third state championship and first since 2008.

Mission accomplished.

“All the dedication we put in throughout the year, and we finally won it,” Commers said. “It feels great.”

GAME SUMMARY

Hermantown 3 1 0 0 — 4

St. Thomas Academy 1 2 1 1 — 5

Scoring — First period: 3:57 HERM Jared Thomas (Jake Zeleznikar), 4:36 HERM Andrew Mattson (J. thomas, J. Zeleznikar), 7:08 HERM J. Thomas (Garret Skrbich, A. Mattson), 16:34 STA Andrew Commers (unassisted) SHG. Second period: 3:27 STA Peter Krieger (A. Commers, Wyatt Schmidt), 12:07 HERM A. Mattson (G. Skrbich), 14:57 STA A.J. Reid (Zach Schroeder, Tony Gretzman). Third period: 4:43 STA A. Commers (Matt Kroska, Taylor Fleming). OT: 6:34 T. Fleming (Tony Bretzman, Z. Schroeder). Shots on goal — HERM 33, STA 46, Power plays — HERM 0-3, STA 0-2. Saves — HERM Connor Lucas 41, STA David Zevnik 29.

CLASS A ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Rory Vesel (Rochester Lourdes), Austin Rudnick (Breck), Adam Johnson (Hibbing-Chisholm), Nick DeCenzo (Hibbing-Chisholm), Matt Audette (Thief River Falls), A.J. Reid (St. Thomas Academy), Zach Schroeder (St. Thomas Academy), David Zevnik (St. Thomas Academy), Garrett Skrbich (Hermantown), Jared Kolquist (Hermantown), Connor Lucas (Hermantown), Jared Thomas (Hermantown).

HERB BROOKS AWARD WINNER

A.J. Reid (St. Thomas Academy)